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Looking at tough decisionsBy Michael Fisher Golden Plains Area Livestock Extension Agent Colorado This coming weekend is my high school 20th year class reunion. It is odd how when one hits those milestones in life he/she begins thinking back to earlier days and trying to relate current situations to experiences from the past. As an example, when I was fast approaching my high school graduation day, I was having a hard time deciding which direction I wanted to take my future career. One of those spring afternoons, as I helped Dad fill the grain drill with Grandpa's requiem hay mix blend of alfalfa, timothy, orchard grass, red clover, and oats for the cover crop, Dad explained to me that when he was a few years older than me he had debated long and hard between farming, becoming a park ranger, or remaining in the navy. He chose to buy a farm so that he could be his own boss and make the tough decisions. (Personally, I always had the impression that Grandpa was the boss but that is another story.) Last week that memory came rushing back to me time and time again. I traveled through all five of the Golden Plains Area counties during the week and in each I talked with livestock producers who are facing some pretty tough decisions. The foundation of several of those decisions are based on a combination of issues including dry rangeland conditions, grasshopper outbreaks, deteriorating cow conditions, staggering feed and fuel costs, and projected shortages in winter feedstuffs. My former boss (AKA: Grandpa) would have looked at this situation and said one of his notorious lines like, "Well fellers, I got a big idea that it's time to sharpen the pencil." And he would have been correct. Dr. Sandy Johnson reported in the July 2008 issue of Beef Tips that cow-calf production costs have increased 25 percent since 2005, to an expected $750 plus for 2008. When input costs are at that level and producers face the added challenges that this summer is throwing at them one has to carefully look at alternatives and make some tough choices. If you are struggling with the previously mentioned issues, some questions that you may want to ask yourself: Rangeland forage production is low and grasshoppers are taking half of it: Should I consider selling some of the poorer performing cows? Do I know who the poor performers are? What will that do to my capital gains come tax time? Can I get a cheap alternative feed and drylot cows? Can I adapt my grazing management to improve forage production? My cow herd's average body condition is deteriorating: Once again, can I find a feedstuff that I can afford to feed them? If so, how much is it going to cost me to haul it out to the pasture? Should I consider an early weaning strategy? If so, should I sell light calves or try to find a way to feed them? Is creep feeding the calves a possibility in today's ag economy? If the herd's condition continues to slide, how much will this hurt calf health, calf performance, and cow reproduction next year? How long and how costly will it be to get the cows' BCS back? Record input costs: How much is my per cow costs? If I have to feed can I use an alternate day feeding schedule? How much am I paying per pound of crude protein or pound of energy versus filler? Do you suppose Susie's barrel horse and Timmy's roping horse would pull a feed wagon? (Just kidding Susie and Timmy.) Plus seven dollar corn and two hundred per ton hay to get ahead of a winter feed shortage: Can I buy an alternative feed like distillers grain and store it for winter? Can I plant a short season forage like pearl millet, cereal grain haylage, or brassicas behind my wheat harvest? Can I pool some resources with neighbors to bid a volume purchase on feedstuffs? OK, so this article has asked a lot of questions without supplying any answers. That was intentional. If you are looking at one or more of these issues as a problem on your ranch, I hope that you are asking yourself lots of questions. If we only answer one question we are no longer making the tough decisions; we are no longer the boss. With only one question and answer we are getting lucky, or not, and the problem is still the boss. Over the next couple of weeks I plan to address a couple of the questions listed above in more detail in my weekly article. If you wish to discuss one or more of these questions in detail, Michael Fisher can be reached through the Yuma County Extension office at 970-332-4151 or by e-mail at mj.fisher@colostate.edu. 7/21/08 Date: 7/16/08 Advertisement
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