Recipe Patch

By Geri

Roasted Mexican Zucchini

4 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/2-inch half moons

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons crumbled cotija cheese juice of 1/2 lime

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the diced zucchini, olive oil, salt, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, and ground cumin.Toss until evenly coated.

Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and spread evenly in a single layer.

Roast for 10-15 minutes, flipping halfway through, until zucchini is fork tender.

Top with cotija cheese, lime juice, and chopped fresh cilantro. Serve immediately.

Tomato Salad

5 large or 8 cups medium ripe red heirloom or beefsteak tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

8 - 10 fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

In a large bowl combine the tomatoes, red onion, basil, olive oil, garlic and season liberally with salt and pepper. Let the tomato mixture sit room temperature for about 20 minutes to let the flavors blend (the juices from the tomatoes will release and create a kind of dressing). Toss well.

Pesto-Parmesan Tomatoes

4 medium tomatoes, halved

4 teaspoons basil pesto, store bought or homemade

5 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Arrange the tomatoes on a baking tray and top each with 1/2 teaspoon pesto and 1/2 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese. Roast the tomatoes until the Parmesan cheese is slightly browned and melted, about 18-20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Air-Fryer Meat Loaf

1 large egg

1/4 cup 2% milk

1/3 cup crushed saltines

3 Tbls chopped onion

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp rubbed sage

Dash pepper

1/2 pound lean ground beef

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tbls brown sugar

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

In a large bowl, beat egg. Add the milk, cracker crumbs, onion, salt, sage, and pepper. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Preheat air fryer to 325°. Shape into 2 loaves; place in greased air fryer. Cook 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce, spoon over meat loaves. Cook until a thermometer reads 160°, 10-15 minutes longer.

Air-Fryer Pork Tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin (3/4 pound)

1 Tbls spicy brown mustard

2 tsp canola oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat air fryer to 375°. Trim silver skin from tenderloin if desired; pat dry. In a small bowl, stir together remaining ingredients; spread over tenderloin. Place on greased tray in air-fryer basket. Cook until a thermometer reads 145°, 18 to 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Leavy spurge control

By Ben Beckman, UNL

Yellow-green patches in a pasture might look pretty for the uninitiated, but the tell-tale bloom of leafy spurge is not a spring sight many of us want to see.

While there are many plants livestock producers may consider pasture weeds, one that is held in particular dislike is leafy spurge. Besides being on the Nebraska noxious weed list and requiring control, this hardy perennial spreads aggressively through seeds and root buds. With an extensive root system that can reach depths up to 15 ft., once established spurge is hard to control.

While biological and cultural control methods may provide some reduction in growth and seed production, those wanting complete control might consider an herbicide treatment as the best option.

Multiple chemicals have action on spurge, however for spring treatments, control at bud or true flower stage is recommended. Options for application at the bud stage are 2,4-D ester (4L) , Graslan L®, Tordon 22K®, or Picloram 22K. If applying a bit later at flower stage options include Curtail®/Cody®/Stinger®, Streamline®, an Overdrive® + Tordon 22K® mix, or a Sharpen® + Plateau® mix.

Unfortunately, a single treatment will not control spurge, so continued monitoring and retreatment is necessary. An effective strategy is pairing spring applications that prevent seed production with a fall treatment to control new growth.

Leafy Spurge can easily take over a pasture, but with vigilance and regular treatment, control can be achieved.

Maurice Joseph Micklewhite

Born in London in 1933, Micklewhite got his first job in theater at age 20. Disliking both his first and last names, he billed himself as Michael Scott. But in 1954, while standing in a London phone booth talking to his agent, he was informed there already was an English actor named Michael Scott. Pressured to choose a new name right there, Micklewhite looked down the street and saw a movie marquee sign advertising The Caine Mutiny. So he said to his agent, “Michael Caine.”

Thin cows and limited hay resources: What are my options?

By Josie Crouch, MS Animal Science student; Kacie McCarthy, UNL Cow-Calf Specialist; Travis Mulliniks, UNL Beef Cattle Nutritionist, Range Production Systems

Drought conditions this last growing season, limited hay supply, and a wet winter have been very challenging to beef producers. This created a situation where many cows at this point were thinner than normal years. In addition, we couple that with limited hay and lower-quality hay with the potential of having a late green up or delayed turn out to grass. With that in mind, we have to think about how to increase energy in the diet to meet the lactational requirements while gaining BCS and doing that past our traditional turn out to grass. Body condition scoring (BCS) is an effective management tool to estimate the energy reserves of a cow. If monitored multiple times across the production year, BCS is a good indicator of direction of body weight change. Body condition score of beef cows at the time of calving has an impact on subsequent rebreeding performance; however, direction of body weight gain can be just as important (Table 1). Traditional recommendations suggest cows need to be nutritionally managed at a BCS 5 or greater at breeding for optimal reproductive performance. However, the response is not absolute; some cows are capable of rebreeding at BCS less than 5.

Although calving BCS can influence rebreeding and performance of cows, it doesn’t mean thin cows will always result in decreased reproductive performance. A large impact on reproduction is direction and magnitude of body weight change after calving and through breeding. Houghton et al. (1990) showed that thin cows gaining condition increased the probability of cows becoming pregnant; however, fleshy (fat) cows losing body condition improved pregnancy rate (Table 1). The effects of poor body condition (less than 4) can be overcome by improved nutrition. The goal is to shorten the period of weight loss by increased nutrient supply so that positive gain can be initiated, and the cows can start cycling.

Table 1. Effect of body condition score change on pregnancy rate

Because of the nutritional demands of lactation, it can be difficult to get cows to gain body weight economically after calving. This is really due to nutrient requirements being the greatest up to approximately day 60 after calving, which also coincides with the start of breeding. A lactating cow at peak lactation has an energy demand of 15 – 16 lb of TDN per day depending on milk production level.

So, what do we do if we have thin cows? Additional energy will be required to restore their body condition to a moderate level. The problem with this management scheme is that nutrient demands at this time are high and the additional nutrition supplied may be used to increase milk production rather than body weight gain.

What options do we have to stretch forage or hay supply?

Controlling hay waste:

Controlling or minimizing feed waste is essential to stretching hay resources. With any feed or feeding method, we always have waste associated with it. Understanding how much waste is occurring is essential for meeting nutrient needs of livestock. Method and amount of hay being fed can have feed waste greater than 25%. Some studies have shown up to 39% hay waste by method of feeding hay. Hay waste is highly influenced by hay feeder design that is used to feed ad libitum amount to beef cows. Ring feeders with sheeted bottoms and basket feeders with sheeted bottoms generally have lower waste percentages of 5 to 10%.

If you are feeding hay through a processor or rolling bales out, it is important to only feed enough so that cows can eat all that they need for one day and not overfeeding. Overfeeding can lead to increased waste due to cows urinating and defecating on the excess hay.

One method to control waste is to control access to hay feeders. Segregating feeding area and only allowing cattle to access hay for 3 to 12 hours a day. Limit feeding or restricting access to hay can reduce intake and waste by ~20%. However, it is important to know hay quality and having adequate feeders/bales available so that cows have equal

Thin cows and limited hay resources: What are my options?

access to hay during the feeding times.

In situations where hay is being limit fed to stretch forage resources, grazing behavior and overall grazing intake may decrease due to cows waiting for hay to be delivered. If cows are already thin, this may cause an overall decrease in energy intake. Feeding the same quality of hay but done infrequently can help decrease the chance of cows waiting at the gate for hay to arrive.

Supplemental options:

Utilization of an ionophore for grazing livestock and livestock consuming hay can increase energy value of the overall diet and reduce the need for hay. Research has shown that hay intake can be reduced by approximately 10% with the addition of rumensin in the diet. In addition, studies have shown that rumensin improves body weight gain and BCS.

Feeding a starch-based supplement (i.e., corn) can substitute for hay intake. For instance, 3 lb of corn can decrease hay intake by 3 lbs. Starch-based energy supplements would have to be fed every day, and to minimize waste, it should be fed in a bunk. If corn or corn-based supplements are utilized, then protein supplementation would be needed to meet protein requirements. The impact of feeding corn on forage intake and digestibility has been shown to be dependent on the level of protein in the diet. In digestion studies, increasing energy in diets containing low levels of protein has decreased intake and digestibility of low-quality roughage; however, with greater levels of supplemental protein, increasing energy typically has little effect on intake or digestibility of low-quality roughage.

Other management considerations:

If possible, sort and manage cows by BCS groups (i.e., thin versus fleshy). This will allow you to be more strategic on providing high-quality feedstuffs to thin cows, while not over conditioning any fleshy cows.

Use reproductive technologies. Even if artificial insemination is not utilized, estrus synchronization can help increase the number of thin cows to cycle earlier in the breeding season. Refer to a past BeefWatch article to learn more about how to move cows up in the breeding season: https://beef.unl.edu/ beefwatch/2021/managing-postpartum-anestrus-beef-cowssuccessful-breeding-season.

Additional payments for livestock producers impacted by drought and wildfire in 2021

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans to roll out $3.7 billion in Emergency Relief Program (ERP) and Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) assistance to crop and livestock producers who sustained losses due to a qualifying natural disaster event in calendar year 2022. USDA is sharing early information to allow producers time to gather documents in advance of program delivery. Through distribution of remaining funds, USDA is also concluding the 2021 ELRP program by sending payments in the amount of 20% of the initial ELRP payment to all existing recipients.

“U.S. agricultural producers nationwide endured crippling natural disaster events in 2022 including a megadrought, Hurricane Ian, epic flooding and catastrophic wildfires. To say these events were costly is an understatement,” Vilsack said. “Last year USDA streamlined the delivery of natural disaster assistance, speeding up the timing of payments and cutting the time spent on paperwork by 90% or one million hours relative to the previous disaster programs. While we will use the same streamlined approaches, funding is limited and significantly less than the estimated losses. We are designing payment factors that ensure the fair, equitable and efficient delivery of program benefits to help as many producers as possible offset the significant financial impacts resulting from these ongoing and widespread natural disasters.”

Background

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328) that provides about $3.7 billion in financial assistance for agricultural producers impacted by wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, winter storms and other eligible disasters occurring in calendar year 2022. Additionally, the Act specifically targets up to about $500 million to livestock producers for losses incurred due to drought or wildfire in calendar year 2022.

ERP 2022 for Crop Producers

USDA, through the Farm Service Agency (FSA), intends to deploy the lessons learned from the development and implementation of ERP and ELRP for previous years’ losses to ensure expedited assistance for 2022 losses.

Based on positive feedback from producers, stakeholder groups and FSA county office staff, USDA intends to provide an ERP track for producers who had coverage through Risk Management Agency’s federal crop insurance or FSA’s Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). Through a streamlined application process, USDA intends to be in a position to send pre-filled applications directly to eligible producers in early summer.

For producers who have not been able to avail themselves of risk management coverage or whose losses were not covered, USDA intends to offer a program track to access ERP assistance with assistance provided to producers who suffered a decrease in allowable gross revenue in 2022 due to necessary expenses related to losses of eligible crops from a qualifying natural disaster event.

Instead of implementing these program tracks as two separate phases on different timelines, FSA intends to make both tracks available to producers at the same time, noting that the first track will follow a streamlined process with less paperwork burden, based on existing, available risk management data. The second ERP track would require that producers provide FSA with certain information related to revenue.

ELRP 2022 for Livestock Producers and Close Out of ELRP for 2021

For impacted ranchers, USDA intends to leverage FSA’s Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) data to deliver ELRP assistance for increases in supplemental feed costs in 2022.

To be eligible for an ELRP payment for 2022 losses, livestock producers will need to have suffered grazing losses from wildfire or in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks or a D3 (extreme drought) or higher level of drought intensity during the 2022 calendar year and have applied and been approved for 2022 LFP. Additionally, otherwise eligible producers whose permitted grazing on federally managed lands was disallowed due to wildfire will also be eligible for ELRP payments if they applied and were approved for 2022 LFP.

In a continued effort to streamline and simplify the delivery of ELRP benefits, eligible producers will not be required to apply for payment.

Meanwhile, FSA also intends to provide additional assistance to ranchers for qualifying livestock losses from drought and wildfire in 2021. More information will be announced in the coming months.

How Producers Can Prepare

To participate in ERP and ELRP for 2022 losses, both crop and livestock producers should have or be prepared to have the following forms on file with FSA:

Form AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet (as applicable to the program participant);

Form CCC-902, Farm Operating Plan for an individual or legal entity;

Form CCC-901, Member Information for Legal Entities (if applicable); and

Form AD-1026 Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification.

Most producers, especially those who have previously participated in FSA programs, will likely have these required forms on file. However, those who are uncertain or want to confirm should contact FSA at their local USDA Service Center.

In addition to the forms listed above, underserved producers are encouraged to register their status with FSA, using Form CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher Certification, as certain existing permanent and ad-hoc disaster programs provide increased benefits or reduced fees and premiums.

Producers with eligible crop losses who did not have federal crop insurance or NAP risk management coverage for 2022 and intend to apply for ERP assistance will need to pull together revenue information that is readily available from most tax records. FSA encourages producers to have their tax documents from the past few years and supporting materials ready including Schedule F (Form 1040) and Profit or Loss from Farming or similar tax documents. FSA will not require these forms to be submitted with the ERP application, but will require a certification, similar to Adjusted Gross Income certification that has been used for many years for Farm Bill programs. Applicants simply report and certify to the information required for the program.

Crop producers who have federal crop insurance coverage should ensure that in-