Injection sites in cattle.

As more and more portion-controlled retail cuts of the most expensive beef, primarily steaks,
are produced by centralized processors, it has become evident that injections can result
in blemishes at the site of injection. These defects must be trimmed and discarded, often
condemning two or more steaks to the tubs labeled “Non edible.” The costs of trimming can be
as much as $40.00 per head.
Initially, it was thought that feedlots were the primary source of the problem; that the blemishes
resulted from injections given when cattle were processed at the time of entry into the feedlot.
It is now known that blemishes resulting from injection of calves will persist until slaughter.  In fact, the $40.00 per head loss at slaughter, results from administering black leg vaccine in the rear leg of calves at brading time .

Broadcasting vs. Drilling Ryegrass

This is the time of year for producers to be thinking about planting their ryegrass. There are lots of methods to plant ryegrass you just have to decide on which is the best for you. a lot of people just break the entire pasture up and drill or broadcast the seed. The main down fall to this method is you mess up the grass that is already established for summer grazing. you can also just broadcast or drill with no disking at all and keep your summer grass. My favorite method is to turn your disc blades straight and disc the pasture, then broadcast the seed. with this method you will get a stand a little earlier than with no tillage and you do not cut the roots on your summer grass. I also like to mix a little wheat and oats in with my grass that way i can put cattle on it a little earlier.

Harvest residue may be a good choice for producers.

With the drought throughout the mid west being one the the worst on record producers should consider looking at corn residue for supplemental feed. although there may not be a whole lot of whole corn in corn stalks there is still some. it is estimated that there is 3 bushels per acre of corn left in the field that does not pass through the combine. and also 50% of total corn plant yield still remains in the field. these numbers go up in dry years due to the amount of stress on the plants. when is is dry and corn does not have the nutrients it needs it causes some plants to fall over and these can be rolled up just like hay. Although the best utilization come from grazing cattle directly on the corn stalks, if you are going to bale them it is best to cut them with a stalk cutter first to reduce stalk size.