Limousin Heart Beat
Sale day in the Heartland.
News Back In Time...............26, 42 Covering Ground................4 Fullblood Alliance News.....3 Heartland Calendar............3 Heartland Highlights ...16-17 Junior Beat..................14-15 NALF Update.................... 11 On The Road Again............6 Recipe of the Month.........37 Sales Reports..............26-38
State News Iowa News...................21-23 Kansas News...................45 Minnesota News..........24-25 Missouri News.............42-45 Nebraska News.............8-10 South Dakota News.....12-13 Wisconsin News..........18-19
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Official Publication of the heartland Limousin Association • May/June 2014
Hold Cows Off Pasture Until Grass Reaches a Minimum of Four Inches At the first sign of green grass growing in pastures, farmers will be tempted to turn in livestock for grazing. “Hold back,” says Rob Kallenbach, University of Missouri Extension Forage Specialist. “Wait for grass to reach a minimum four inches of new growth.” More is better. “After a long hard winter, I am as sick of feeding hay as anyone.” Kallenbach says. “But I’ll try to hold back.” A delayed start on grazing becomes more important than usual this spring. “Pastures will be weak and thin,” he says. “Give grasses a chance to gain strength.” Pastures were hurt two ways. Dry weather last fall left grasses weak going into winter. The fall of 2013 was drier than the fall of the drought year of 2012, when hurricane rains revived fall pastures. Secondly, extreme cold killed or set back grass this year. “You think grass doesn’t grow in winter. But it is alive and growing. Any new growth was frozen repeatedly.” Extreme variations in temperature made winter-kill worse. There would be 60 degrees one day. Three days later it would fall below zero again. “The plant would react to the spring-like temperatures –
and then get zapped. The cure for weak stands is rest and regrowth to restore depleted sugar reserves.” Grazing too early could cause need for pasture reseeding later, or the weak stands could become crowded out with weeds. Thin stands leave open spaces for weed seedlings to emerge. Kallenbach recommends taking a pasture walk to evaluate the growth. “Check the pastures before turning in the cows.” There is good news for those who overseeded pastures with legumes in February. “This should be a good clover year,” Kallenback says. The same open spaces that allow weeds to grow also provide less competition for clover, lespe-
Schott Limousin................39 Spring Creeks Cattle Co.....5 Straight Limousin................2 Symens Bros. Limousin....20 Treftz Limousin...........12, 44 Vaughn Farms....................7
Volume 22 • Issue 3
Wulf Cattle........................48
Time Dated Material
Wiezorek Limousin.............9
Heartland Limousin Association 23244 Gopher Drive East Bethel, MN 55005
Vorthmann Limousin.........46
deza or trefoil. A thin grass stand allows sunshine and moisture to reach the legume seedling.
Continued to page 3.
Plan to Attend 2014 BIF Symposium
The 2014 Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Research Symposium and Convention is set for June 18-21 in Lincoln, NE. For nearly 50 years BIF has hosted its annual research symposium and convention. The convention serves to facilitate discussion and provide education on current issues facing the beef industry. For the latest information about the 2014 BIF Symposium and Convention, go to the BIF website. For details on registering, e-mail the UNL Event and Conference Planning Office. For questions on the conference, e-mail Matt Spangler or call him at 402/472-6489. The U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (US-MARC) will also host pre-conference tours all day on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Tours can be arranged by contacting Janel Nierman at 402/762-4110.