Braford Pair on Limpograss Pasture at Deseret
Urbanization
In Polk County alone, 70,000 people moved in last year with 80% of this growth occurring
outside of the incorporated communities. That means more agricultural land out of production,
more demand for county services and also a rise in property taxes. In a recent agriculture
economic impact study of Polk County, it was determined that for every tax dollar agricultural
operations paid they received 8 cents worth of services from the county in return. But, for every
$1 homeowners paid in taxes they received $1.89 worth of services. That means agriculture
provides the funding for our growing urban population, not to mention the water and other
resources needed. Currently 42% of Polk County's land area is being utilized for agriculture, but
that percentage is shrinking. This will make involvement in your county Cattlemen's
Association and Farm Bureau even more important. No longer can producers sit back in
politics. Ranchers need to take an active role as an organized group.
Efficiency
Finally, cattle prices have started to rise. I anticipate at least three years
of improved prices, but
we will see lower calf prices in 2004-06 if the ten year cycle continues. Cattlemen in Florida will
continue to face discounts for freight and Brahman breeding. In order to remain in business,
ranchers are going to have to look at ways of becoming more efficient and improving the calves
produced. The days of year round breeding, no records and low management are coming to a
close.
There are several ways to improve efficiency. One of the simplest and most effective is annual
pregnancy testing and using a 90-120 day controlled breeding season. This does not require
extensive record keeping since cattle are sorted through the chute following weaning. If cows are
open they can either be sold or branded and sorted to a low maintenance pasture. The shorter
breeding season means that all of the herd is in the same stage of production. All of the herd can
be fed correctly at the right time. This way you don't have dry cows getting fat wasting feed or
wet cows getting thin from a feed shortage. Also, labor is reduced because all of the calves are
weaned and worked at the same time.
One of the
simplest and most effective is annual pregnancy testing and using a 90-120
day controlled breeding season. If you would like to learn how to apply
these management practices, contact your county livestock agent about
attending the Reproductive Management School April 24-28.
At some point, however, to truly become efficient, production and financial records must be
developed. This does not mean that you have to number every cow and calf, but at least keep
track of cattle sales, inventory at breeding, pregnancy rates, average weaning weights, body
condition at weaning, timing and amount of feeding, fertilizer and pasture expenses, labor costs
and equipment and facility purchases and repairs. All this information can be used over time for
total ranch management and developing ranch goals and objectives for the future. If you don't
know where you are it's hard to know what to improve.
Pasture Improvement
Even with improved cattle efficiency, cattlemen will have to get more out of their pastures. Mole
crickets, soda apple, smutgrass, cogongrass are steadily getting worse in this area and if this trend
continues pasture yields will decline even more. Currently we do not have a very good control
for mole crickets. The strategy that has been successful is planting stargrass. This is the one
grass variety that is bothered very little by mole crickets. Bermuda grasses are not as hampered
by them as bahia but can still be damaged. Soda apple and smutgrass can be controlled
chemically with the proper management plan. They are not, however, weeds that are easy to
eliminate. The worst weed to eliminate is cogongrass. Spraying with roundup in the fall, along
with discing, burning and mowing through the growing season will slowly reduce the amount of
cogongrass, but with the plant's tremendous rhizome system there is no quick fix. Plus, this
grass is a tremendous seed producer making it very difficult to eliminate if your neighbors are not
controlling it as well.
The best solution I see for getting more out of your pastures is to diversify varieties of grasses to
have a longer grazing window. Limpograss (hemarthria) and Rhodesgrass have 30-35% of there
growth from October through February. Rhodesgrass also has a much higher feeding value than
bahia in the fall of the year. Limpograss can be stockpiled in late summer because of its high
digestibility and then grazed off and on through most of the winter and early spring. Stargrass
has a much higher yield than bahia and grows a little longer in the fall. This grass can also be
used for hay production and has higher protein levels than bahia when harvested before maturity.
Bermudagrasses are better adapted for the dryer soils and provide higher yields and quality of hay
than bahia. Certainly we will probably always have a major portion of our pastures in Bahia, but
other grasses can extend the time when fresh grass is available, provide higher quality hay and
possibly allow for higher stocking rates. The other thing that can extend the yield and quality of
fall pastures is aeschynomene, a fall legume which is high in protein and adds nitrogen to the soil
in bahia pastures. The final keys to improving what we get from pastures is fertilization and
grazing management. No matter what species of grass you choose, timely, adequate fertilization
and rotational grazing improves the yield by as much as 20-30%.
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