Latest News From Paul Beck - Oklahoma State University

In Memory of Jarold Callahan, Cattle Industry Icon
In Memory of Jarold Callahan, Cattle Industry Icon

The generation of students Jarold Callahan affected are industry leaders today. That's the real legacy of a great man, says Paul Beck at OSU.

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Using Alfalfa as a Supplement for Beef Cows

Good growing conditions in 2023 provided producers with better hay production than seen in the last couple of years, so using high-quality hay as a supplement can definitely be an option this winter.

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What Are the Benefits of Compensatory Feedlot Gains Following Grazing?

New research at Oklahoma State University is adding to our understanding of stocker cattle nutrition programs and its affect on finishing performance.

Get Ready for the Next Cold Snap
Get Ready for the Next Cold Snap

When cows get below their lower critical temperature and get into cold stress, they can adapt by increasing feed consumption to increase their basal metabolic rate and increase heat of fermentation.

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Low Stress Weaning Strategies

Low stress weaning techniques can pay dividends to producers adding value through a preconditioning program.

Supplementation Options when Wheat Pasture is Short
Supplementation Options when Wheat Pasture is Short

Setting stocking rates on wheat pasture in the fall and winter has large impacts on performance of growing calves and can have large influences on productivity of pastures during the spring.

Ten Activities that Improve Profitability of Your Cowherd
Ten Activities that Improve Profitability of Your Cowherd

Profitability of the cow-calf enterprise is controlled by a web of production and economic factors but is rarely associated with maximized weaning weight.

Congestive Heart Failure an Issue in Finishing Cattle
Congestive Heart Failure an Issue in Finishing Cattle

Congestive heart failure is estimated to cause 4% of feedlot mortality causing significant economic losses to feedlots as the majority of these deaths occur late in the finishing period.

Can Distiller’s Grains Cubes Replace Traditional Supplements for Stockers in the Late Summer?
Can Distiller’s Grains Cubes Replace Traditional Supplements for Stockers in the Late Summer?

Oklahoma State investigated using distiller’s grain cubes in a supplementation program for growing steers with mineral supplements containing ionophores offered free-choice in a separate complete mineral mix.

Beck: Implanting Calves Preweaning
Beck: Implanting Calves Preweaning

Implanting your calves before weaning is cost effective and will increase weaning weights of both steers and heifers with very little impact on reproduction rates of replacement heifers.

Implanting Preweaning Calves: A Cost-Effective Way to Increase Production
Implanting Preweaning Calves: A Cost-Effective Way to Increase Production

Implanting preweaning is one of the most cost-effective ways to increase production for the cow-calf producer, and research shows implanted steer calves outgain bull calves.

Genetic Testing Identifies Potential Growth Performance of Finishing Steers
Genetic Testing Identifies Potential Growth Performance of Finishing Steers

OSU Department of Animal and Food Sciences and the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association will host a Beef Finishing Field Day on April 27th in conjunction with OCA's Steer Carcass Challenge.

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Using Warm Season Annuals to Restore Hay and Grazing Inventory

Hay inventories at the start of winter-feeding were largely depleted and there appears to be little carryover for next year. Limited regrowth for most native hay meadows last fall will limit production.

Factors Affecting Calf Prices in 2021-2022 from Superior Livestock Auction Data
Factors Affecting Calf Prices in 2021-2022 from Superior Livestock Auction Data

An analysis of calf sales through the Superior Livestock Auction by Kansas State University and Merck Animal Health looked at traits of load lots of calves that had impacted sales price.

Be Prepared, Wheat Pasture Bloat on the Rise
Be Prepared, Wheat Pasture Bloat on the Rise

As growing conditions improve on wheat pastures that have been grazed short all winter long, the threat of bloat rises. Here's how to combat the onset of bloat in grazing calves.

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Feeding Monensin To Developing Heifers: Is It Worth It?

While there are benefits to feeding monensin to beef cows, how might the use of monensin for developing replacement heifers benefit your operation?

Watch for Wheat Pasture Bloat
Watch for Wheat Pasture Bloat

Rapidly growing small grain forage can lead to bloat of grazing cattle, bloat potential can be enhanced when frost damages immature wheat forage.

Feeding Monensin to Cows Decreases Intake but Increases Efficiency
Feeding Monensin to Cows Decreases Intake but Increases Efficiency

Practices that decrease feed costs without affecting productivity have potential to improve profitability. Ionophores can increase energetic efficiency and reduce production of waste molecules such as methane.

Efficiency and Forage Intake Research at OSU Range Cow Research Center
Efficiency and Forage Intake Research at OSU Range Cow Research Center

Growth rates and carcass weights have been increasing over the last 30 years. However, little research has been conducted to determine how aggressive selection for production traits affects cow maintenance requirements.

Purchasing Thin Cows: Opportunity or A Train Wreck?
Purchasing Thin Cows: Opportunity or A Train Wreck?

In every drought cycle some producers have an earlier end to the drought than others while others are more severely affected by drought. This cows are often available to purchase, but they aren't always a bargain.

Getting Ready for the Next Cold Snap
Getting Ready for the Next Cold Snap

When cows get below their lower critical temperature and get into cold stress, they can adapt by increasing feed consumption to increase their basal metabolic rate and increase heat of fermentation.

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Opportunities for Growing Cattle on Self-Fed Rations

Faced with conditions where it will likely be valuable to buy or retain calves this fall to sell as feeders next spring, producers should evaluate options in self-fed rations.

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Will it Pay to Retain and Backgrounding Calves this Year?

Winter backgrounding programs in most areas will not include grazing this year, which makes calculating precise ration costs and projecting breakevens critical for success.

Capturing More of Your Calves’ Value with Preconditioning
Capturing More of Your Calves’ Value with Preconditioning

Why should buyers at cattle auctions pay $10 to $15 per cwt premiums for the best cattle that have received the best management, if they can get the same thing at commodity prices?

Manage Shrink when Marketing Weaned Calves this Fall
Manage Shrink when Marketing Weaned Calves this Fall

Shrink is a concern because it reduces sales weight, but abnormal levels of shrink is often used as a health indicator for cattle arriving in receiving facilities at stocker operations, grow yards, and feedlots.

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Beck: Early Weaning Calves

If you’re out of grass and about to start feeding hay it’s time to take drastic action to maintain your cowherd and prevent further injury to pastures.

Late Summer Rains Provide Opportunity to Plant Warm-Season Annuals
Late Summer Rains Provide Opportunity to Plant Warm-Season Annuals

Warm-season annuals are often thought of as emergency grazing and hay crops when late spring and early summer hay harvests are lacking. Recent rains in some areas offer an opportunity to plant warm-season annuals.

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Plan Now to Make It Through the Winter: Part II

Take steps now to determine your estimated winter feed resources and if you might be able to plant late summer and fall forages for grazing.

Plan Now to Make It Through the Winter: Part I
Plan Now to Make It Through the Winter: Part I

Worries about drought and how to make it through the winter with limited or no stored forage has monopolized our thoughts, energy, and time. There are critical steps that need to be made in order for us to make it.

Feeding Alternatives for Cattle on Native Range in Late Summer
Feeding Alternatives for Cattle on Native Range in Late Summer

Performance of stocker calves on native range declines from highs of around 2 to 3 pounds per day during the spring and early summer to less than one pound per day through the late summer.

Growth Promoting Technologies Important with High Input Costs
Growth Promoting Technologies Important with High Input Costs

Growth promoting technologies for cattle provide even more impact on net returns when costs are high.

Effective Strategies to Control Internal Parasites
Effective Strategies to Control Internal Parasites

Research has shown weaning weights can be increased by over 30 pounds and pregnancy rates by over 10% by deworming cows in the spring and again in mid-summer.

Managing Heat Stress: How to Help Cattle Through High Summer Temps
Managing Heat Stress: How to Help Cattle Through High Summer Temps

In hot summer conditions, heat transfer failures cause accumulation of body heat resulting in heat stress, reduced performance, animal discomfort, or death. Here's some tips to help get your cattle through high temps!

Manage Pastures Now for Improved Drought Recovery Later
Manage Pastures Now for Improved Drought Recovery Later

Although drought cannot be avoided entirely, a good forage management plan will lessen the impact on forages and hasten pasture recovery when growing conditions return.

Supplying Water Needs for Beef Cattle
Supplying Water Needs for Beef Cattle

Addressing the water needs of cattle is a complex process depending on water quality, weather patterns, time of day, feed moisture content, and animal factors such as bodyweight and stage of production.

Managing Pastures with High Fertilizer Prices and Drought
Managing Pastures with High Fertilizer Prices and Drought

An emergency preparedness plan can assist a cattlemen’s ability to respond to varying threats.  Developing a disaster plan is a good idea for both people and all the animals they care for on a farm or ranch.

Managing Shrink of Calves Coming Off Wheat Pasture
Managing Shrink of Calves Coming Off Wheat Pasture

Cattlemen are constantly searching for more information on shrinkage of cattle through the marketing channels. Generally, the amount of shrink varies with the type of feed cattle are on before penning and transport.

Feed Efficiency in Beef Cattle
Feed Efficiency in Beef Cattle

Feed is a major cost input for all segments of beef production. Feed efficiency is always a primary determinant of profitability, but when feed costs are high, it becomes even more important.

Bovine Respiratory Disease in Our Best Cattle During Finishing
Bovine Respiratory Disease in Our Best Cattle During Finishing

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is still a serious threat to the economics of beef production accounting for $800 to $900 million in losses from death loss, treatment cost, and reduced production.

Control and Prevention of Wheat Pasture Bloat
Control and Prevention of Wheat Pasture Bloat

Wheat and other small grain pastures have been short, but as growing conditions improve, forage growth comes on rapidly. Rapidly growing small grain forage can lead to bloat of grazing cattle.

Holding on to Calves Through a Down Market
Holding on to Calves Through a Down Market

First it was just drought, now we have war in eastern Europe. On Feb. 24 Feeder Cattle futures were down over $4, Live Cattle were down over $2. The futures market jitters have given a lot of us more to worry about.