Whether you have weaned, are about to wean, or are receiving calves, reach out with any ration needs or management or nutrition questions; if I can’t immediately answer, I have a great network of resources. Hay may be more important than ever to get samples of this year whether its for the cows or feedlot. Forage was more mature earlier this year meaning higher lignin content and therefore lower energy. Silage is more variable and different from last year as well, so let’s get samples of that too. As calves are entering the lot remember they eat to physical fill which is still a low amount while they are under 500 pounds since their rumens are still developing and expanding and therefore the diet needs to be fairly energy dense. There is a limit to the silage inclusion we want to put in initial diets for these little guys; I usually run that around 30% both for the fill and acclimating to the taste of fermented feed. Above 500 pounds fill is less of a concern and if silage is preferred over running through hay stores early on, we can push silage to around 60% of the diet until we are worried about generating more body heat. Hopefully it takes a while to get that cold outside.

I’ve gotten questioned about what a producer can do about down corn in fields (it’s not a concern if there is less than 10bu/acre) where they want to turn cows out and unfortunately there’s no convenient simple answer other than be sure to have them full when you turn them out. You could also provide free choice sodium bicarb in a compartment of the mineral feeder. Cows generally only eat it when their digestive system is upset and only a couple ounces in a day. Use a heavy stocking rate, strip graze or time graze, and the best but likely least plausible thing to do would be to introduce a low amount of corn to the cows for a week or so before turn-out; around 1 percent body weight per head is a good place to start. Supplemental protein will help her utilize the corn better as well. To put some numbers out there, if you have 15bu/acre down, that’s 840 pounds. That’s a lot per cow if you’re stocking at 1 cow per acre; would you ever fill a bunk and let a cow go to town on it? At 8bu/acre you have 448 pounds, over an acre of land that’s not an amount to get too concerned about, but 400 pounds more is quite a difference.

Soybeans experienced a 60-cent bounce after the report last week. This is coming as a surprise to many as our soybean balance sheet is going to be rather robust even with the uptick in sales to China the last 7 days. We simply got over sold and we have buyers taking a long position with the Chinese news and continued inflation talks. If you are a true fundamental marketer, I wouldn’t expect any major moves higher past this point unless there is some serious dryness in Brazil. Simply put our balance sheet is going to keep processors and exporters content until the spring when our weather cycle starts to develop.

Corn rallied mostly on the back of soybeans this week. Fundamentally I am more bullish corn than I am soybeans. Ethanol for the time being has very good margins which should lead them to be aggressive buyers on the front end until further notice. We will need to see crude oil prices and energy demand stay strong, but I don’t expect those issues to go away anytime too soon. After the first of the year, we will need to start seeing some April through June corn exports, or our corn balance sheet could in theory also start to inflate.

Custom Applicator

Location: Marion, Lyons, Dimock, Irene, Scotland, Salem, Tyndall, SD. Applicate cus-tomer fields as instructed in a timely manner while maintaining quality, customer satis-faction and obeying all traffic laws and limits. Assist in other areas of CFC operations as needed, depending on the season. Must be able to work at elevated levels in a dusty environment, lift up to 50lbs, think quickly and follow directions, pay strong attention to safety. Must have a CDL or the ability to get one. Full Time Position.

Truck Driver

Location: Most Locations. Make delivers as instructed in a timely manner while main-taining quality, customer satisfaction and obeying all traffic laws & limits. Assist in other areas of CFC operations as needed, depending on the season. Must be able to work in a dusty environment, lift up to 50lbs, think quickly and follow directions, pay strong atten-tion to safety. Must have a valid CDL.

Agronomy/Grain Production—Full Time and Seasonal Positions Available

Location: Marion, Salem, Lyons, Dimock, Tyndall, Irene SD. This position will assist as needed in agronomy operations and assist customers in grain operation by unloading truck grain and other duties as assigned. Extended hours are required in season. Must be able to work at elevated levels in a dusty environment, lift up to 50lbs, think quickly and follow directions, pay strong attention to safety.