031715_YKMV_A16.pdf
March 17, 2015 • Page 16
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March
15 - 21, 2015
Telling Month for Cattle Ranchers
BROOKINGS — The month of March
signals two seemingly very different
events, basketball playoffs and for
many South Dakota ranchers, the peak
of calving season.
“On the surface they may not
have much in common, but they both
represent the end point of a lot of time,
energy and resources,” said Warren
Rusche, SDSU Extension Cow/Calf
Field Specialist.
Rusche takes this analogy one step
further. “The goal of a basketball team
is to make a deep run in the playoffs
and the goal of a rancher is to save as
many calves as possible,” he said.
Preparation, Rusche said is the
key component for success in both
fields. “For a rancher, success during
calving is critical. More than 60
percent of calves that are born and die
before weaning are either born dead
or are lost within the first 24 hours
of birth,” said Rusche quoting data
from the USDA National Animal Health
Monitoring System. “Calving difficulty is
the most significant cause of death.”
Preparation = Success
“Being well prepared for the start of
calving season can make a tremendous
difference in successfully getting live
calves on the ground,” Rusche said.
He explained that it is a lot easier to
get all the necessary supplies on hand
and in place ahead of time, rather than
scrambling in the dark when the first
heifer needs some help.
To ensure timeliness of preparation,
he suggested cattle producers review
gestation tables as well as breeding and
turn-out dates to predict when the first
calves will be expected.
“However, some cows don’t read
the book,” Rusche said. “It’s not at all
uncommon for genetic lines that have
been selected for easier calving and
lower birth weights to show a tendency
for shorter gestation as well.”
In those cases, he said it would be
prudent to be ready a week to 10 days
earlier than what the gestation table
suggests.
Ensuring that everyone on the team
understands the game plan and their
role is also important. “Going over the
plan for calving season with the entire
team is a good idea to make sure that
everyone is on the same page, even if
the plan hasn’t changed and even if the
team is only one person,” Rusche said.
He added that factors such as when
to provide assistance and knowing
when to call your veterinarian can
impact not only this year’s production,
but future calf crops as well.
Rusche referenced research from
the Ft. Keogh Research Station in Miles
City, Mont., which showed that heifers
which were assisted later during labor
had a 19 percent reduced pregnancy
rate compared to heifers that were
helped within a half hour (Table 1).
Even in cows, the research
demonstrated a 9 percent improvement
in pregnancy rates by assisting earlier.
“Given the value of bred females this
year, being prepared to assist early will
help increase the odds of getting cattle
Kenny Rogers At State Fair
HURON — The South Dakota State Fair announces Kenny
Rogers and the John Conlee Show will perform at the Fair
Grandstand on Friday, Sept. 4, 2015.
Known for his trademark raspy vocals, Country Music Hall
of Fame member Kenny Rogers is one of music’s legionary
voices with classic hits like “Lucille,” “The Gambler,” “Islands
In The Stream” and “Lady.” Rogers has sold more than 120
million albums
worldwide during
his career of over 50
years, including one
Diamond, 19 Platinum
and 31 Gold albums.
With three
Grammys, 18
American Music
awards, eight
Academy of Country
Music awards, six
Country Music
Association awards
and 11 People’s
Choice awards,
it’s obvious Kenny
Rogers has swooned
the country and pop
music fields for many
years.
“It’s an honor to
have a country legend
like Kenny Rogers
play at the State Fair,” said SDSF manager, Peggy Besch. “Our
classic country shows do well, so we are happy to bring
Kenny Rogers and John Conlee to fairgoers.”
John Conlee is one of music’s great storytellers with hits
like “Rose Colored Glasses,” “Common Man” and “Got My
Heart Set on You.” Of the John Conlee Show’s 29 released
n SDSU iGrow singles, 26 of them have charted in the top 20 or higher on
national country charts, with eight of them reaching number
one.
Pre-sale on tickets will begin June 15 for backrest holders
followed by Friends of the Fair ticket sales on June 18.
General public ticket sales will begin June 22.
The 2015 South Dakota State Fair will run from Thursday,
the pollution problems—
Sept. 3, through Monday, Sept. 7. Channel Seeds preview
natural ingredients don’t.
night will be Wednesday, Sept. 2. This year’s theme is “Sew it.
By breaking humic acid
Grow it. Show it.” For more information on State Fair events,
into smaller molecules, a
contact the Fair office at 800-529-0900, visit www.sdstatefair.
process called fractionation, com or find them on Facebook or Twitter.
Elsayed hopes to improve
n SOUTH DAKOTA STATE NEWS
the interaction between
humic acid and clay
minerals and, therefore,
of a significant increase in
their ability to trap
farm size.”
pollutants, particularly
Farms that sell less
heavy metals. This project
From Page 13
than $10,000 in agricultural
is a continuation of his
products have their
doctoral research. If
In spite of South Dakota’s
sustainability compromised
fractionation produces good larger operations, South
both in the U.S. and in
results, the next step will be Dakota farms that fit into
South Dakota, explained
to determine the optimum
sales groups 1 and 2 make
Garcia. “These farms are
humic acid fractionation
up 56.7 percent of the total
roughly under 86 and 145
combination for each clay
farms in the state.
acres for the U.S. and South
mineral to enhance the
“Oddly enough it was the
Dakota, respectively. On
trapping process, Elsayed
middle-sized farms that took
these smaller operations,
explained. The long-range
the greatest hit in numbers.
sales may compromise the
vision is for producers to
Both groups 3 and 4 showed
adoption of cutting edge
apply humic acid, either
quite a significant reduction
technologies and the reaping
in solid or liquid form, to
with negative 2.2 and
of the benefits of efficiencies
enhance soil properties.
negative 7.9, respectively,”
of scale,” Garcia said. “Larger
“These compounds would
he said. “Similar to the rest
farms with greater overall
capture the heavy metals
of the country, farms in
sales are usually more
and organic pollutants so
groups 5 and 6 increased
attractive to the agricultural
the plant won’t take it up,”
and were responsible for
allied industry with
he said. The resulting crop
more acres farmed, mostly
increased technical support
would be contaminant-free. because more farms entered
which entice them to farm
n SDSU iGrow this group and not because
more acres usually resulting
in higher sales.”
However, Garcia added,
smaller operations, like
FOR ALL YOUR AUTOMOTIVE, TRUCK
those in groups 1 and 2
AND TRACTOR PARTS COME TO:
combined still constitute
one-third (31.1 percent) of all
U.S. farmland, and more than
80 percent of U.S. farms.
“This makes Group 1
and 2 farms a significant
group for U.S. agriculture.
South Dakota also shows
the relevance of these two
“Get the good stuff!”
groups which combined
represent a relatively smaller
Bearings – Batteries – Filters
portion of the acreage at 14.5
more than
Automotive • Truck • Agricultural • Marine percent butfarms in thehalf
of the total
state
(56.7 percent)” he said.
bred back in a timely manner and lower
the losses from premature culling,”
Rusche said.
Reviewing the actual procedures
of delivering calves can also be
useful, even if a producer has years of
experience.
Below are some general
recommendations from Dr. Russ Daly,
SDSU Extension VeterinarianAssociate
Professor, and State Public Health
Veterinarian:
Take a short pause after the chest
of the calf is delivered before pulling
again. This mimics what happens in a
normal delivery. When the calf takes its
first breath it begins to transition away
from oxygen from the umbilical cord to
oxygen from the air.
A slight rotation (45 degrees) often
allows the hips to pass more easily.
Use a piece of straw or vigorous
rubbing to encourage the calf to
breathe. One might think that picking
up the calf with his head down would
help get fluid out of his breathing
passages, but actually that creates
increased pressure on the lungs making
it more difficult to breathe.
Call for assistance if one can’t
determine how to correct the problem
or if 30 minutes of assistance have gone
by without significant progress.
- See more at: http://igrow.org/
news/telling-month-for-cattleranchers/#sthash.6jOKT0wI.dpuf
Trapping Pollutants With Natural Soil Components
BROOKINGS — Using
natural soil components
to trap pollutants will
allow producers to control
soil contaminants and
reuse draining water while
protecting their agricultural
crops, according to
Mohamed Elsayed, a
Fulbright Postdoctoral
Scholar at South Dakota
State University’s chemistry
and biochemistry
department.
Elsayed concentrates
some humic acid fractions
by evaporating the water.
His research seeks to use
natural soil components
to trap pollutants and
allow producers to irrigate
their crops with recycled
drainage water.
Elsayed uses
ultrafiltration techniques
to break humic acid down
into smaller molecules that
can then combine with clay
minerals in the soil to trap
pollutants.
A researcher from
the Soil Water and
Environmental Research
Institute at the Agricultural
Research Center in Egypt,
will present his work at the
American Chemical Society
National Meeting March 2226 in Denver. “I am honored
that Mohamed chose my
group as the place to
spend his fellowship,” said
Jim Rice, head of SDSU’s
Department of Chemistry
and Biochemistry. “It’s
another sign of the strong
international recognition
that our research program
is building.” If crops are
sown in polluted soil,
the plants absorb the
contaminants, Elsayed
explained. These are then
transferred to humans
when they consume the
vegetables or grains.
Because of water shortages
in Egypt, Elsayed said, “we
need to use water again and
again, but before we reuse
it, we need to clean it.” His
research seeks to increase
the ability of humic acid to
adsorb or trap pollutants in
combination with either of
two clay minerals—kaolinite
or montmorillonite. Humic
acid is one of the major
organic components in
soil and is also used as
fertilizer. “The idea is to
use natural materials to
reduce the pollutants,”
he explained. “Natural
components are cheaper,
more easily available.”
Plus, artificial ingredients
run the risk of adding to
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