ON-FARM THOUGHTS: October Brings Tricks and Treats for Farmers to Deal With

by Larry Wegner, MFGA Board Alumni

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Halloween is next up on the calendar. For some of us, this year has been a treat, for others, the trick has been another dry growing season. Forage crops were hurt by the low rain fall causing lower-than-average yields. But the annual crops have been a pleasant surprise.

There have been some crop fields that did not have the moisture to produce an average crop, there is always hope for next year to be better. Do you know any producers that take a shovel out to the field and dig a small hole to look at the soil to see why that one spot in the field had a good crop and all around that oasis was like looking at a half-fed crop? Could it be the soil organic level? We need to be asking these types of questions to make next year better.

The cattle market is hot, new high prices are set each week. Will this stop the ongoing herd liquidation as we see producers exit or downsize in the industry? I have not seen any signs of heifer retention yet and do not expect to see any until producers have rebuilt their equity. The shortage of feed is also a major factor. This has been the beef producers profit year. While prices might remain high for the next few years the profit level per head will go down as input will go up. Just price out a new baler or haybine (best to be sitting down when you hear these prices).

This past weekend I talked to a producer in Saskatchewan who does custom grazing, next year he is charging $2.00 a day for a pair (cow/calf) up from $1.65 this year. He said that increase in land cost, inputs and labor were the driver for the increase. The price for custom grazing pairs in Alberta is $2.00 plus from producers I spoke to when I was in Alberta this summer. We saw the same thing in the annual crop production a few years ago when the grain prices went up. Everybody wants a piece of the raising action, but nobody wants to take lower prices. It is human nature.

The big question to beef producers is what do you do with this year’s increase in income? There are many experts telling you how you should use that new wealth and, in my view, it is your money. Make the best use of it as possible, just do not count on it being a long-term trend. Paying income tax is not a bad thing to do.

I heard a podcast last week from an USA university livestock economist who said, “This increase of input will take out the small cattle operation which will make the cattle industry more stable”. In the USA, 50 per cent of the cow herd is produced from herds of 30 cows or less. That would be a game changer! We as beef producers in Canada export 50 per cent of our production. Our industry used to ship live feeder cattle to the USA. Now we import more from the USA than we export, the world is forever changing.

There is a large retailer buying up ranches across North America to produce beef for their food stores (total integration). I bet you are asking yourself “what does this have to do with the forage industry”? Not directly, but it shows we are in a changing world, where we are going is still up in the air.

I have been following a forge breeding program of native grass for the last few years. They have been working with Big Bluestem and Switchgrass. They have a couple of switchgrass varieties to come out this fall/winter. I want to try it in a new forage mix that will be planted spring of 2024. I think adding a warm season grass to our cool season forages should increase our quality of forages for hay and pasture.

It will be interesting to watch and learn how to manage a warm and cool season forage mix. It will only be on 25 acres so I am not betting the farm on this experiment but should be enough to learn from.

Speaking of learning, I have had several people ask me about planned grazing. I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the questions coming my way.

What do I use as temporary fencing material, it all seems expensive?

Think of yourself as a trade person “your tools are your living” so let the amount of usage you will get out of them as to the quality that you use. Like anything else you get what you pay for, the low-cost products I started with only lasted one or two years no matter what the use. The better quality/higher cost products lasted longer. I have reels and polywire that are over 10 years old and still working.

How big/small do I make the permanent paddocks?

After 15 years of doing planned grazing, my answer is fence off riparian areas and boundaries, then after a few years of trial and error you will see what works on your operation. Any good grazer will admit that over time they have added and removed permanent fences. The question I ask back is: “What happens to your paddock size if you double or triple the forge that you harvest over time? Do you have stock to use it? What if you change the stock you graze? (Go from cow/calf to yearling)”

Do I increase cattle numbers as I start to build the paddocks?

That is a firm “NO”, use the surplus forage to add to the number of days grazed. It is far better to manage the extra forage by increasing the number of days that you can graze. It is far more profitable to reduce the number of days you feed the cattle hay and graze longer. Then you can slowly increase the cattle numbers.

How do I move the calf creep feeder into the new paddocks?

The creep feeder is a great way to cover up for poor pasture management! It should not be required if you have good forage that you are moving the cattle on to. If your calves require supplemental feeding you have to take a hard look at what you are feeding and what your expectations are. There is a time and place for a creep feeder, that is when you are preconditioning the calves to a new feed source i.e., grain before weaning. With all that said, this will be the year to put cheap gain on your calves but take caution not to get the calves fat as the buyers will discount them. You must take the cost of gain plus where the price breaks are, so go into creep feeding with your eyes open and pencil sharp.

The MFGA 2023 Regen Ag Conference is on November 13-15, 2023, in Brandon MB. The speaker line-up is fantastic and will challenge you to do better as a producer. Now is the time to buy your tickets and book rooms as they will be going fast now that harvest is wrapping up. To see these speakers, you would have to travel 6-10 hours by car and still have to book a room, so for a 1-3 hour drive you get to see, hear and

talk to these quality speakers.

Just a reminder that our commodity and non-profit organization’s boards need the producers that sit and take the time to put their input in on the direction of the organization at the board meetings. I have learned more from my time as a board member than I ever put in as a producer. Please think about letting your name stand as a board rep.

Thank you for reading this blog and have a great Thanksgiving.