From the Barns: No simple answer

I sometimes hear the phrase “I’m burned out.” Well, I think I am. This heat wave has me burned out, and my lack of ability to catch up with needed work has me burned out. But then I think about our cows and calves and realize with their small lungs they could be burned out in a much more serious way. It is a concern.

That’s a good reason to never send our Midwest or northern cattle south or never buy a bull from the north. Yes, adaptation can surely happen, but... meanwhile, Carson is bringing winter feeding round bales in, so there must be a change of seasons coming.

Other than that complaint, I know there are more serious problems out there than the heat wave and work that seems never finished. Between plant closings, market fluctuation, increased lean trim imports, screwworms, ticks and whatever else could pop up, heat can’t be that big of a problem.

All this just brings to mind what it takes to be successful in the beef industry. The word that always comes to mind is perseverance over the long haul. Good husbandry, good planning and perseverance are all needed to get the results we all want.

My friends in town often ask me what I think of the beef market. I have to keep the answer simple, because they just don’t grasp the explanation of how long it takes to raise a heifer, get her bred, wean a calf from her and then raise it to market weight and condition, all the while dodging the perils that could interrupt that long process — enough cynicism for this writing!

Carson has all the cows rotated out of the fescue and red clover paddocks and into our reed canary grass. He has done a really good job of adaptive grazing and I think he should have enough reed canary grass to take him to that first hard freeze and then back to the stockpiled fescue for a while.

I know I have written this many times before, but it is sure worth saying again that stockpiled fescue is a great feed, cattle love it and it shows in their condition coming off in late winter. Our rule has been to begin the stockpiling no later than Sept. 1 to allow 30 to 50 days of growth before turn in by mid-November.

The sorghum-sudangrass grazing on our crop ground project continues, but hasn’t been as productive as last year. The crop has been subjected to two 6-inch rains and dry between. It doesn’t like the excess rain. And I certainly don’t see any symbiotic relationship between sorghum-sudangrass, cereal rye and sorghum-sudangrass year two. So, going forward will require some different planning. Carson has reduced the numbers there with two loads to Mike Martz’s crew and another to a Nebraska feedlot. The half-dairy steers are still here and getting big.

If you need some grazing education, sign up for one of the Grazing Schools at ilgrazinglands.org — Sept. 12 in southern Illinois at Schuette Signature Beef at 4786 Keller Road, Iuka, or Sept. 18 in northern Illinois at Greg Thoren Farm at 5650 S. Ridge Road, Stockton. I hope to see you at the northern event. Stay safe and sane.