September 2002
Starting Cattle on Feed Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On Farm Research Topics Requested . . . . . . . .
NW Iowa Beef Heifer Development Program .
Reduce Harvest Losses in Lodged Corn Fields .
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5. Protein levels should be 13-14 percent.
6. Feed starting supplement or feed at the full rate
from day one to make sure calves get a full dose
of protein, drug, vitamins and trace minerals.
Starting Cattle on Feed Tips
by Pete Olson, ISU Extension Beef Field Specialist
Getting cattle on feed that have recently been weaned
or taken off pasture can be challenging. Whether
these cattle are purchased from the sale barn, home
raised, developing bulls or heifers, or simply starting
a show animal, how these cattle are managed as they
make these dietary and management changes can
have huge effects on long-term performance. Once
these animals are on feed, keeping them on feed in a
consistent, performing manner can be a challenge.
7. Process cattle right off the truck if possible.
Cattle that are hauled extremely long distances
may need to rest before processing. Delaying
processing will simply mean two stress occasions
instead of one. Cattle can be implanted and
vaccinated a second time 14-21 days later.
Following these guidelines will not guarantee
success but should help in getting freshly weaned
calves from pasture started on feed in the feedlot.
On Farm Research Topics Requested
Here are some tips or guidelines to follow to getting
cattle off to a good start.
1. Feed long stem grass hay upon arrival. Put hay
in bunk after cattle arrive, to attract them to the
bunk. You can deliver some of the mixed ration
on top of the dry hay on day 2.
2. A total mixed ration is the preferred method for
feeding cattle. Feeding cattle the mixed ration
for the first time should be one percent of their
body weight as dry matter, working up to about
2.75 percent of body weight by day 14-21.
3. Have plenty of clean fresh water. Water drives
intake: no water intake equals no feed intake.
Water should be clean and accessible to all
animals. If animals are not used to automatic
waterers, set tank float to overflow so cattle will
find the water and learn to drink. Placement
along the fence will also help animals find water.
4. Limit wet or ensiled feeds to 10-20 percent of the
diet. This would include silage, corn gluten,
distiller’s grains and haylage.
by Jerry Weiss, ISU Extension Swine Field Specialist
Each year the Iowa Pork Industry Center allows
Extension field staff to submit research proposals.
Research topics can vary widely from feed additives,
bio-filters, manure applicators, tracking labor
requirements or evaluating different types of
products. While some of the projects are conducted
on campus or with area community colleges as
cooperators, we welcome the opportunity to work
with on-farm situations.
The research proposal may request up to $4,000
depending on equipment, analysis needed and
number of cooperators. This may provide an
opportunity for swine producers to research an issue
on your own farm with technical assistance and some
financial composition.
Projects must be submitted through an Extension
Field Specialist by September 27, 2002. Accepted
projects must be completed and a paper summarizing
the results by the Field Specialist will be included in
the ISU Swine Research Report. For more
information contact: Jerry Weiss at 712-335-3103,
or email: weissj@iastate.edu.
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NW Iowa Beef Heifer Development Program
by Dennis DeWitt, ISU Extension Livestock Field
Specialist
Mission Statement
Provide the cow calf producer an efficient way to
develop and to breed the beef replacement heifer
while at the same time improving the genetics of the
calf that the heifer produces.
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Benefits
Being involved in the Northwest Iowa Beef Heifer
Development Program may benefit you by:
The Northwest Iowa Beef Heifer Development Board
has approved the 6th Northwest Iowa Replacement
Beef Heifer Development Program. During the first
five years there have been 1,221 head of beef heifers
developed. The Rules and Regulations for the 2003
Northwest Iowa Heifer Development Program are at
this direct link:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/clay/
Take this letter and rules to your veterinarian so they
can properly prepare your heifers for arrival.
1. Freeing up feed, water, lots, and shelter needed
to develop replacements on your farm.
2. Reducing the number of groups of cattle you
must manage separately during the winter.
3. Placing steers and heifers not kept for breeding
on higher energy rations, which give faster,
cheaper gains without impairing the future
heifers' usefulness.
4. Access to superior bulls.
5. Eliminating the need for owning "heifer bulls".
6. Increase the value of your breeding stock.
7. Discover the real cost of replacement heifer
development.
8. Improving heifer temperament.
9. Qualifying them in the Iowa Bred Heifer
Certification Program.
As stated in Benefit 7, you will discover the real cost
of replacement heifer development. This is not a free
program. Currently the anticipated cost is $360-$400
per heifer. This is not a guaranteed maximum cost,
only our estimated average cost. You will pay the
actual cost on a per heifer basis.
Some highlights not to miss are:
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Opportunity will be available to remove your
heifers after two heat cycles. However, moving
heifers before 40 days after breeding may cause
re-absorption of the embryo.
Opportunity to leave bred heifers at the
development site into the late fall.
Objectives
The Northwest Iowa Beef Heifer Development Board,
ISU Extension Livestock Specialists and
veterinarians will develop feeding and health care
practices; sire selection criteria, and heifer
measurements to be used in the NW Iowa Beef Heifer
Development Program.
Any cow-calf producer may consign quality
heifers that meet requirements.
Heifers must have Black Leg & Clostridial shots
twice before delivery.
Heifers must have a negative (-)BVD Antigen
test before delivery. This is to remove the
Persistently Infected (PI) BVD females.
Heifers must come from a herd with no
laboratory diagnosis of Johne’s Disease.
Heifers should be born before May 15 and must
be weaned by November 9.
Heifers must have pre-delivery vaccinations
completed by a veterinarian by Nov. 9.
Heifers will be delivered to Curt Jones' farm,
Rossie, on December 9 & 10.
Breeding will be only by Artificial Insemination
with semen from ABS bulls.
A.I. will begin May 12, June 2, or June 23.
Three beginning breeding dates will be used as
long as there are at least 40 head in the breeding
group!
The Northwest Iowa Beef Heifer Development
Program will demonstrate:
1. Feeding and health programs designed to have
heifers reach target weights for satisfactory
breeding and calving performance.
2. Methods of monitoring heifer development,
including frame score, growth rate, condition
score, pelvic area, disposition scoring and
reproductive tract score.
3. Use of expected progeny differences to select
bulls that sire calves with low to moderate birth
weights and above average yearling growth rate.
4. An alternative to cow-calf producers having to
develop their own replacement heifers.
5. Feasibility of developing replacement heifers as
a commercial enterprise.
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6. Benefits of cooperative efforts involving cowcalf producers, agribusiness, animal health
professionals, ISU Extension Service and Iowa
Beef Center.
7. Benefits of group action by cow-calf producers.
strategy must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis,
however. If better-standing corn is ready for harvest
it may be more efficient and cost effective, in some
cases, to harvest it first, before lodging increases
there.
We need to have your commitment by November 1,
because if there are not 200 head committed there
will not be a development program in 2003. If you
cannot access the web site contact your county
extension office for a hard copy of the information.
Where Do Losses Occur?
Until corn harvesting losses can be identified and
measured, operators have no way of knowing
whether their losses are at an acceptable level.
Following is a list of the major sources of loss.
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Reduce Harvest Losses in Lodged Corn Fields
Todd Vagts, ISU Extension Field Crop Specialist
Early July windstorms flattened many northwest
Iowa corn fields just prior to pollination. Most fields
recovered remarkably well by goose-necking and
redevelopment of a brace root system. Pollination
and subsequent crop development has progressed
without major problems, yet harvest of the goosenecked corn will be a challenge. Rows will be
difficult to follow, ears will be closer to the ground,
harvest speed will be reduced and potential field
losses may increase. Depending on fall harvest
conditions, stalk rots may develop, plants may fall
back to the ground, and ear damage/loss may
increase. Therefore, timing of harvest, proper
combine calibration, special header attachments and
safety will be of utmost importance.
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Harvest Losses
Every bushel of corn you save by careful operation
of your combine adds to your profit per acre. Losses
as high as 20 bushels of corn per acre have been
measured behind a poorly adjusted combine
operating in weedy or severely lodged corn.
Harvesting losses cannot be completely eliminated,
but can be reduced to 1 to 2 bushels per acre if you
take time to check your combine performance.
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To keep harvesting losses low, you need to know
where losses occur, how to measure them, what
reasonable loss levels are, and what machine
adjustments and operating practices will reduce
losses. Checking for combine losses should take
about 15 minutes. Corn saved by finding and
correcting problems will more than pay for this time.
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Pre-harvest loss. Some crop losses are caused
by lodging. Appearing as whole ear losses, they
increase as the season progresses, and are outside
the operator's control at harvest time. Average
pre-harvest losses should be less than 1 percent
of total crop yield. This loss can go much higher
in adverse crop years or when harvest is delayed.
Header ear loss. Driving at a ground speed that
is too fast or too slow, driving off the row or
operating the header too high may result in lost
whole or broken ears. Losses average 3 to 4
percent of the total crop yield. With proper
machine operation and adjustment, you can hold
losses to 1 percent.
Header kernel loss. Some kernels are shelled out
and lost by the header at the gathering snouts,
snapping bars and snapping rolls. These losses
average about 0.6 percent. With proper
adjustment and machine operation and good field
conditions, you can hold these kernel losses to
about 0.4 percent.
Combine cylinder loss. Insufficient shelling
action causes some kernels to remain on the cob
as they pass through the machine. With the
correct cylinder or rotor speed and correct
concave clearance adjustment, this loss should
not exceed 0.3 percent. Correct adjustment
results in few or no broken cobs with no kernels
attached to them. Too vigorous shelling action
results in excessive kernel breakage.
Combine separation loss. Some kernels may
pass over the sieves and out of the combine.
With correct sieve and wind adjustment, this loss
should be held to 0.1 percent of the total crop
yield.
For more information on calculating harvest losses,
go to the following web address:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/carroll/crops/reduci
ng-harvest-losses.htm
Harvest Lodged or Standing Fields First?
In most situations, it is better to harvest lodged fields
or field areas before the well-standing fields. This
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September 2002 FIELD AND FEEDLOT
Iowa State University Extension Connection
THE FARM SECURITY AND RURAL
INVESTMENT ACT OF 2002: Informational
meetings are scheduled in Osceola County to
provide landowners and tenants information in
regard to the 2002 Farm Bill:
Sept 10, 1 pm, Sibley Senior Citizen Center
Sept 11, 1 pm, Harris Community Center
Sept 12, 1 pm, Melvin Savings Bank
Sept 17, 7 pm, S-O High School Auditorium
Sept 18, 7 pm, Ocheyedan Town Hall
Sept 19, 1 pm, Ashton State Bank
By Al Grigg, County Extension Director
BEEF FIELD DAY: The Iowa Beef Center is
organizing a field day at the Beef Nutrition Farm
northwest of Ames for the afternoon of Saturday,
September 7. The program will begin at 1 pm.
Speakers include: Dr. Jim Russel discussing
research on extending the grazing season for
heifers; Dr. Wendy Powers discussing
phosphorous runoff; Dr. Allen Trenkle
discussing research on feeding corn processing
co-products and a feeding trial with Holstein
steer calves; and Dr. Jeff Lorimor discussing
alternative technologies for feedlot runoff
control. Beef producers are invited to a
BBQ/tailgate on campus ahead of the 6 pm
kickoff of the Cyclones vs Tennessee Tech
football game. The food and program are
provided by the Iowa Beef Center; however, you
will need to purchase your own football ticket if
you attend the game.
We recommend landowners and tenants go to
more than one meeting to better understand all
the information being presented. Signup for the
2002 Farm Bill starts in October. Stage 2 letters
will soon be in the mail listing your options, per
farm, using county average yields. Ron Hook,
Farm Management Specialist for Iowa State
University Extension, has an electronic
spreadsheet that has been developed to analyze
the best option on updating base acres and yields.
After you have assembled your acre and yield
information, Ron will be available, by
appointment, to analyze your farm’s production
to determine the best possible option for you.
Contact Ron Hook at the Osceola County
Extension Office 712-754-3648 to make an
appointment.
LIQUID MANURE APPLICATORS: A
liquid manure handling demonstration will be
held at the Iowa State University Doon Research
Farm on Monday, September 16 starting at 1 pm.
Three different types of liquid manure spreaders
with different injection systems will be
demonstrated. Speakers for the event include:
Joel DeJong, Crops Specialist for Iowa State
University Extension, discussing crop issues
dealing with manure applications and the
advantages of properly utilizing manure
nutrients; Kris Kohl, Ag Engineer for Iowa State
University Extension, discussing calibration of
manure spreaders and demonstrating an in the
field service of spreader calibration; and a DNR
representative discussing current regulations on
manure application for producers and
commercial applicators. There is no registration
fee. The Doon Research Farm is located on the
west side of Highway 75 just north of the Doon
exit.
HARVEST SAFETY: September marks the
start of harvest and we wish to remind everyone
to think Safety when harvesting this fall.
Extension Offcie hours are: Monday –Thursday
8am – 5:30 pm and Friday 8am – 2 pm.
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