Feb.
2010
Klickitat County
BULLSHEET
Published by WSU-Klickitat County Extension
228 W. Main, MS-CH-12, Goldendale, WA 98620 509-773-5817 klickitat@wsu.edu
UPCOMING PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
EASTERN KLICKITAT CONSERVATION DISTRICT MEETING, Feb. 11, Alder Creek Grange,
Bickleton. CENTRAL KLICKITAT CONSERVATION DISTRICT MEETING, Feb. 18, Centerville
Grange, Centerville. Call 509-773-5823 for more info.
KLICKITAT COUNTY WINTER CATTLE PRODUCERS’ MEETING, Feb. 19, Centerville Grange in
Centerville, WA. The program will start at 9AM with registration and refreshments sponsored by
Simcoe Insurance of Goldendale. Presentations will begin at 9:30AM and end by 4:30 PM. Topics to
be presented include Conditions Affecting Herd Performance and Fertility; Low Stress Fenceline
Weaning; Forage Kochia; Economics of the BVD Project; WSDA Updates; Cull Cow Decision Making; the Sandhills Calving System; and a Stock Watering Update from the Washington Cattlemen’s
Association. There will be a one-hour break for lunch, which will be provided. This program will be
free and pre-registration is not required. For more information, contact Susan Kerr at 509-773-5817
or kerrs@wsu.edu.
WSU EXTENSION PESTICIDE EDUCATION WORKSHOP, Feb. 26, City of Goldendale Fire Hall,
225 W. Court St. in Goldendale, WA. Five pesticide recertification credits will be available. The
program will start at 8:30AM with registration and refreshments provided by Simcoe Insurance;
presentations will begin at 9AM. Topics to be presented include Endangered Species and Water
Quality; Agricultural Health Study; Reclamation of Weedy Acreage; Weed Management Strategies;
and New Pasture and Cereal Pests in Washington State. There will be a one-hour break for lunch
(not provided). This program will be free and pre-registration is not required. It is sponsored by WSU
Extension-Klickitat and the Klickitat County Noxious Weed Control Board. For more information,
contact Susan Kerr at 509-773-5817 or kerrs@wsu.edu.
WSU EXTENSION-KITTITAS CO. BEEF SCIENCE SERIES. Free. Call 509-962-7507 for info.
FEB. 16
10AM
Calving Management and Calf Care by Dr. Dale Moore, WSU Veterinary Medicine Extension
MARCH 4
7PM
Direct Marketing Strategies for Farm-Raised Meats by Colleen Donovan, WSU Small Farms Program (will include beef, chicken and goat)
MARCH 18 1:30PM
Beef Cow Management to Ensure Breedback by Norman Suverly, WSU
Okanogan County Extension
APRIL 1
7PM
How Does Grazing Management Affect Animal Health and Calf Profits?
by Tip Hudson, WSU Kittitas County Extension.
TIES TO THE LAND SUCCESSION PLANNING WORKSHOP, APRIL 3, Ellensburg, WA. Space is
limited to 30 families; call 509-962-7507 to reserve your space.
BEEF-O-RAMA, May 22, Goldendale FFA Building, Goldendale WA. Registration $5. Activities will
focus on getting ready for fair, quality assurance, nutrition and feeding. We could use more adult
volunteers if you are available. For more info, contact Lisa Harness of Klickitat County 4-H at 509773-5817 or lisah@co.klickitat.wa.us.
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MATCHING HAY QUALITY
TO COW NEEDS
Early cut fertilized hay is the only feed listed
that meet all the cow’s requirements following
calving. Nutritional demands are the highest during this time because of lactation.
By efficiently managing the winter feeding
program, it is possible to meet nutritional demands of the cow herd and minimize supplementation. Because nutritional value varies from field
to field and year to year, testing is essential to
minimize supplement feed costs. The costs of
forage testing are minimal compared to the costs
of most protein and/or energy supplements.
Cattle require quantities of nutrients, not percentages of nutrients. The percentage of nutrients needed to balance rations will be incorrect if
the amount of hay fed is different from the quantity required. Cattle can suffer from “hollow belly”
when insufficient forage is fed, no matter what
the forage nutrient density. Generally, an animal’s dry matter intake ranges from 1 to 3% of its
body weight depending on the forage quality. The
higher the forage quality, the greater the potential
intake. Remember that environmental conditions
often create the need for additional forage intake
during winter months.
Purchasing additional feed based on the
quality and quantity of feed on hand can save
money. Alfalfa hay that does not meet dairy industry specifications can often be purchased
cheaper than processed supplements on the basis of protein per pound. A combination of homegrown hay, purchased alfalfa hay and a phosphorous supplement will usually balance the nutritional needs of the cow herd during critical periods of the year.
The best way to purchase feed and balance a
ration with feed-on-hand is through nutritional
chemical analysis and least-cost ration formulation.
adapted from an article by Ron Torell, Dan Nelson and Jason
Davison, U. of NV Extension
Feeding range cattle through the winter is the
most costly aspect of many livestock oper-ations.
However, if hay quality is matched to the nutritional demands of cattle, purchase of supplements can be reduced and herd pro-duction can
be increased. This can be accomp-lished by
planning the hay feeding sequence. Improving
hay quality through fertilization, water management, species composition and time of harvest
may also reduce the cost of winter feeding.
January, February and March are nutritionally critical months for cows that will calve at the
beginning of April. Nutritional demands are approximately 10% greater during the last third of
pregnancy. Allowing cows to lose ex-cessive
condition prior to calving will delay birth the following year due to delayed estrus.
Inadequate nutrition during the three months
after calving (April, May and June) is even more
detrimental to reproduction the following year.
During these three months, nutritional demands
are 20% higher than pre-calving requirements for
cows and 25% higher for first-calf heifers. If the
nutritional demands of the cows are not met during these critical six months (January through
June), conception rates can be greatly reduced
or delayed. The same effect has been demonstrated with bred yearling heifers.
A feeding plan based on the nutritional demands of cattle and quality of feed-on-hand can
be developed for hay. The poorest quality hay is
late cut, non-fertilized hay. Producers should
feed this hay during the middle third of pregnancy
when the cow’s nutritional demands are low. Late
cut hay falls just short of meeting requirements
for protein and phosphorous, but meets or exceeds requirements for energy and calcium during the middle term of pregnancy.
Early cut non-fertilized hay and late cut fertilized hay exceed cows’ requirements in the middle third of pregnancy. The increased nutritional
value of these hays will supply adequate nutrition
for cows in the last three months of pregnancy
when a phosphorous supplement is added. An
energy-based supplement may be necessary
during cold stress because the total digestible
nutrient (TDN) values for these hays just meet
cows’ minimum energy requirements.
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2010 REDBOOKS
Redbooks are available to purchase at
www.beefusa.org, click on “store” and then “Cattle Learning Center. An alternative to the
Redbook is an Excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet features the same record keeping sections
as the Redbook. To download the spreadsheet
for free go to
www.cattlelearningcenter.org/redbook.
estimates for different traits in cattle are listed in
Table 1.
Table 1.
Heritability Estimates of Beef Cattle Traits
Trait
Heritability estimate
Carcass weight
0.32-0.34
Backfat thickness
0.12-0.14
Longissimus muscle ar- 0.26-0.27
ea
Marbling score
0.27
Follicle size
0.16
Pregnancy rate
0.07
Mature weight
0.52
Mature height
0.71
Incidence Johne’s dis0.10
ease
Incidence Bovine
0.085
respiratory disease
BEEF QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM:
BREEDING AND GENETICS – Part I
adapted from an article by Dr. Holly Neibergs in Spring 2009
WSU Veterinary Medicine Extension Newsletter
The goal of genetic selection of animals is to
select individuals with the best set of genes to
produce desired characteristics (such as growth
efficiency, disease resistance and carcass quality) in the next generation. Most economicallyrelevant traits are called polygenic because they
are affected by many genes, most of which with
small effects. The animals with the best set of
genes will have the best breeding values. The
breeding value is the collective genetic merit of
an animal when all its genes are considered.
However, the progeny will only inherit a random
sample of half of the genes from the sire and half
of the genes from the dam, so only half of the
breeding value of an animal will be passed on to
the offspring. The relationship between the traits
and the breeding value is measured by heritability.
Heritability is a term that is often misunderstood. Heritability applies to populations and not
to individual animals. Heritability is a measure of
the strength of the relationship between performance and breeding values for a trait, such as
birth weight, in a given population and environment. If a trait is highly heritable, animals with
high performance in that trait tend to produce offspring with high performance. In contrast, if a trait
is not highly heritable, the performance of the
parents will provide little insight into the performance of the offspring.
Heritability measurements range from 0 to 1
(in percentage terms, 0 to 100%). Generally,
traits with heritability estimates less than 0.2 are
considered lowly heritable. Traits with heritability
between 0.2 and 0.4 are considered moderately
heritable and traits with heritability greater than
0.4 are considered highly heritable. Heritabilities
above 0.7 are rare. Some examples of heritability
The heritability of a trait is not fixed. Heritability estimates will vary from population to population, from breed to breed and from environment
to environment.
Expected progeny differences or EPDs are a
selection tool used in choosing breeding stock.
An EPD is the expected difference between the
average performance of an animal’s progeny and
the average performance of progeny of parents
with EPDs of zero. This assumes the mates of
the animals being compared are similar.
Comparisons of EPDs of animals of different
breeds can be problematic because mates of the
animals are typically not similar. There are
across-breed adjustment factors that can be
used to compare some different breeds for various traits. For further information, go to
www.beefimprovement.org/2007_ABEPD_press_release.pdf.
EPDs are estimates of an animal’s true
breeding value and are predicted from performance data. EPDs are expressed in measurements associated with the trait such as pounds
and inches. Sire summaries provide EPDs based
on performance records within a breed at a given
time. EPDs and their accuracy may change over
the life of an animal. As an animal acquires more
progeny, the accuracy of the EPD will increase,
and the relative value of the EPD may change.
When reviewing EPDs from sire summaries, be
careful to note the accuracies of the EPDs listed
for each animal. Accuracy values close to 1.0 indicates greater reliability, whereas accuracies of
0.70 to 0.30 provide low reliability.
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Once you have decided what your herd’s
health risks are and what health products you will
use, consider how to use them most effectively.
A statement on the label of every disease prevention product emphasizes it is for use in
healthy animals. If an animal is not healthy and
vigorous, it cannot mount a strong immune response. If the animal is fighting another disease
at the time of vaccination, he can’t respond well
because his immune system is otherwise engaged. If he is stressed from a long haul, weaning, weather conditions, rough handling, hunger,
water deprivation or other causes, he can’t respond well because his system responds to the
stress much like it would an active infection, tying
up the immune cells that are needed for a response to the vaccine. Nutrition is also important
because producing immune cells and mounting
an immune response requires adequate levels of
protein and minerals, notably zinc and copper.
Every producer has looked at an expired
product or one that has been out of refrig-eration
for too long and wondered if he can use it. Would
you drive your pick-up to town if your insurance
had expired? It makes more sense to avoid the
problem by purchasing only the amount of product that you will use in a timely manner and caring for health products accord-ing to instructions.
Many vaccines can be deactivated by temperature extremes and/or exposure to light. Take
animal health products to working chutes in a
small cooler with ice packs. It will not only keep
them cool in summer and prevent freez-ing in
winter, but keep them in the dark as well. Mix only enough live products to work the amount of
cattle you can process in about ½ hour. Keep
stress down by moving small groups of animals
at a time to the chute area, leaving those yet to
be worked and those already worked in pens with
hay, water and a place to rest.
Your veterinarian is your health program professional. He or she can assess your needs specifically for your program and is aware of special
problems in your area.
More than ever, beef producers need to
watch the pennies in their expense column. It
doesn’t make much sense, however, to save
pennies that will cost you dollars. Instead, focus
on determining which products are val-uable in
your herd health program and how to make these
products work most effectively.
continued
Let’s look at an example of an EPD for yearling weight. Two bulls from the same breed and
sire summary are being compared. Bull #101 has
a yearling weight EPD of +6.0 pounds with an
accuracy of 0.99. Bull #102 has a yearling weight
EPD of +50 pounds with an accuracy of 0.95. If
both bulls were randomly mated to the cows in
your herd, you could expect bull 102’s calves to
weigh, on average, 44 pounds more as a yearling
than bull 101’s progeny as a yearling (50 pounds
- 6 pounds = 44 pounds). It does not mean that
all of 102’s calves will weigh more than 101’s
calves, as the genetic contribution given to each
calf from each sire will vary. The contribution of
the cow on weaning weight will also vary.
To use EPDs for choosing breeding stock,
you must identify the traits that you want to emphasize for improvement and keep records for
those traits so you can monitor your pro-gress
toward your goals. For example, if Joe is searching for a new bull, he must first identify what his
goals are for improving his herd. If he has previously established his goals, he will need to determine how he is progressing toward his goals.
This may be facilitated by a review of the performance records of his herd.
Most producers do not select animals based
on a single trait. This is because profitability is affected by many traits and selection of animals for
a single trait may have a detrimental correlated
effect on another trait of importance. To overcome this, selection indexes are used. Selection
indexes are a method for weighting different traits
to achieve a more balanced and profitable response to selection. The use of indexes provides
a more effective means of selecting for multiple
traits simultaneously.
COW CALF: GETTING THE MOST FROM
YOUR HERD HEALTH DOLLAR
by Dr. Dave Sparks
Many producers mistakenly believe if you
vaccinate for a disease, animals are protected,
and if you do not, they are susceptible. It is not
that black and white. Animals have differing degrees of response to vaccine leading to differing
levels of immunity for that disease. Exposure rate
can also vary. Disease occurs when exposure
exceeds immunity level.
BULL BREEDING
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SOUNDNESS EXAMS
seminal vesiculitis, a common problem in young
bulls.
About 15 to 25% of yearling bulls are expected to fail or be deferred on the first BBSE if
performed between the ages of 11 and 13
months. The primary reason is poor morphology
(sperm shape) due to immaturity; most of these
bulls will eventually pass the BBSE but this
should not be assumed and bulls should be reexamined periodically. Bulls should be classified
unsatisfactory if they do not pass by 15 months
of age. Key messages about BBSE:
� Know the health and vaccination status of the
herd of origin and test non-virgin bulls for trichomoniasis.
� Know that fertility and breeding ability
change. Bulls should be examined annually even
if they achieved normal pregnancy rates in the
previous season.
� Do not get surprised. Schedule examination of
bulls 60 days prior to intended use so a satisfactory bull can be purchased if the current bull is
deemed unsatisfactory.
� Yearling bulls examined between 11-13
months will have a high failure rate. Schedule
examination of yearling bulls at least 30 days before intended use, even if they were ex-amined
when sold.
� Provide a safe environment for onsite BBSE.
This includes a safe environment for bulls, veterinarians and personnel and a covered shed for
adequate semen examination.
� Think about welfare. Collection of semen with
electroejaculation should be performed according
to strict guidelines.
� BBSE does not test for serving capacity. An
observation period of bull/cow interaction is recommended to make sure bulls have normal libido.
� Pay attention to bull-bull interaction and injuries during the breeding season, particularly in
multi-sire mating systems.
� Take insurance on high-value bulls by preserving semen. High-value bulls should be collected
and their semen frozen before use in a natural
mating system. Semen collection and freezing
should be performed under veterinary guidance.
adapted from an article by Dr. Ahmed Tibary,
from Summer 2009 WSU Veterinary Medicine
Extension Newsletter
Bulls are one of the major factors in herd fertility and risk of introduction of diseases into a
herd. Although sterility is not common, marg-inal
fertility may cause economic loss and result in
poor fertility of daughters. Herds using tested
bulls average 8% higher calf crop than herd using untested bulls. Despite this, the 2009 National Animal Health Survey (NAHMS) revealed less
than 60% of all cow-calf operations surveyed perform a complete bull breeding soundness examination (BBSE).
BBSE implies the use of standardized examination protocol to eliminate bulls with physical or
health defects from breeding and keep only bulls
with the potential to achieve high conception
rates under natural mating conditions. BBSE
guidelines used by veterinarians in the USA have
been set by the Society for Theriogenology (SFT)
and the American College of Theriogenology.
According to these guidelines, bulls are classified
as either satis-factory potential breeder, unsatisfactory, or deferred based on health and reproductive parameters. Health parameters include
general physical examination with a particular
emphasis on conformation, feet and vision
soundness. Bulls presenting known hereditary
defects or showing signs of systemic illness are
deemed unsatisfactory.
Bulls with treatable diseases may be deferred
for another examination before use. Young bulls
are often removed for persistent frenulum (a possibly hereditary defect) and penile warts (firbropapilloma). Physical un-soundness in older bulls
is primarily due to musculoskeletal problems or
injuries to the prepuce and penis.
Reproductive ability is primarily evaluated on
the basis of scrotal circumference (SC, a direct
measure of sperm production capacity), semen
morphology and motility. Poor SC may be due to
genetics, developmental abnormalities, nutritional
deficiencies or diseases.
Specific abnormalities of spermatozoa may
be due to genetics, nutritional deficiencies, toxins, disease processes (high fever, testicular inflammation) or environment (frostbite, heat
stress). Adequate evaluation of morphology requires experience and adequate equipment. One
of the most common causes of poor motility is
TIMELY ADVICE
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 Watch for calf scours:
√ Give fluids to scouring calves that become
dehydrated.
√ Consult your veterinarian for proper diagnosis and treatment.
√ Move cows that are approaching calving
to a clean pasture.
 Vaccinate calves 6 to 8 weeks or older for clostridial diseases according to label recommendations.
 Separate cows with calves and increase their
feed.
 Line up AI sires and/or purchase new bulls at
least 30 days before the breeding season.
√ Demand performance records and check
health history including immunizations.
√ Choose a breed and use EPDs plus visual
observation to select bulls that best fit your production and marketing program.
 Evaluate yearling replacement heifers for pelvic
area, reproductive tract score, and weight. Heifers should reach their target weight of 65% of
expected mature weight by breeding season.
 Record the ID number of the last calf born on
the appropriate calendar date to serve as record
for a PVP program.
 Determine the need for nitrogen fertilization of
grass pasture fields for early spring growth.
 Plan pasture utilization strategy.
 Consider frost-seeding legumes and grass
seed.
 New fences should follow vegetation types and
landforms to create more homogenous management units to avoid localized overgrazing and riparian damage.
by Norman Suverly, from the WSU Beef Management Calendar (MISC0396), Feb. and March
 Observe cows closely, especially heifers. Expect calving difficulty and intervene if:
√ No progress after 90 minutes of labor.
√ Calf is backwards (only the calf’s tail is
visible or dewclaws point up).
√ Calf’s head and front feet are not visible.
 Identify calf with ear tag and/or tattoo while
young and easy to handle.
 Record dam ID and birth date.
 Castration and dehorning are less stressful
when performed on young animals.
 Registered calves should be weighed during
the first 24 hours.
 Call AI technicians for spring breeding appointments.
 Determine how much you can spend for bulls
and/or semen.
 Record the identification number of the first calf
born on the appropriate calendar date to serve as
a record for a Process Verified Program (PVP).
 For neonatal calves, administer oral antibodies
for disease-causing organisms on farm as recommended by veterinarian.
 Increase Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) of the
diet by 1% for every 1° below freezing.
 Provide clean water at all times.
 Provide wind breaks.
 Inform tax preparer of sales on unbred heifers
in the breeding pool because they are considered
breeding livestock by the IRS.
 Analyze cash and futures feeder cattle prices
and project potential profit and production costs
for selling backgrounder/finisher calves immediately or at a later date.
 Prepare a monthly cash flow for your beef cattle enterprise and your total farm business.
 Prepare for pasture renovation by purchasing
seeds, inoculants, etc.; get equipment ready.
 Assess hay quality and inventory.
 Allocate hay feeding based on animal needs
and hay quality.
 Determine varieties for pasture/range renovation.
 Consider Sand Hills calving system to reduce
scours.
PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST
 2008 Estimated Costs and Returns for a 150Head Cow-calf to Grass-finished Beef Production
System in the Channelled Scablands Range Area of East-central Washington (EM010E)
 Bull Selection and Breeding Soundness Evaluation for the Beef Producer (EB1601)
 Selecting Beef AI Sires to Maximize Profit
(EB1968E)
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