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Topic number three, “Hay Day” Management was presented by Tim Schnakenberg, Regional Agronomy Specialist in Galena, Mo. Schnakenberg began by emphasizing that quality at the time of harvest was of utmost importance.

You may be wondering if your investment of preconditioning before sale will be rewarded.

The rapid growth of the ethanol industry has meant the availability of ever-increasing quantities of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS). Left over from the ethanol production process, DDGS is low in carbohydrates but high in protein, fat and fiber. In many areas, it’s revolutionized livestock production; rather than compete with ethanol plants for corn, feeders and cattle producers are adding DDGS to their rations.

When a Kentucky Circuit Court sentenced Thomas “Tommy” Gibson and another former Eastern Livestock officer in June to 10 years in prison, it was just the latest chapter in a strange story that became public in Nov. 2010, when checks written by the New Albany, Ind.-based livestock dealer founded by Gibson started bouncing. More than 700 ranchers were left holding about $130 million in bad checks, and Gibson and his former Chief Operating Officer, Steve McDonald, pleaded guilty to one count of running an organized crime syndicate and 172 counts of theft by deception. They admitted that for two years, they had been falsely inflating the company's bank accounts to create the illusion of solvency.

Jim Thompson, agricultural business specialist with University of Missouri in Laclede County, shared some tips for farmers in the area who are experiencing hard times due to the drought. Thompson’s tactic was primarily “sit and wait.” He advised staying inside and keep yourself safe, and to leave your cattle alone until the temperature lowers. “Cattle are under a lot of heat stress this summer, unless you absolutely have to get the cattle up and to the sale barn, don’t. The cattle need plenty of water, and more importantly, shade," said Thompson.

It’s both the heat and the humidity according to Dr. Glenn Selk, professor of animal science at Oklahoma State University. “The critical temperature at which cattle start to feel more of what we would probably call some kind of heat stress, mild or otherwise, at somewhere in the neighborhood of around 80 degrees,” Selk told Ozarks Farm & Neighbor.

Whether you are harvesting your forage crops or a livestock producer buying fresh hay to store up for the winter, it is an excellent time to remember a few hay hauling tips to get you from the field to the feed bunk.

Paul Beck, professor at the University of Arkansas Southwest Research and Extension Center said that optimizing forage and silage quality is primarily about maturity of the forage they are harvesting, once the forage material is cut.

As cattle prices continue to rise cattle rustlers continue to strike in the Ozarks.

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is a voluntary program available through the USDA’s Farm Service Agency which offers financial incentives to private landowners to enhance and protect water quality for drinking by filtering runoff, stabilizing streambanks and shading stream channels. Additional goals are to improve wildlife habitat and preserve the diversity of natural resources by increasing the amount, quality and connectivity of protected riparian corridors. The CREP program is a federal program administered by each state.