Land and Livestock Post

May 15, 2012

Insuring the future PLANNING AHEAD FOR A POTENTIAL DROUGHT PAG E 10 FOOD SUPPLY SAFE FROM BSE

IT'S NO FLUKE

Mad Cow Disease reported in California.

Dr. Wikse talks liver ямВuke prevention.

CONTROVERSIAL BAN REMOVED

STRATEGIC PLANNING NEEDED

PAGE 4

Restrictions on young workers dropped.

PAGE 8

PAGE 12

Use caution in rebuilding cattle herds.

PAGE 19

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May 15, 2012 âœŞ

The Land & Livestock Post

The Land & Livestock Post

News From the General Manager

M

worked all summer and save money. I had a lot of anger toward insurance back then, and even today I wince sometimes at my premiums, but I know now that it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

In this issue we cover drought insurance. After going through a year like we just had, it is a good idea to be prepared for the worst. Our cover article goes into detail on the options you have and how it can help you manage your pastures. ’Til next time,

✪ May 15, 2012

y first vehicle was a 1983 Chevrolet Custom Deluxe pick-up truck. It had a straight six and a threespeed, column-shift transmission. It didn’t have an air conditioner, but it came with an AM radio.

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JESSE WRIGHT I learned how far you could go on E, and I learned a gas can and comfortable shoes are good things to have. And I learned about insurance.

If I was to drive, then I paid my own gas and insurance. Insurance premiums for a 16-year-old male are outrageous. I

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The Land & Livestock Post ✪ May 15, 2012

News Officials: Food supply safe after cow found with BSE

By TRACIE CONE and GOSIA WOZNIACKA Associated Press

HANFORD, Calif. — The discovery of mad cow disease in a dead dairy cow came soon after it arrived at a nondescript building in the heart of California’s dairy country.

The finding is the first new case of the disease in the U.S. since 2006 and the fourth ever discovered in the country.

The test was performed when the animal was brought to the building, a transfer facility for a processing plant near Hanford.

The cow had died at one of the region’s hundreds of dairies. A plant official said the cow hadn’t exhibited outward symptoms of the disease: unsteadiness, incoordination, a drastic change in

• See COW/Page 5

Ag Commissioner Staples says Texas beef herd is safe Special to The Post

AUSTIN — “As the nation’s leading producer of cattle, Texas is closely following recent news from California regarding detection of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said.

“It’s important for domestic consumers and foreign trading partners to note the animal did not enter into the food chain, and the American food supply is safe and has not been impacted by this recent detection.

“Thanks to a firewall of safeguards in place, American consumers can remain confident our food supply is the safest in the world, and Texas beef is as safe as ever,” Staples said.

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Cow From 4 behavior or low milk production. When the animal arrived at the facility with a truckload

of other dead cows on April 18, it met criteria for government testing: older than 30 months and a fresh corpse.

“We randomly pick a number of samples throughout the

• See BSE/Page 6

Annual Equine Edition: » June 15thth « Ad Deadline May 31stst

May 15, 2012

AP Photo/The Fresno Bee, John Walker

A truck enters Baker Commodities transfer station in Hanford, Calif., where a cow with mad cow disease was discovered last month. Health authorities said the animal never was a threat to the nation's food supply.

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The Land & Livestock Post ✪ May 15, 2012

News

BSE From 5 year, and this just happened to be one that we randomly sampled,” Baker Commodities executive vice president Dennis Luckey said. “It showed no signs” of disease.

The samples went to the food safety lab at the Uni-versity of California, Davis. By April 19, markers indicated the cow could have bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a disease that is fatal to cows and can cause a deadly human brain disease in people who eat tainted meat. It was sent to an Agriculture Department lab in Iowa for further testing.

Days later, federal agriculture officials announced the findings: the animal had atypical BSE. That means it didn’t get the disease from eating infected cattle feed, said John Clifford, the Agriculture Department’s chief veterinary officer.

It was “just a random mutation that can happen every once in a great while in an animal,” said Bruce Akey, director of the New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Cornell University.

“Random mutations go on in nature all the time.”

In humans, experts say it can occur in one in 1 million people, causing sponge-like TY

TREA

n A k r a Cl

holes in the brain. But they say not enough is known about how and how often the disease strikes cattle.

The California Department of Public Health and the state Department of Food and Agriculture quickly worked to assure consumers that the food supply is safe. The cow hadn’t been destined for human consumption and people cannot become ill from drinking milk, experts say.

The building where the cow was selected to be tested sends animals to a rendering plants, which process animal parts for products not going into the human food chain, such as animal food, soap, chemicals or other household products.

Among the unknowns about the current case is whether the animal died of the disease and whether other cattle in its herd are similarly infected.

“It’s appropriate to be cautious, it’s appropriate to pay attention and it’s appropriate to ask questions, but now let’s watch and see what the researchers find out in the next couple of days,” said James Culler, director of the UC Davis dairy food safety laboratory.

The mad cow cases that plagued England in the early 1990s were caused when livestock routinely were fed protein supplements that included ground cow spinal columns and brain tissue, which can harbor the disease.

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June 2: Jordan Cattle Auction, Special Replacement Female Sale, San Saba, TX. June 4: Jordan Cattle Auction, Special Stocker & Feeder Sale. Mason, TX. June 13: Buffalo Livestock Marketing Inc. Pre-conditioned Weaned Calf and Yearling Sale, Buffalo, TX. June 13-15: TSCRA Summer Meeting, Fredricksburg, TX. June 14: Jordan Cattle Auction, Special Stocker & Feeder Sale, San Saba, TX. June 14: Ad Deadline for the Land & Livestock Post. (979) 731-4721 June 28: Ad Deadline for the Land & Livestock Post. (979) 731-4721 Do you have a sale or event you’d like listed? Call Jesse Wright at (979) 731-4721 or email jesse.wright@theeagle.com

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The Land & Livestock Post ✪ May 15, 2012

News Department drops proposed ban on young farm workers

By SAM HANANEL Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Under heavy pressure from farm groups, the Obama administration said it would drop an unpopular plan to prevent children from doing hazardous work on farms owned by anyone other than their parents.

The Labor Department said it is withdrawing proposed rules that would ban children younger than 16 from using most power-driven farm equipment, including tractors. The rules also would prevent those younger than 18 from working in feed lots, grain bins and stockyards.

While labor officials said their goal was to reduce the fatality rate for child farm workers, the proposal had become a popular political target for Republicans who

called it an impractical, heavy -handed regulation that ignored the reality of small farms.

“It’s good the Labor Department rethought the ridiculous regulations it was going to stick on farmers and their families,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. “To even propose such regulations defies common sense, and shows a real lack of understanding as to how the family farm works.”

The surprise move comes just after the Labor Department modified the rule in a bid to satisfy opponents. The agency made it clear it would exempt children who worked on farms owned or operated by their parents, even if the ownership was part of a complex partnership or corporate

• See RULES/Page 9

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The move is sure to disappoint child safety groups who said the rules represent longoverdue protections for children working for hire in farm communities. Three-quarters of working children under 16 who died of work-related injuries in 2010 were in agriculture, according to the Child Labor Coalition.

In March, the child advocacy group criticized GOP legislation that would have stopped the Labor Department from issuing the rules.

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agreement.

That didn’t appease farm groups that complained it would upset traditions in which many children work on farms owned by uncles, grandparents and other relatives to reduce costs and learn how a farm operates. The Labor Department said it was responding to thousands of comments that expressed concern about the impact of the changes on small familyowned farms.

“The Obama administration is firmly committed to promoting family farmers and respecting the rural way of life, especially the role that parents and other family members play in passing those traditions down through the generations,” the agency said in a statement.

Instead, the agency said it would work with rural stakeholders, including the

American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union and 4-H to develop an educational program to reduce accidents to young workers.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., a grain farmer known to till his fields on weekends away from Washington, had come out strongly against the proposed rule. The Democrat continued to criticize the Obama administration rule even after it was tempered earlier this year, saying the Labor Department “clearly didn’t get the whole message” from

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The Land & Livestock Post ✪ May 15, 2012

News

Just in case

Range forage insurance is a good investment

By JANELLE SMITHERMAN FEARS Special to The Post

C

hanges in the way the U.S. Department of Agriculture subsidizes farmers and producers are coming.

“Subsidies will be provided through programs that pay based on low prices, low yields or both,” said Joe Outlaw, professor and extension economist in the department of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University, at the 22nd Annual Outlook for Texas Land Markets meeting in San Antonio. “Pasture range forage insurance will continue to be one of the USDA offerings,” Outlaw said.

Program development The pasture range forage insurance program was implemented during the 2007 crop year. Two new insurance packages were included in the program.

The rainfall index insurance program was pilot tested in 220 counties in Colorado, Idaho, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Dakota and Texas and was based on rainfall indices as a means to measure expected production losses.

A vegetation index insurance pro-

10

gram was tested in 110 counties in Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and South Dakota and was based on satellite imagery that determines acreage productivity as a means to measure production losses.

Together, these pilot programs were available to provide coverage on approximately 160 million of the 640 million acres of grazing and hay land in the United States.

The programs were expanded for each of the 2008 and 2009 crop years, making them available for 18 states.

They were expanded again for the 2010 and 2011 crop years with additional states and counties.

In any state where pasture range forage insurance is offered, coverage for forage losses is based on one of the two standardized measures: rainfall or vegetation greenness. Only one of these measures is used within a state.

For instance, vegetation greenness index is the measurement applied in New Mexico, but in Texas, the rainfall index is used.

“There are not likely to be any changes in the programs for the 2012 crop year,” said Outlaw. “The 2012 Farm Bill is making very little progress through Congress and I expect the 2008 bill to be extended.

Photo courtesy of RJ Consultant Services For a producer strictly in the cattle business, types of crops are pasture and hay. In Texas, pasture range forage insurance uses rainfall to determine coverage.

Photo courtesy of RJ Consultant Services Insurance against lack of rainfall is a risk-management tool worth considering.

Although changes are coming in USDA subsidies, the pasture range forage program will continue. Sept. 30 is the deadline for applying fr 2013 program insurance.

Even though Congress is working on it, we probably won’t see the new farm bill until spring of 2013.”

Current plan “Rainfall index is the only pasture range forage insurance program available in Texas, but it is offered in all counties,” said Clay Wolter, sales representative for Helena Chemical Co. which offers pasture range forage insurance as one of many products.

“Grids obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are used to determine expected and final rainfall which is used in premium cost and forage loss calculations. Indemnities are based on deviation from normal for each grid.

“A payment is made only if the final grid index for the insured unit is less than the producer’s trigger or expected grid index. Each grid is 12 by 12 miles, identified by longitude and latitude and assigned an identification number. Many counties contain multiple grids and a ranch may lie in two or more grids,” Wolter said.

Wolter said, “You must select at least two 2-month time periods for insurance coverage. These time periods are called index intervals and a

maximum of six can be selected for coverage within any given year. The intervals are January-February, February-March, March-April, AprilMay, May-June, June-July, July-August, August-September, SeptemberOctober, October-November or November-December Producers cannot choose a month twice, so for coverage during the entire year, the intervals are JanuaryFebruary, March-April, May-June, July-August, September-October and November-December.

“This selection provides insurance for the entire year without overlapping months,” Wolter said.

Coverage level “The producer selects a coverage level and protection factor for each of the crop types in the county,” Wolter said. “For a person strictly in the cattle business, there are two crop types: pasture and hay. A coverage unit is all insured acres within a grid ID for each crop type and index interval.

“Coverage levels are available from 70 percent to 90 percent in 5 percent increments. This means that a mini-

• See INSURE/Page 11

Insure From 10

ON THE COVER Photo illustration by Dave McDermand

Full Line of Wildlife Feed

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“The deadline for applying for 2013 pasture range forage insurance is Sept. 30 and premiums are due July 1, 2013,” Wolter said.

Since drought is common in Texas, insurance against the lack of rainfall is a risk management tool worth considering.

Additional information and a list of agents is available at Farm Service Agencies.

✪

mum of 70 percent of the final rainfall grid index can be insured and a maximum of 90 percent.

“Protection factors are percentages of crop values and 60 to 150 percent can be selected in one percent increments.

Crop values are set by counties and are used in many ways, including assessment of property taxes,” Wolter said.

The Kelly Newton Insurance Co. website provides a good example of how insurance coverage is calculated, based on grazing land: • County Base Value = $7.41.

• Coverage Level = 85 percent (selected by the producer between 70 and 90 percent).

• Protection Factor = 150 percent (selected by the producer between 60 percent and 150 percent).

• $7.41 X 0.85 X 1.50 = $9.45,

the dollar amount of production coverage per acre.

Kelly Newton said the premium on pasture range forage insurance is relatively inexpensive, ranging from $0.25 through $1.50 per acre on grazing land in most counties.

Wolter said that most producers insure at maximum coverage levels and production factors due to the low premium costs. The federal government pays approximately 55 to 60 percent of the premium and the producer pays 40 to 45 percent.

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The Land & Livestock Post ✪ May 15, 2012

Ask the Vet There are ways to test for and eliminate liver flukes

Q

uestion: “I’m worried about liver flukes in my cattle because of an article I read in Beef.

According to the article, liver flukes are spreading all over the place. What sort of pasture conditions would make me think I may have them on my ranch?

And, is there a test I can do on my cows to tell if they have flukes?”

Answer: Yup, there is an article on STEVE liver flukes WIKSE , DVM in the April issue of Beef magazine titled “Encroaching Villains.” Our own veterinary parasitologist, Dr. Tom Craig, and our Texas AgriLife Extension veterinarian, Dr. Buddy Faries, are quoted in the article. Your questions are good ones because the excellent article

did not emphasize fluke habitat and diagnosis.

We have both the bovine liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) and the deer liver fluke (Fascioloides magna) in the Brazos Valley. Their life cycles are quite similar. They are present only on some ranches and infected ranches don’t necessarily have both.

Liver fluke habitat The answer to your first question is your pastures would need to have standing water during springtime to be favorable habitat for liver flukes.

Here’s how it works. Cattle liver fluke eggs passed in manure drop into water and hatch into larvae in two to four weeks at warm temperatures.

To complete their life cycle, within 24 hours the larvae

• See FLUKES/Page 13

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Flukes From 12

$

s

sue 24 Is

Liver fluke infections have a range of impacts on the

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Liver fluke infections have been shown to lower pregnancy rates in replacement heifers along the Texas coast.

This is due to a combination of depressed growth rates causing fewer heifers to reach their target breeding weight plus interference with breakdown of sex steroids in livers damaged by migrating fluke larvae.

Heavy fluke infestations occur in a small number of cows in infected herds. These cows become very thin and show clinical signs of diarrhea, rough hair coat, pale mucous membranes and collection of edema fluid between their jaws (bottle jaw). No matter how much grain you feed them they

keep getting thinner and weaker. Death can occur, especially in lactating cows.

These signs are not specific for liver fluke infection.

Identical clinical signs are seen in cows with advanced stomach worm infections or Johne’s disease.

Diagnosis The answer to your second question is there are, indeed, tests that can be done to diagnose liver flukes. Ranchers sometimes discover they

have a problem without testing when their calves’ livers are condemned at slaughter for liver fluke damage or liver flukes are found in cattle autopsied on the ranch.

Autopsies of most cattle that die will give you a good measure of the parasite status of your herd.

The most common way bovine liver flukes (Fasciola hepatica) are diagnosed on beef ranches is by laboratory

• See LIVER/Page 15

May 15, 2012

19.95

Detrimental effects

health of cattle depending on the number of flukes that set up housekeeping in the liver.

Mild to moderate infestations result in reduced growth rates and feed efficiency in young stock, and lower body condition in adults.

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must enter a small snail of the genus Lymnea called a “mud snail.” The snails can burrow into mud to survive as standing water comes and goes, which means continual standing water is not necessary for completion of the life cycle of the liver fluke.

The fluke larvae mature and reproduce in the snail and in two months many tadpole-like larvae emerge into the water. These larvae swim to blades of grass and develop into cysts resistant to drying.

Cattle become infected when they ingest the cysts along with grass.

This means you would need standing water for only three months in the spring to have good snail and liver fluke habitat your ranch, as Faries stated in the Beef article.

Craig stated in another publication that “liver flukeinfested pastures tend to have clay soils and are constantly or periodically flooded but not inundated.” Heavy clay soils result in high water tables. This type of area could simply be a depression in a pasture or it could be bottomland.

Even bar ditches along ranch roads can hold water that makes good fluke habitat. Typically, favorable habitat on a liver fluke infested ranch is only 1 percent to 5 percent of the total land area.

The Texas A&M Beef Center along the Brazos River has a long swampy swale running through several pastures. I autopsied a cow found dead on the edge of that swamp. The cow died of redwater and its liver was loaded with deer liver flukes.

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10522 FM 2095 • Gause, Texas 77857 Billy Stein • 979.200.1300 billy@fluhartyfarms.net

Questions About Cattle Health?

Ask the Vet! Steve Wikse - Retired DVM Large Animal Clinical Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University

P.O. Box 3000 Bryan, TX 77805 FAX (979) 776-8923 or vist www.landandlivestockpost.com and click “subscribe”.

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13

The Land & Livestock Post ✪ May 15, 2012

News LIVESTOCK MARKET REPORTS Buffalo Results of the Buffalo Livestock Exchange’s April 21 sale: Head: 859.

Steers: 150-200 lbs., $190$285; 200-300 lbs., $190$275; 300-400 lbs., $180$212; 400-500 lbs., $165$198; 500-600 lbs., $155$182; 600-700 lbs., $150$170; 700-800 lbs., $130$142.

Heifers: 150-200 lbs., $175$265; 200-300 lbs., $170$245; 300-400 lbs.; $165$210, 400-500 lbs., $155$185; 500-600 lbs., $145$177; 600-700 lbs., $135$150; 700-800 lbs., $120$142.

Slaughter bulls: $90-$107.

Slaughter cows: $65-$94.

Bred cows: $875-$1,200.

Cow/calf pairs: $950-$1,950.

Caldwell Results of the Caldwell Livestock Commission’s April 25 sale: Head: 405

Steers: 200-300 lbs., $210$260; 300-400 lbs., $180$250; 400-500 lbs., $170$190; 500-600 lbs., $150$180; 600-700 lbs., $130$145; 700-800 lbs., $120$140.

Heifers: 200-300 lbs., $160$220, 300-400 lbs., $165$220; 400-500 lbs., $155$185; 500-600 lbs., $140$165; 600-700 lbs., $130$140; 700-800 lbs., $118$133.

Slaughter bulls: $88-$109.

Slaughter cows: $50-$90.

Stocker cows: $850-$1,200.

Cow/calf pairs: $650-$1,600.

Groesbeck Results of the Groesbeck Auction & Livestock Co.’s April 26 sale: Head: 1,223.

Steers: 300-400 lbs., $195$250, 400-500 lbs., $187$220, 500-600 lbs., $175$200, 600-700 lbs., $160$170.

Heifers: 300-400 lbs., $185$205; 400-500 lbs., $161$186; 500-600 lbs., $155-

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Jordan Results of the Jordan Cattle Auction Co.’s April 26 sale: Head: 1,547.

Steers: 200-300 lbs., $200$257.50; 300-400 lbs., $170-$209; 400-500 lbs., $150-$188; 500-600 lbs., $140-$174; 600-700 lbs., $140-$174; 700-800 lbs., $135$149.

Heifers: 200-300 lbs., $185$217.50; 300-400 lbs., $170$201; 400-500 lbs., $145$190; 500-600 lbs., $137$160; 600-700 lbs., $135$152; 700-800 lbs., $125$134.

Slaughter bulls: $97.50$111.

Slaughter cows: $65-$94.

Stocker cows: $750-$1,300.

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Milano Results of the Milano Livestock Exchange’s April 24 sale: Head: 342.

Steers: 300-400 lbs., $175$230; 400-500 lbs., $166$195; 500-600 lbs., $145$176; 600-700 lbs., $142$166.

Heifers: 300-400 lbs., $165$210; 400-500 lbs., $150$192; 500-600 lbs., $131$163.50; 600-700 lbs., $127$155.

Slaughter bulls: $103-$108.

Slaughter cows: $60-$93.

Stocker cows: $1,400$1,650.

Cow/calf pairs: $1,775$2,750.

Head: 1,173 Steers: 150-300 lbs., $150$290; 300-400 lbs., $150$215; 400-500 lbs., $135$185; 500-600 lbs., $130$167.50; 600-700 lbs., $125$156.

Heifers: 150-300 lbs., $150$275; 300-400 lbs., $140$210; 400-500 lbs., $140$185; 500-600 lbs., $130$165; 600-700 lbs., $125$150.

Slaughter bulls: $85-$109.

Slaughter cows: $55-$93.

Stocker cows: $850-$1,250.

Cow/calf pairs: $950-$1,550.

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May 15, 2012

Cattle and deer liver flukes occur on selected ranches throughout the Brazos valley.

These parasites can cause significant disease and economic losses.

If you have pastures that are favorable habitat for flukes on your ranch plus the herd problems discussed above that may be caused by liver flukes your cattle probably are infected.

The good news is it is possible to control the disease.

Your veterinarian can collect samples for diagnostic confirmation and set your ranch up with a successful parasite control program.

✪

testing of fecal samples. It’s important to know that liver flukes are diagnosed by a fecal egg sedimentation test that is different than the fecal egg floatation test for stomach worms.

The fecal test for stomach worms tells nothing about liver fluke infection. To diagnose liver flukes, fecal samples from 15 cows should be examined by the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory with the inexpensive Flukefinder sedimentation test.

Deer liver fluke (Fascioloides magna) infections of cattle cannot be diagnosed by fecal egg sedimentation tests because eggs of deer flukes in cysts of the livers of cattle are blocked from entering bile ducts and reaching the intestine. There are no eggs in the

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The Land & Livestock Post ✪ May 15, 2012

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May 15, 2012 âœŞ

The Land & Livestock Post

The Land & Livestock Post

News

Be cautious in restocking herd

By BLAIR FANNIN Texas AgriLife Communications

ranchers who have extra grass can bale it, graze it or lease it out for grazing.

“If you are completely destocked, stay out a year and let that pasture recover for a year before coming back in,” he said. “Overall, I just think it’s a little too soon to start restocking. I think producers need to be very cautious; remember, more is not always better.”

Anderson said from an economic standpoint, ranchers who rebuild need a plan.

“They need to think seriously about stocking rates and have some sort of plan,” he said. “Another thing they need to be looking at carefully is how much you fed last year and what feedstuffs you already have.”

AgriLife Extension is offering educational programs on cattle herd rebuilding. Visit agriliferegister.tamu.edu and enter the keyword “beef.”

✪ May 15, 2012

Experts with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are advising beef cattle producers to use caution and strategic planning when thinking about restocking herds after drought.

Though rainfall has been received throughout the eastern portion of the state and promoted growth of forages on pastures, cattle producers need to be careful when evaluating their operations.

“I think so far people are being really cautious,” said David Anderson, AgriLife Extension livestock economist. “I think producers are waiting to see if this rain is going to last. They should be asking themselves questions like ‘How long is it going to take for your pasture to recover?’ and ‘What is going to happen once we get into the summer?’”

Anderson said there are also financial constraints to consider, such as how much was spent feeding hay and other feedstuffs through the 2011 drought.

“There’s also sticker shock on how much it is going to cost to replace cattle,” he said.

Larry Redmon, AgriLife Extension state forage specialist, said producers should always consider the threat of drought.

“My take is people should be stocked for drought at all times,” Redmon said. “People can reduce the risk of potential drought and not have to worry about doing any buying and selling. If you have a good year, there are lots of ways to use that extra grass.

You can’t feed your way out of a drought. You can easily spend more money (trying) than the operation can generate over several years.”

Redmon said in a good year

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The Land & Livestock Post ✪ May 15, 2012

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