Don Hubbell leans hard on a soil probe, forcing it into the stubborn ground of his Ozarks pasture. He withdraws the instrument, deposits its contents in a bucket, then moves to other spots and repeats the process nearly a hundred times.
Taking soil samples isn't particularly stimulating. But it's a key step in maintaining herd profitability, says Hubbell, who runs about 40 beef cows on 95 acres of grassland near Bethesda, in northeast Arkansas.
Typical of many who own small beef operations, Hubbell has an off-farm job. But unlike most, his daytime job helps him manage his acreage and his cattle operation better. That's because Hubbell is resident director of the University of Arkansas' Livestock and Forestry Branch Experiment Station near Batesville.
For years Hubbell has fielded questions about how much of the information he sees developed at the Station is actually useful to him as a cattleman. That started him thinking and evaluating. His goal was to look at each practice and see how it fit in the average-size operation.
Here are Don Hubbell's top 10 tips for maximizing profits in a small cow/calf operation:
1. Apply lime and fertilizer according to soil test results.
This is just as essential for forages as for row crops. I get my soil tested at least every other year. The recommendations show what plant nutrients I need, and in what amounts. They also tell me which nutrients I don't need.
I also learn if I should apply lime to correct soil pH, and in what amounts. This is necessary for efficient nutrient uptake, as well as best performance of legumes.
Optimum pH and soil fertility extend the life of forage plants, which helps ensure a return on investment. And, in special cases when I need to economize, soil testing helps me make reductions without excessively shortchanging my forages.
2. Use intensive grazing.
This helps maximize forage use and improve animal production. Good forage management extends the grazing season, which reduces feed expense—the single greatest cost of cattle production.
I use polywire to fence off rotational grazing areas. In the spring I usually have 14 pastures averaging 6 to 7 acres each. As calves get larger, I cut back to about 10 grazing areas.
I typically move cattle every three to four days, depending on forage growth and consumption. My goal is to graze fescue to about 50% of initial height. With bermudagrass, I take off 60 to 65%. I can do this because the forage will be fertilized, rested and hopefully will get rain.
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3. Buy good hay instead of haying equipment.
This is a matter of economics and carrying capacity. Years ago I cut and raked my hay, and paid to have it baled. I realized I could run more cattle if I stopped haying.
Sure, I would have to buy hay, and hay gets more expensive in dry years.
But I usually can buy 100 round bales of reasonably good hay for about $2,500. Equipment to do the job would cost at least $15,000. I would use haying equipment no more than six to seven days a year, and I consider that a poor investment for an operation like mine.
I buy mixed-grass hay from local sources. It's moderately good, but not exceptional. Dry cows only need hay with 8 to 10% highly digestible crude protein. Anything better is a luxury.
4. Stockpile winter grazing.
I typically stockpile about 30 acres of fescue each fall, which reduces my hay needs.
Some years back, I would feed hay from about mid-October until late March or April. That's at least 51/2 months of hay feeding.
And since I've been stockpiling, I usually begin feeding hay in January, and that continues for 2 to 21/2 months.
There are two keys to successful stockpiling. First, by mid- to late-August I will either have grazed off or clipped any old growth from the area. I keep cattle off, then fertilize the grass around Labor Day. Last fall I spent about $28 per acre on fertilizer for my stockpile.
Second, by using polywire, I strip-graze the stockpile. I usually allow 2 to 3 acres per strip and move the cattle every two to three days. I get about 80% utilization of forage for this effort.
5. Rent, lease or hire work involving seldom-used equipment.
This reduces overhead. I have a 30-year-old 55-hp tractor, a rotary mower, a front-end loader, a hay spear and a flatbed trailer.
When planting winter annuals, I rent a no-till drill from the Soil Conservation District for $8 per acre. That compares to owning a new drill with a price tag of about $19,000.
I rent or borrow a boom sprayer to apply herbicide to pastures. And instead of owning a stock trailer, which I would use no more than three times a year, I pay for hauling. It costs $50 to $100 each time, but I doubt that I could keep tires on a trailer for that.
Another factor: I don't have to own the heavy-duty truck it would take to pull the trailer. My truck is a 1995 half-ton pickup.
I rent fertilizer buggies and do my own fertilizer spreading, and I hire a dozer if I need to do some clearing or rework my ponds.
6. Overseed winter annuals for weaned calves to graze.
I plant a half acre of winter annuals—a combination of wheat and annual ryegrass—for each calf I expect to wean. I do this around Labor Day, then allow the forages about 60 days to develop 6 to 8 inches of growth.
I turn in the calves in late October, and let them graze until the annuals are about gone. However, I remove the cattle before they graze the annuals into the ground because these plants will recover and provide spring grazing for my cows.
To establish winter annuals, I clip the area, plant with a no-till drill, apply fertilizer and hope for a rain. Instead of using variety-not-stated seed, I spend a little more and get named varieties. I choose a forage-type wheat that develops a lot of leaf, and I use Marshall ryegrass.
Here's the payoff: Based on our research, calves gain at least 21/2 pounds a day on this type of grazing.
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7. Routinely deworm, vaccinate and implant calves.
It's no secret that healthy calves grow faster, do better and bring more. I vaccinate calves twice with a killed virus vaccine, and I deworm them at weaning.
I routinely implant steer calves with Ralgro, a growth promotant. This probably gives me the biggest bang for the buck among all available cattle inputs, except for deworming.
Implants improve daily gains by about 0.2 pound per day. If you add 20 pounds to a calf, that's about $20. The implant costs $1.19, and it takes 30 seconds to place it in the calf's ear.
I implant my calves twice—once when they're all on the ground and again at weaning. All you need is a head restraint. It's as simple as vaccinating.
Cows are dewormed in the fall and are given annual booster shots of killed virus vaccine before breeding.
8. Have defined breeding and calving seasons.
It's easier to manage and wean calves grouped by age and size. And you usually get a premium selling matched calves in groups of five or more. The increase is often 5 to 7 cents a pound over single calves.
There's another consideration: I need to know when my cows are going to calve.
9. Identify calves to cows and bulls.
I tried artificial insemination, but was missing too many cows when they were ready to breed. I use bulls now. I breed a few cows to calve in the fall, to produce cash flow. Those calves are sold in May and June, which is usually a high market.
The majority of my cows calve from mid-February through March. Those calves are weaned in mid-October, then sold off winter annual grazing in January.
I ear-tag each calf at birth, using a numerical system representing the year and the individual's sequence among the calves of that season.
I keep a spreadsheet showing when each cow calved, when the calf should be weaned, the sire and other details. Among other things, this information is used in culling cows that fail to produce good calves.
10. Aim for optimum, not necessarily maximum, performance.
I believe every cattleman should set realistic goals based on his resources. My average calf weighs about 500 pounds at weaning. If I had better cattle or more improved pasture, I could beat that.
Similarly, I could increase fertilizer rates and have more grass in the spring. Then I might be tempted to carry more cows. But that wouldn't be year-round forage, and that's what I must have to make an efficient system that works for me.