Division of Extension
Many beef and small ruminant producers are looking forward to pastures greening up in Wisconsin. In some pastures that will include troublesome weeds. Management timing for weed control is narrow for some species and can be the difference between success and a waste of time and money.
The use of beef sires on dairy females has continued to be a common and growing management practice on dairy farms. During the summer of 2021, UW-Madison Division of Extension educators surveyed 40 dairy farms known to be using beef sires to breed dairy females to assess their beef x dairy sire selection criteria, selection of dairy females to breed to beef sires, newborn calf management, milk feeding practices, and how they market their beef x dairy cattle.
UW-Madison Extension’s Sheep Operation Enterprise Budget Excel Spreadsheet can estimate the cost of production using your farm’s historical and current data. Utilizing records and an enterprise budget can assist in answering these questions and making informed decisions.
Dr. Robert Van Saun, Penn State University Extension Veterinarian, joins the UW-Madison Division of Extension’s 2023 Small Ruminant Webinar Series. Dr. Van Saun outlines and supports with research, the nutritional needs of ewes and does in late gestation to prevent pregnancy toxemia and to support the creation of high-quality colostrum in adequate amounts.
Good winter management practices contribute to healthy cattle, reasonable feed costs, and long-term productivity of the beef cow herd. There will be times during the winter when it will be necessary to adjust the ration to help cows through cold conditions.
As the cold weather sets in and winter feeding begins, many bulls have already been removed from the cows to wait for the next breeding season. During this time away from the cows, bulls may be expected to require minimal maintenance to thrive through winter, but it is important to understand the significance of meeting bulls’ needs to ensure their dependability for the next breeding season.
Producers can take steps to minimize the risk of a disease outbreak on their livestock premises. When beef producers increase biosecurity measures to decrease the likelihood of foreign animal diseases, they are also taking steps to reduce exposure to and disease losses from more common endemic diseases such as bovine viral diarrhea, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, mycoplasma, Johne’s disease, shipping fever, trichomoniasis, warts and ringworm.
Download a copy of the Sheep Operation Enterprise Budget to determine the past year’s production costs and profitability, and develop budgets for evaluating next year’s profitability. Accurate closeouts and projections can help identify the sheep enterprises’ strengths and areas for improvement.
Contract hog feeding is an arrangement where one entity contracts with another entity to provide daily care for hogs in various production phases. The most common arrangement, and the arrangement we will discuss here, is a wean-to-finish arrangement where one entity provides weaned pigs, feed, transportation of feed and pigs, and veterinary services and medicine.
Preparing for a Foreign Animal Disease outbreak continues to be one of the most discussed topics in the pork industry. With African Swine Fever as close as the Dominican Republic and Haiti, it has never been more important for pork producers to have a plan in the event of an outbreak.
