May is beef month

By Richard C. Snell

Barton County Extension Agent--Ag.

We are gonna have fun all summer long. The warm weather is my time of the year. It's time to get the grill out and start cooking outdoors. May is beef month in Kansas and throughout the United States.

While we are thinking of beef, we should be thankful that we can remain confident in the safety of U.S. beef despite stories that occasionally hit the news media about Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or E-coli. Realizing that it's a little bit like airplanes versus motor vehicles. Way more people are killed in car accidents than airplanes. When you consider how many flights happen each day, the number of airplane accidents is very small. But, boy do we hear about it when it happens! It's the same with the beef industry.

Each year, beef producers in this country invest millions of their own checkoff dollars in safety research and technological advances. In addition, they work with the government to comply with strict animal health and food safety regulations. Beef is actually one of the most heavily regulated and stringently tested foods. The U.S. has taken several major steps to keep BSE out of our domestic beef supply.

Since this is beef month, read on down to the third article in this column to get more beef cattle information for producers.

Time to transplant tomatoes --be on the lookout for diseases

It's just about time to start setting those tomato plants in the home garden. Before you plant, consider things you can do now to prevent disease problems in mid-summer. After all, diseases are probably one of the most limiting factors in successful tomato production.

Some of you are interested in growing older or antique varieties of tomato. That's OK, but before you plant, determine whether the varieties have resistance to the two major fungal wilt diseases--Fusarium and Verticillium wilt. These pathogens can survive for long periods in the soil. If the varieties are not resistant, it's best to plant these in an area where you have not previously grown tomatoes. If you have had trouble with wilt in the garden, then do not try to grow susceptible varieties.

Stick with resistant varieties

Several leaf spotting and virus diseases may be introduced into the garden on transplants. Tomatoes may be infected with the tomato spot virus. Tomatoes grown in greenhouses that are also used to grow susceptible bedding plants can become infected by insect (thrips) transmission. Infected transplants may be stunted, have a yellowish or bronze discoloration of the new foliage, and typically have tiny, black flecks or rings on the leaves. The flecks are difficult to see and may be confused with other types of damage.

A fungal disease called Septoria leaf spot may also be introduced into the garden on infected transplants. Look for small black spots on the lower leaves. If you find any suspicious looking plants in a tray, you should assume the whole flat is contaminated.

Initial condition affects performance of cattle on pasture

Beef cattle producers are in the process of sending cattle out on native grass pastures for the summer. Weight, age, sex and condition of cattle significantly affects the performance when grazing native grass, according to a K-State Research and Extension study.

Retired animal scientist, Frank Brazle compiled 20 years of grazing cattle research to determine the affect of starting weight, condition and sex on performance variability in grazing cattle.

Producers want to graze a wide variety of weights in cattle. They want to know if they can graze lighter and heavier cattle and get the same grazing results. The study wanted to show the effect that starting weights have on gain efficiency and the difference between steers and heifers.

The research confirmed some theories on grazing cattle, but also refuted some assumptions. Everyone assumed that on native grass, 650 to 700 pound cattle do better than 500 pound cattle. However, the study proved that wrong.

It was found that yearling steers weighing 500 to 599 pounds had the most efficient gain. The steers gained 0.23 pounds per day more than calves, and steers with starting weights of 500 to 599 pounds gained more per day than their heavier contemporaries.

Cattle have a physiological growth curve, and when they are in the growth curve, they gain faster. Then, as they mature the curve flattens out and gain decreases.

Heifers gained 0.4 pounds per day less than steers, with optimum growth in the animals starting on pasture at 400 to 499 pounds. It was assumed that steers gain faster than heifers, but it was not in print. It has come up in court cases, but previously there was no documentation. That's why K-State analyzed the difference between steers and heifers. In addition, the data showed heifers with lighter or average body condition gained faster than heifers with more finish.

With condition versus starting weights on heifers, we found if we keep them a little thinner and lighter we see better gain. As the heifers get fleshier and heavier, the gain drops off. This is a relationship to a point, but if we go to extremes and get the animals too heavy or too light, then the efficiency decreases.

B

12

5/14/07

2 Star EK

Date: 5/10/07

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