The Ruff Review

By Garth Ruff, OSU Extension Beef Cattle Field Specialist

FLEXIBILITY IS KEY

Hello! Being the first time writing this column for the Ohio Cattleman, I would like to introduce myself. I’m Garth Ruff, the new Beef Cattle Field Specialist for OSU Extension. Like my predecessor, John Grimes, my role is to serve the education and outreach needs of Ohio’s beef industry. Prior to starting in this role on September 1, I was the Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator (County Agent) in Henry County for 3+ years. I am a two-time graduate from the department of Animal Sciences at Ohio State and am a native of Morgan County. Now that we are six months into this coronavirus pandemic, I think the one take away is that in general I have become more flexible, not knowing what change may be around the corner. I never imag

ined I would go through a major career change during a global pandemic, but here we are. From an educator standpoint, we have had to adapt and become more creative in how we interact with our clientele. From navigating Zoom to hosting a fully virtual Farm Science Review, we have come a long way in terms of using technology to teach this year. When it comes to being able to adapt in times of uncertainty, our youth across the state have done a tremendous job being flexible in dealing with the unknowns around state and county fairs, sports and the return to school. In today’s beef business, I think having the ability to be flexible is key. In the past two years we have had two “Black Swan” events that have caused major disruption to the markets, especially the fed cattle market. During the early stages of COVID-19 I had more than one conversation with producers in northwest corner of the state on how to best manage fed cattle whose harvest date had been delayed. Here in eastern Ohio we saw many of the fed cattle marketed through local processors as demand for local beef skyrocketed. Being flexible and progressive in decision making can be used to help manage risk. How many of you have had success getting a timely first cutting of hay in the past few years? On our farm we have had to learn how to better use some of the tools available to us. When we started wrapping hay several years ago, it was just a few bales here or there, based on need. More recently, due to recent climate trends, we have made the decision to wrap all of our first cutting hay, as a means to maintain forage quality. Going forward in this position there will be times I am going to ask you, Ohio’s beef producers, to not only be flexible, but at times be critical of your operations and the status quo on your farms. My goal is to emphasize production economics, efficiency and farm gate profitability. I hope to be able to do this through traditional education programs and on-farm “research”. In this case I would not necessarily be looking for cooperators for replicated on farm research, but beef producers who would be open to an on-farm assessment and evaluation of current practices. After an evaluation and discussion of animal facilities, forage use and herd management, myself and the local Extension educator would then develop a plan to increase profitability of the beef enterprise. Potential recommendation could include using estrous synchronization to shorten the breeding season, in order sell more consistent, larger groups of calves just for example. As I work to develop education programs and resources that will be best suited for the beef producers across the state, I am always open to input from producers and those involved in the beef industry. Don’t hesitate to reach out, my email address is ruff.72@osu.edu. Once some of the COVID restrictions are lifted, and we get back to whatever the new normal looks like, I will be looking forward to venturing across the state and interacting with many of you. Until then, remember to be flexible and have a safe harvest season and fall.