Feeding Cattle Cracked vs. Whole Corn Beef producers make decisions about what to feed their animals daily, and the answer often depends on the age and sex of the animal and its job in the herd. When deciding which type of feed to offer, cost is a definite consideration. Here’s some information to address the question about feeding cracked corn to steers being raised to the finished stage on the home operation.

All across the state, Kansans have been enjoying or perhaps dealing with the snow for more than a week. I have heard countless people remark that there's been more snow than we have had in years. It definitely feels like the longest snow streak we have had in the 12 years I have lived in Kansas.

I still have my very first pocketknife, a Henckels three-bladed stockman with a red bone handle. It’s safely stowed in a drawer now because its everyday utility was long ago surpassed by its sentimental value.

Body Condition Scoring – A Herd Management Tool Body Condition Scoring is one of the most valuable management tools at the disposal of the cattle manager. The number associated with a condition score gives us a direct indication of a cow’s previous plane of nutrition and future reproductive capability. However, the individual body condition scores are essential. We don’t manage individual cows; we manage groups of cows. Thus, we need to look beyond the individual scores and look at the distribution of body condition scores within the herd. If we have a herd (Herd 1) with an average body condition score of 5, with a few thin cows (3s), the bulk of cows in the middle (4s and 5s), and a few over-conditioned cows (7s), everything is good. Alternatively, we could have a herd (Herd 2) with an average body condition score of 5 that is essentially the result of a few thin cows (3s) and some over-conditioned cows (6s and 7s).

See That is how the Hollywood happy ending should go. Unfortunately, his little body gave up on the morning of Day Five. Anytime a calf dies, it is hard but when you invest so many hours and get invested it is completely crushing.

Know Your Water With much of the state facing drought conditions along with increasing concerns over water quality, citizens need to KNOW YOUR WATER. According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), approximately 73,000 individuals in Kansas rely on private wells from groundwater sources.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Fall is upon us, and with that comes wild bird migration. Kansas Wildlife and Parks and USDA Wildlife Services are collecting samples of wild birds to determine our risk for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), and they have found HPAI in several counties across the state.

Beef Cattle Management Considerations • Body condition score (BCS) for both spring and fall-calving cows. Target BCS for spring calves at calving is five for mature cows and six for young females.

Outside of holidays, the most important date on the calendar when I was growing up was always the second Saturday of November or the traditional opening of pheasant and quail seasons. While I did plenty of quail hunting in east Kansas, we always headed west for the opening day to chase ringnecked pheasants.