As the summer months are now upon us, most people are preparing for their vacations to some far away paradise in the tropics or abroad to one of the wonders of the world. Meanwhile farmers back home are faced with some challenges to be dealt with to maintain healthy livestock to include things such as: pests and parasites, heat stress and shading, water access, minerals and salt, as well as winter forage preparations and we’ll discuss management strategies for each.
Pests and parasites are a major nuisance for livestock producers because they vector or spread diseases and pathogens which then will affect the overall performance of the livestock.
The common pests to cattle are flies, mosquitos, ticks, and worms, each a vector of a panel of diseases that could harm the cattle. The reproductive success can be jeopardized because of being too stressed out causing a cow to not be successfully bred or if she is presently pregnant these pests or parasites could cause her to abort the pregnancy and that is a huge loss to the producer.
It has been determined by animal scientists that the meat quality of an animal can be determined by each of the aforementioned situations so minimizing the severity of each is crucial to produce a healthy quality animal.
Management strategies that can be taken to reduce pests and parasites in cattle include chemical methods such as spraying of insecticides to control flies and even mosquitos. If one is adverse to using chemical methods of fly control an alternative method of biopest control that is proving be very effective is employing the use of parasitic wasps that prey on the fly larvae. Many large-scale cattle operations and feedlots are moving towards the use of these wasps to
help reduce the dependency of agrochemical use and the potential harmful side effects they could pose to both human and cattle health.
Heat stress and shading are both other considerations that are contributing factors to livestock productivity. Providing cattle with places to get out of the sun exposure boils down to good welfare and husbandry practices to reduce animal cruelty, while animals such as cattle are more adapted to heat than humans are, even cattle have a limit.
Ways to improve cattle’s resistance to heat can be accomplished first by building structures they can get under or perhaps grazing them in pastures that have natural sun blockage areas - trees. Another way to lessen the stress on the cattle from the heat is through genetics, research has shown that cattle with red or white coats are more tolerant of extreme levels of heat as opposed to their black counterparts.
It should go without say that water is a very important for cattle, like anything else they need water to stay alive and so providing them with either water troughs that can be filled up as needed or digging and filling a pond are the only two ways to provide water for livestock, so a short and to the point matter.
Providing salt and mineral blocks for cattle is an excellent way to make sure they are sound from the molecular level and up. Salt is extremely essential for life much like water and cattle crave it very powerfully. They also are known to go to great lengths to get it if it is absent in their diets, often resorting to eating materials cattle normally wouldn’t eat and that can be very dangerous. Setting out salt blocks is a direct way to provide the cattle with a proper amount of salt that they can lick at their leisure.
Minerals are essential for bodily functions and condition scores, functions such as reproduction and lactation in particular require a highly rich bounty of energy which is very taxing on the individual cow and these are acquire through minerals:
calcium, potassium, etc. as mentioned body condition to include skeletal integrity, and muscle growth need minerals for growth, minerals are pretty important.
Last but certainly not least is winter forage production which is a means that farmers can produce feedstuff for their cattle - hay. Common winter forages for the East Texas area are crops such as legumes like red and white clovers which are highly nutritious, or grains such as oats, barley, rye, and even grasses like ryegrass, or even root crops such as turnips and radishes are all great selections depending on your preference, it is worth noting these are just some of many choices. But wait there is a bigger consideration than what crop species to use and that is how great of quality soil do you have?
If you are unsure about the quality of your soil and you live in the East Texas area, consider sampling your soil and sending it to the soil analysis lab at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, or to your county's extension agent.
There at the soil lab they have their rates listed online and have a selection of different levels of analysis with the prices listed but get your samples in early. They are very busy and receive samples from nearly everywhere so it may take a while to get your analysis back but is most definitely a wise expense and rather affordable for the services provided.
Cattle summer management just like any other time of the year is a matter of careful planning and necessary step taking to ensure the best quality and healthcare of ones’ cattle and these are just some suggestions to help boost productivity, hopefully it helps.
