Weather

Punxsutawney Phil did his thing this past Sunday and he did in fact see his shadow so it looks like six more weeks of winter are in our forecast. Looking ahead to next week, I would say he isn't wasting any time bringing it back! Middle to the end of next week will bring lows in the high 20's with chances of some winter precipitation of some sort. I am hoping it isn't ice, but that is what I have seen forecasted.

Arkansas and Mississippi River

2025 Rice Quick Facts

The row crop quick facts were developed to give producers and consultants a quick reference to information pertaining to different row crops. These one page (front and back) sheets are really handy when you need quick information. The rice quick facts is now available at the link below.

River Valley Rice Meeting

The River Valley Rice Meeting will be held on March 4, 2025 at Brown's Catfish Restaurant in Russellville.

Winter Weeds

I am starting to get several calls on spraying winter weeds. It is time to think about a herbicide application. Bermudagrass the last few years has greened up early and we missed the use of glyphosate so take advantage of this time if the weather will allow.

Deciding on what to apply really depends on what type of forage you have. If you have dormant bermudagrass I like the combination of a quart of glyphosate, one to two pints of 2,4-D and about 1/3 of an ounce of metsulfuron. This will clean up several different weeds. If you have bahiagrass, leave out the metsulfuron. If you have white clover, you are limited to one pint of 2,4-D.

Here are some pictures from a demonstration I did last year.

Untreated Check

Glyphosate

Metsulfuron

2,4-D

Glyphosate + 2,4-D + Metsulfuron

Fertilizing Winter Annuals

I always like to aim for February 14 for the first round of fertilizer for winter annuals. That is coming up next week and I think we are probably okay to start planning on that application for the first dry spell we come across. Applying 100 pounds of urea on ryegrass, wheat and other winter annual grasses will really make it come on and start growing. Make sure when applying urea that you don't put it out on any standing water. The ground needs to be as dry as possible so you won't lose any of the nitrogen from the urea. If the weather is right and the grass is really growing good you may want to think about another application of 100 pounds of urea in about 2 to 3 weeks.

This application of fertilizer is just for winter annuals. We need to hold off on any kind of fertilizer for our summer hay fields and pasture for another few months. We need a week of night time temperatures in the 60's before we apply any nitrogen to summer grasses and that is usually that first week of May. The most expensive input is the one that don't work, and if we go out too soon with nitrogen on summer grasses we just made an expensive input that isn't maximized.

Lice on Cattle

I have had some calls on some cattle losing hair and rubbing up on trees. This usually means a lice infestation. Below is an article I found from Oklahoma State University.

When we think about external parasites that affect livestock, we typically think of battling flies and ticks through the summer and consider the winter to be a welcome respite. We do, however, have lice to contend with in the winter.

Lice are wingless insects that live on the skin of various species, including horses, cattle, sheep, goats and, of course, humans. Lice spread via direct contact between animals but are species-specific, meaning they cannot be transmitted across species. Lice that affect cattle cannot affect a horse, sheep or goat or vice versa. And the best news: lice that affect livestock cannot infest humans. 

There are two main families of lice: biting (or chewing) and sucking lice. Biting lice feed on skin and skin secretions, while sucking lice have a long, piercing mouthpiece that allows them to draw and feed on blood.

Lice infestations cause intense itching. Livestock can spend a tremendous amount of time rubbing and licking in an effort to alleviate their discomfort. They can spend so much time doing this that it decreases their feed intake, feed efficiency, weight gain and growth, which results in a significant financial hit for the enterprise. Further, sucking lice, because of their ability to drain blood, can cause severe anemia and devastate young calves.

Lice thrive in winter. Their survival and transmission is further enhanced by other factors at play in the wintertime, such as long haircoats and huddling behavior.

The first indications of lice infestations in livestock are excessive rubbing (on things such as fenceposts and buildings) and licking. Remember that healthy cattle naturally groom daily, licking their sides and upsweeping the hair. Lice, however, will induce rubbing and licking to the point of removing the hair and damaging the skin beneath. Hairballs that cause obstructions in the stomach and intestines have occurred in animals due to the extreme grooming that lice can induce. Patchy hair loss typically starts on the neck and back and extends down the sides of the body and legs. Examine animals along the topline to look for the lice or their eggs, which are most easily seen on black hair.

Lice cannot survive off the animal for more than a day or so. For this reason, our primary focus for control of these parasites is the animal rather than the environment. Caveats to this include situations where cattle may be sharing tack or bedding, as happens with exhibition animals. A halter taken from one animal and placed on another or an animal placed immediately in a stall just evacuated by another animal are examples of how transmission can occur aside from animal-to-animal contact.

Many products are available to control lice, including dusts, sprays, pour-ons and charges for backrubbers. Selection of these products is based on number of animals, facilities, labor and cost. Regardless of the product used, the eggs are not killed, so a repeat treatment is necessary once those eggs have a chance to hatch. This second treatment, done two to three weeks after the first, helps break the life cycle and stops further generations from coming along. All animals in the group need to be treated, regardless of which ones are showing signs of infestation. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for product use and follow all withdrawal times.

Some injectable and pour-on dewormers, such as ivermectin and its cousins doramectin and moxidectin, also kill lice. In the winter, worm control is not a high priority because the conditions are not right for transmission. Frequent treatment with dewormers at low transmission times of year encourages the development of populations of worms that are resistant to the drugs. In addition, injectable products only kill sucking lice; biting lice do not ingest blood, which contains the drug. 

I have added a link to our MP 144 Insecticide Recommendations Guide for products that are recommended for lice on cattle.

Herd Bulls and the Value of Genetic Potential

Mark Z. Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist

The spring 2025 bull sale season is underway. One economically important objective of the breeding season is to get cows bred to bulls with the highest possible genetic values. With more information available ever before, cow-calf producers need to evaluate this volume of information from their own unique perspective. How is this accomplished? Answer the following questions:

1. How and when do you intend to market your calf crop? (at weaning, as yearlings, as fed cattle, as bred heifers or open replacement females).
2. To what type females will you be mating the bull? (heifers or cows? will help determine the degree of selection pressure to apply to calving ease)
3. Will you be selecting herd replacements from the resulting heifers?

Most sale books will include individual performance of the bulls, Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) for as many as 20 traits, and bio-economic indices. These include multiple genetic predictors of calving ease, several traits that would be considered as maternal performance, growth at different ages, feed intake and feed efficiency. In addition, several traits indicating carcass merit such as marbling, ribeye size, external fat thickness and carcass weight. A Bio-economic index is a genetic value derived from assigning an economic weighting to several EPDs based on their anticipated value at a specific marketing endpoint. 

Bulls are a significant cost to an operation. With proper selection goals and investing wisely, bulls have the potential for high economic returns. While the most expensive bull may not be the best fit for your operation, there is a correlation between bull sale price and the genetic potential transmitted to calves. Over the past three years, CattleFax survey participants indicate that for every additional $2,500 spent on a bull, the average calf price increased by $82 per head. Assuming a bull sires 100 calves over his lifetime of service, that is a return of $8,200. Furthermore, there is data from multiple sources that supports the belief that superior genetics adds value to an operations bottom line.

We are part of an industry in which buyers of cattle (at any age or type) are increasingly willing to pay for documented genetic potential. Determine the traits that stand out as more economically relevant to your marketing plan when deciding how to invest your bull buying dollar. Purchasing bulls offering strong genetic values can and will pay off for your operation.

Upcoming Beef and Forage Meetings

Farmers Market 101

We will be holding a Farmers Market 101 meeting on February 11 at the Faulkner County Extension Office from 5:30 - 7:30. This meeting will consist of the basics of becoming a farmers market vendor.

HPAI Biosecurity Webinar

Since we are still having HPAI outbreaks across the US and in surrounding states, a disease and Biosecurity educational outreach for hobby and small poultry flock owners will be conducted. 

The first webinar will be in February on the 11^th at 6:00 pm.

Dr. Dustan Clark will be covering diseases and Biosecurity with an update on the HPAI outbreak.

There are other webinars in planning both for hobby flock owners and commercial growers.

The registration link is below.

Livestock Market Report

The weekly livestock market report is available on the Arkansas Department of Agriculture website.

Pesticide Applicator Trainings

This is the Pesticide Applicator Training Schedule for Faulkner, Perry and Conway County.

Cost for the certification training is $20 that is payable at the training. It is a good idea to call and register for the class or if you have any questions, feel free to call and ask. Office numbers are located below. Anyone can go to any of these trainings. You don't have to just go in your county.

Faulkner County call and talk to Mindy Beard at the office at 501-329-8344 or email at rbeard@uada.edu

Perry County - 501-889-2661

Conway County - 501-977-2146

You can also get certified online. It also costs $20. The link to the online training is listed below.

Sign up for Text Alerts

You can now sign up for text alerts from me throughout the year. I have two areas you can sign up for which includes Faulkner Livestock or Faulkner Ag (Row Crop Updates). To sign up you can follow one of these links or use the QR Codes below.

February 13 - River Valley Beef Conference - Morrilton

February 19 - KOMA Beef Conference - Ft. Smith

February 21 - Little Red River Beef Conference - Heber Springs

March 4 - River Valley Rice Meeting - Brown's Catfish Russellville