Air November 6, 2002

Thank you Gary, and good morning everyone. I didn’t think I’d be saying this already, but it was sure nice to see some sunshine again! And all that wheat that’s coming up appreciates a little sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures as well. Just a quick reiteration of what I’ve been saying for the last couple of weeks - if you are still trying to get some wheat in the ground, up that planting rate to a minimum of 90 pounds per acre. There is also still plenty of time to take a soil sample for analysis so when you topdress in late winter, we can make sure you get the fertilizer you need for the yields you want.

I also want to follow up last weeks program and talk some more about the cow herd nutrition meeting we had a week ago in Blue Rapids. Gerry Kuhl was talking about feeding management. Why do we spend so much time talking about feeding management? Because feed is the number one cost for keeping a cow. Between 65 and 75% of the total cow maintenance costs are feed. Anytime a large data set of cow producers is analyzed we keep seeing the same thing. Comparing the most profitable to the average to the least profitable it isn’t weaning weights or calf crop percents that make the difference - it’s feed costs. Look for ways to do what you want to do in the most cost effective manner possible, but it also has to be in a manner that you can handle. Wheat mids may be the cheapest way to put a little weight on those thin cows. But ifyou aren’t set up to handle wheat mids, then some range cubes or some corn grain and soybean meal may work better for you. Take a look at what you can handle and then see what’s available. If you are feeding your own grains and forages, test them. We did a lot of testing of feed this summer, but it was often just for nitrates. That’s a start, but let’s go after some digestibility and protein as well. Forages can be very variable. A bale of prairie hay put up in July may very well come in at 6.5 or 7% protein. But a bale of CRP hay that was cut in late August, that looks very much like it, may easily be less than 3% protein. You can’t tell by looking, so come in and borrow or bale probe and get some samples pulled. Then make sure that you are storing that hay in a manner that will protect it’s value and feeding it in a manner that won’t waste it. But now we are out of time, and we’ll just have to address that next week!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2002.

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