PHOTO BY MAT TAYLOR Extension agronomist Dr. David Drake, left, answers a question about weed control in pastures at the recent Central Texas Cow/Calf Clinic. A large crowd of landowners and operators attended the recent Central Texas Cow/Calf Clinic at the Lampasas County Farm Bureau Building. The Texas Agrilife Extension Service Lampasas County office sponsored the annual clinic.

First speaker on the program was Bill Thompson, an Extension economist. He discussed the cattle market outlook, cost of production and tools for putting together a marketing plan.

Thompson said some factors that affect cattle prices are the economy and the price of corn. With the recent economic downturn, a decrease in overall beef consumption has been recorded. At the same time, however, there has been a lack of hamburger meat for fast-food restaurants such as McDonalds. These restaurants now are using more imported beef for their products.

"At present, there are not enough cows to meet this hamburger demand," Thompson said.

The national beef cattle herd is shrinking, he said. Since 1980, beef cattle numbers are down 20 percent.

"With fewer cattle, one may assume that cattle prices would be higher, but that has not been the case," Thompson added. "There has been lower consumer demand due to the soft economy."

Another reason for the lower price is that there are too many dairy cows, and the dairy herd is expected to be reduced by 200,000 head. Meat from these slaughtered cows will compete with beef cattle.

Thompson also said the pork industry is in bad shape, and there has been a proposed sow buyout for producers with too many pigs. This meat, when it reaches the market, is another competitor for beef.

The economist said corn prices have a direct effect on cattle prices. With very high corn prices last year, cattle feeders broke even or lost money. As a result, fewer calves were purchased for feeding, and there is an excess of feeder capacity in most feedlots.

In fact, many feedlots are for sale as their profit margins have gone down, Thompson said. With fewer cattle on feed, feeders have been feeding calves to larger weights with many animals weighing up to 1,200 pounds before slaughter.

One bright outlook this year is that forecasts call for a record corn crop. That should decrease the cost of feed this fall and winter.

To get the best price for calves, Thompson said producers need to look at historical data. This data shows calves normally bring the highest prices in September and October.

He reviewed estimated costs of producing a 550-pound calf and the projected selling price. With current conditions, it is very difficult to make a profit, the economist said.

One effect of the current market is that individual cattle herds are increasing, but there are fewer part-time producers. Thompson even suggested it might be time for many part-timers to get out, so producers who are in the cattle business as their sole source of income could have a larger share of the market.

Even with the dim outlook, Thompson said people in the United States and around the world like to eat American beef, and there will always be a market for it. "However, the more efficient producers will be the ones who will profit from this demand."

Thompson mentioned two Web sites that can help producers determine when to sell their cattle and how to assess the risk in raising cattle: www.beefbasic.com and http://agrisk.tamu.edu.

After Thompson's presentation, Extension agronomist Dr. David Drake discussed forage and beef cattle, including weed control.

Drake said there are three basics in weed control: knowing what kind of weeds one has, pampering the crop and timing when to control the weeds.

He said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when controlling weeds. Producers should plant seeds that are free of weed seeds, and all equipment should be cleaned regularly to remove any unwanted weed seeds. If possible, animals also should be free of any attached weed seeds.

When controlling weeds, proper timing is everything, Drake said. Weeds are more easily controlled before they reach maturity, or the bloom stage. It is also important to know the species of weeds to be controlled.

The agronomist said the Web site //twig.tamu.edu can assist producers with weed identification on their pastures. The local county Extension agent also can be contacted for assistance in identifying weeds and for specific control of each species.

By pampering the crop, Drake said healthy grass could outgrow many weeds. Producers should follow the rule "graze half, and leave half."

"It takes leaves to grow leaves and to maintain a healthy plant," he said. "Grass that is overgrazed results in weak plants, and that allows and encourages more weed growth."

Proper fertilization is also important to produce forage on improved pastures. Drake said it takes roughly 50 pounds of nitrogen, 15 pounds of phosphorus and 40 pounds of potassium to produce a ton of forage. "If these nutrients are not replaced, the soil will be mined, and eventually plant growth will suffer."

Drake concluded by saying that people in the cattle business are really grass farmers, as the more grass is produced, the more and larger will be the calves that are produced.

Lampasas County Extension Agent Jason Byrd said many local cattle producers have called his office about an increase in horn fly infestation on their livestock. To address those concerns, the final speaker on the program was Dr. Chris Sansone, Extension program leader for entomology.

He discussed three flies that affect cattle: the common housefly, the stable fly and horn flies.

"The horn fly is the most damaging fly pest on cattle in Texas," Sansone said. "Research has shown that a calf with more than 200 horn flies will gain up to 50 pounds less than normal from birth to sale."

To control horn flies effectively and economically, a producer should know how to distinguish them from other flies and learn what control methods to use for different stages of their life cycle. Sansone said horn flies look like houseflies and stable flies, but they are smaller. They also have piercing mouth parts that feed on the animal's blood.

To distinguish horn flies from stable flies, their feeding habits need to be observed. Horn flies rest on a cow between feeding; stable flies remain on the cow only while feeding. Also, horn flies feed most often on an animal's back, shoulders and sides, whereas stable flies feed primarily on the legs.

The entomologist said horn fly eggs are laid in cow manure, where they hatch as maggots. Horn flies develop from egg to adult within 10 to 20 days, and the adults live about three weeks, feeding up to 30 times a day.

In the Lampasas area, Sansone said horn flies usually are first observed in early spring, and populations peak in early summer, then decline when the weather becomes hot and warm.

In the fall, populations can surge again. They are usually no problem in winter.

Sansone outlined three types of control methods to suppress horn flies: biological, cultural and chemical.

"Fire ants are at least good for one thing," he said. "They feed on the horn fly maggots."

A parasitic wasp that can be ordered from insectaries in Texas supposedly is used to control horn flies, but there has been no research data to prove how much control is achieved, Sansone said.

A cultural method of controlling flies is to remove and properly dispose of fresh manure from barns and stalls. That helps interrupt the horn fly's life cycle.

He also recommended feeding cattle at different locations in the pasture to reduce the amount of manure in one place.

Several chemical control methods are available to help reduce the number of horn flies. "They are ear tags, pour-on, dusters and feed additives," the entomologist said.

Ear tags are two- to three-inch plastic tags impregnated with an insecticide, and they attach to the cow's ear.

Numerous brands and several types of insecticides also are available.

There also are many different brands of pour-on insecticides with the same chemicals, he said.

Flies over time can build a resistance to a chemical so producers should rotate classes of insecticides every year, Sansone said.

He reminded participants that when using insecticide they should read the label for treatment information to make sure it is recommended for use on beef cattle and to use it only according to the label directions.

For additional information on horn flies and control, contact the local Extension office at 556-8271.