Quick Notes From Livestock Specialist
ELDON COLE
MT. VERNON, MO.
When Angus and Herefords are crossed you see some true black, white-faced calves and some have varying degrees of mottling or a brockel face. Apparently this results from the Angus parent carrying the mottle gene. Check this out in your herd and see if that’s right.
February is a good time to overseed clover in fescue pastures to try and reduce fescue toxicity problems. Use red clover if hay is taken from the field. If strictly for pasture, ladino clover is the way to go. In both cases test the soil to see if your soil pH is suitable for legumes. If the pH is low try lespedeza.
What percent stand of fescue do you have in your pastures and hay fields? We talk about fescue being the base forage in this area. However, challenging weather and perhaps some negligent fertility practices has reduced the amount of fescue in a lot of fields. If you inspect them closely this spring you might find less than 70 percent of a fescue pasture or hay field is really fescue. This can be a good deal or bad. Chances are the lost fescue plants may have been low in endophyte so that’s unfortunate. On the other hand this could enhance your chances of getting a stand of legume sin these vacated spots. Legumes are better than weeds or other undesirable plants.
There are a number of bull sales coming in the next month. Our SW MO Beef Improvement Association sale in Springfield is March 31. We will have the catalog ready the first week of March. I’ll have them at the BSE clinics.
Don’t forget, artificial insemination offers a lower risk choice of bull power at a comparable price compared to a $4000 bull that could injure his penis early in the breeding season. ∆
ELDON COLE: Extension Livestock Specialist, University of Missouri