If Considering Restocking - Use Caution

If you are in the cattle business and you look across your pasture and see a lot of green, in many cases that green is probably weeds, and grasses still have a way to go before they are recovered from the drought. Parts of Texas have had significant rain and folks are starting to talk about restocking their cattle herd, but here is a word of caution. We may not be out of the drought yet! In contrast, if you are south of Hwy 44 in Nueces County, you have missed out on many significant rain events and your pastures still are still moisture stressed.

 Some long range forecasts show that the drought will persist in South Texas or possibly even intensify. So if you are in South Texas and thinking about restocking, here are some questions you should ask yourself. How long is it going to take for your pasture to recover? What will this summer bring in regards to rain? The drought that we went through in 2011 was historic and had a significant impact on our forages, and it could take a year for grasses to recover provided rainfall returns on a regular schedule.

 The drought obviously reduced above ground growth last year and at the same time, roots of these plants were also stressed, adding to the length of time it will take for these plants to recover. One also needs to evaluate what you had to spend this past year to feed hay and other feedstuffs. Along with that expense, you might be in for some real sticker shock when you go to purchase replacement cattle. So, before restocking, consider a rebuilding plan and think seriously about your stocking rate. Moreover a rotational grazing system can improve overall range health by giving plants rest from grazing. Plants will be more vigorous and their root systems better developed if you use a rotational grazing system. In areas where droughts are common, breeding herds should constitute no more than 50 to 70 percent of the total carrying capacity of the ranch during normal years. The rest of the herd should be yearlings or stocker animals.

 We here in Texas should always keep drought in our stocking plans, or simply said, we should have our pastures stocked for drought at all times. If we get into a period of above normal rainfall and we have a lot of extra forage, there are several ways you can utilize that extra forage, graze it, lease it out for grazing, or possibly bale it. In contrast, you cannot feed your way out of a drought and be profitable. If you are completely destocked, maybe you choose just to stay out a year and let your pastures recover. After all, rangeland recovery only comes with rest.

 Keep in mind that the decisions you make before and after a drought are just as important as those made during drought. Consider these strategies when dealing with drought: • Maintain as much carryover forage on the ground as possible. • Keep the herd composition flexible. • Implement a grazing system that allows periodic rest of native pastures. • De-stock as early as possible. Make adjustments before either the range or the livestock suffer. • Balance forage supply and demand before, during and after drought. • Protect the soil by maintaining minimum forage levels. • Refrain from fully restocking after the drought until the forage has recovered completely. We can all hope that this “La Nina” weather pattern is coming to a close and that we move to a more normal rainfall pattern, as this drought has gone on way too long!

GRAIN SORGHUM IS SHOWING SIGNS OF MOISTURE STRESS

Grain sorghum is known as a drought-tolerant crop and that is why it is so well adapted to the local region. Grain sorghum's ability to perform under dry conditions can be attributed to the sorghum plants rolling leaves as they wilt, thus reducing transpiration, the waxy covering over the leaf protecting it from drying and the extensive root system. This leaf rolling event has been occurring south of Robstown for the last few days, as crops are already moisture stressed this growing season.

Our grain sorghum crop growth stages range from just a few leaves to reaching the stage of growth at which time many things begin to happen with the plant. For the older sorghum plants, the total number of leaves has been determined and the grain head size is being determined at this time. Now is also the time that rapid nutrient uptake is occurring and yes we are seeing some nutrient deficiencies. These nutrient deficiencies tend to be more obvious in situations with adequate soil moisture, when the plant is growing rapidly, and in many cases has a small root system, so it cannot capture all of the nutrients that it needs. Until grain sorghum develops an extensive root system, young plants may not be able to obtain enough ferrous iron to maintain normal growth on some soils. Although iron is not a part of the chlorophyll molecule, it is required to supply enough chlorophyll to support the growth of new leaf tissue.

High-pH, calcareous soils not only reduce the availability of soluble iron in the soil; they also change the soil’s cation-exchange capacity so that less iron is present and available for exchange overall. The result is a more slowly growing plant and subsequent uneven flowering dates. This not only delays ripening of grain and harvest, but the uneven pollination undermines an effective insecticide spray program for controlling sorghum midge.

Mild chlorosis ranges from a lighter green leaf color that progresses to increasing interveinal striping, too almost no visual symptoms. Moderate chlorosis is seen where sorghum plants are yellow or yellow-green in strips, or irregularly shaped areas of the field. Fields may have intermittent blotches of chlorotic plants scattered in a salt-and-pepper (random) arrangement. Iron chlorosis is often sporadic throughout the field, or it may be associated with some land-moving event.

Visual symptoms are often the best indicator of whether or not to treat chlorotic fields or parts of fields for iron chlorosis. Applying iron as a foliar spray is effective in restoring the green color and they are most effective when repeated at 10-day to two-week intervals. Several products are available for field use to correct iron chlorosis. Iron sprays require a spreader-sticker or detergent in order to be effective. If a commercial spreadersticker is not available, ordinary household detergent may be used at rates of 1/4 to ½ pint per 50 gallons of solution. Thorough coverage and wetting of the entire leaf surface is necessary for good results. Avoid too much detergent to minimize the chances of leaf burn.

As one evaluates the overall condition of our grain sorghum crop, many fields are at that critical stage in which moisture demand is increasing rapidly and the plant is going into the reproductive stage of development. The average daily water use by grain sorghum is usually less than 0.10 inch until approximately the seven-leaf stage, depending upon climatic conditions. At this stage, water use increases rapidly and is likely to be 0.30 inch per day during the boot, bloom and early grain development stages. We sure need a good rain to move this crop along.
More information and on sorghum production can be found at http://www.sorghumcheckoff.com/sorghum-production-handbooks

Huskie Herbicide—Major Addition for Weed Control in Texas Grain Sorghum

Calvin Trostle, Extension Agronomy, Lubbock, 806-746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu

• Over-the-top weed control in grain sorghum
• Excellent control of pigweed and many other broadleaf species
• Greatly reduced injury potential compared to 2,4-D and dicamba
• Atrazine suggested as a key tank mix partner to enhance weed control

Huskie was approved for use in grain sorghum in July 2011. Some producers in the Texas High Plains region used the herbicide in late planted grain sorghum, and they were very pleased with the results. Texas AgriLife staff have researched Huskie since 2009 (brief summary below).

Huskie is labeled for over the top use (POST) in grain sorghum from 3-leaf stage to 12” tall. The herbicide’s active ingredients contain two formulations of chemicals in Buctril and a second a.i. pyrasulfotole. Huskie has demonstrated good post-emerge control on Palmer ameranth and other pigweed species, kochia, species of morninggloery, marestail, henbit, etc. Partial control is noted on bindweed (possession vine) and puncturevine. Best weed control is noted for weeds at ≤ 4” tall.

Also, there are numerous tank mix options particularly atrazine, which is a key for optimum weed control in grain sorghum. In fact, the Huskie label all but encourages use of atrazine to ‘strengthen and expand weed control.’ Atrazine rates, of course, are dependent on soil texture (heavy, light), but tank mix rates range from 0.25-1.0 lbs./A. Other tank mix options include Ally, dicamba, Peak, and Starane. Use spray grade ammonium sulfate (AMS) at 0.5-1.0 lbs./A and non-ionic surfactant (NIS) if the tank mix partner requires it.

Injury potential is low: Texas AgriLife notes only minor to ~15% injury to 4-leaf sorghum, with little evidence of injury persisting past 3 weeks. Even less injury has been observed in 8-leaf stage grain sorghum. This is much less than the injury potential from either 2,4-D and dicamba.

Sample of weed control results:

High Plains—Bushland, 91%+ control at 7 & 42 days after treatment of 3-4” Palmer ameranth when applied alone at 13-16 oz./A; 95%+ control when applied with 0.5 lb. atrazine at 13 oz./A; adding 4 oz./A dicamba did not improve control.
Halfway, Huskie + atrazine, 94-97% control of 2-4” Palmer ameranth at 21 to 41 days after treatment; slight sorghum injury noted with all POST treatments, but ≤ 5% 21 to 41 DAT unless 2,4-D was included.

Central Texas—No formal trials conducted to date, but Extension observations note that weed control appeared very good and injury potential was low.

For further information consult the label and your chemical dealer. An expanded summary from Texas AgriLife is available online at http://lubbock.tamu.edu/programs/crops/sorghum/

Expert: Facts, education needed about lean, finely textured beef

Here is an article written by Blair Fannin, that spells out the facts about recent media hype related to finely textured beef. He has also posted an audio interview with Dr. Cross available at http://agrilife.org/today/files/2012/03/leanfinelytexturedbeef.mp3

Lean, finely textured beef “is meat” and a healthy form of protein, according to a Texas A&M University expert.Dr. Russell Cross, head of the department of animal science at Texas A&M, said lean, finely textured beef is nutritious, and a production process he approved while serving as administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Food Safety Inspection Service in 1993.

“The simplest way to describe this is that it is meat, it’s beef,” he said. “The protein content is similar to what is ground in a steak. This product is no different than meat; that’s the reason USDA calls it meat.”

Cross said much misinformation has been reported and discussed in various media. That’s why it is important that the facts be told about the production of lean, finely textured beef, which comes from traditional carcass-harvesting-methods, he said.

“The carcass is chilled 24 to 36 hours and broken down into parts we call primal cuts, and put into vacuum bags and sent to retail stores. And that is cut into steaks and roasts,” he said. “The trimmings taken from this process — the lean, finely textured beef — is separated from the fat and from the lean trimmings. These products are frozen and put into a 60-pound box and shipped to processing plants that generate ground hamburger meat.”

Cross said there is no difference in taste, and that “it is perfectly natural to have trimmings that come from cutting out steaks and roasts from the carcass.”

“These trimmings have pieces of lean still attached to them,” he said. “It is valuable; it’s meat. Lean, finely textured beef is a process of centrifugation. It separates the lean and the fat, resulting in a very nutritious and very safe product.

Cross said every time an animal is harvested, 12 to 15 pounds of this product is generated and used in ground beef. “It’s been used for more than 20 years,” Cross said. From a beef industry perspective, this adds value to the carcass, Cross said.

“We try to harvest every single aspect of the animal during the process,” he said. “This 12 to 15 pounds would be that amount of protein not on the market. The fact we are going through this exercise of removing it from the market has caused the price of lean trimmings to go up over 15 percent. That’s going to cause the price of ground beef to go up, and we all know who is going to pay for that – the consumer.”

He said the Southwest just came off the worst drought in its history and the region “lost more than 35 percent of our cows in Texas alone.” “We are going to have a shortage of protein and this is just adding to that shortage,” Cross said. “This is going to cause the price of a lot of our products to go up.”

Cross said he and faculty members, as well as those who serve in dual roles with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and Texas AgriLife Research, will continue to educate consumers on the facts of lean, finely textured beef.

“We have people who are very knowledgeable about this product both on the quality side and the food safety side,” he said. “We will do what we always do – we will collect the right data and get it out to the public and to the industry so they can use it. We will make it a priority to get the real facts out to the public.”

WATER CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON CONSERVATION

Just because we have had some rain recently, does not mean we are out of the drought! Significant rainfall has not fallen in the watershed northwest of Corpus Christi that supplies Choke Canyon and Lake Corpus Christi and as a result our lake levels remain low. As local water demand continues to grow with summer approaching, conserving water needs to be everyone’s concern. To help address this critical water issue, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service along with numerous co-sponsors will conduct a Water Conference on Friday, April 13, 2012 at the Del Mar Economic Development Center (3209 S. Staples, Rm 106), Corpus Christi. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. followed by the conference from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Pre-registration for the conference is required by calling 361-767-5223 by April 6, 2012. There will be a registration fee of $10 per person payable at the door which does include a noon meal and conference supplies. Participants will be eligible for door prizes, including a rain barrel and numerous other water saving devices.

The conference will focus on methods to conserve water in the home, landscape, and business. The current water supply levels and projections for the coming months along with possible water use restrictions will be reviewed.
Conserving water in the home landscapes will be reviewed focusing on EarthKind Practices. In addition, improving water use efficiency with irrigation audits will be reviewed along with an actual demonstration in turf landscape. Harvesting rainwater around the home or business will be another featured topic for discussion.

How much water do you think you consume every day? You might initially consider the length of your daily shower. An efficient shower lasts 3 or 4 minutes, using only 7.5 gallons of water, as compared to an 8-minute shower using 17 gallons. More in-depth water saving tips will be discussed as it relates to indoor water conservation. Living next to a very large water source, the Gulf of Mexico, although salty, often raises the questions, if only we could remove that salt, our water worries would be history. There have been new developments in Desalination Technology and they will be reviewed by David Burnett, Director of Technology of GPRI and Research Coordinator at Texas A&M University.

Protection of our water supply is important and both groundwater and watershed protection will be reviewed at the conference. The conference will conclude with a Spring Rainfall Outlook presented by National Weather Service staff. Two CEU’s will be offered for pesticide applicators. Those participants that are MG and TMN will receive 6 CE’s. For more information on this conference please contact the Nueces County Extension Office at 361-767-5223.


Individuals with disabilities, who require an auxiliary aid, service or accommodation in order to participate in any of the mentioned activities, are encouraged to contact the County Extension Office at 361-767-5223 at least eight days before all programs for assistance.
Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all citizens without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin.