THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015
Business & Ag
‘Beef industry tour’ held at
local extension office
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Oregon State Uni-
versity (OSU) Extension
Service, 2600 East Street
in Baker City, was host to
a 2015 Beef Industry Tour
Monday evening, with
Reproductive Manage-
ment and Genetics of Beef
Cattle as the major topic
for discussion.
Joining Leticia Varelas,
OSU Extension Service
Livestock and Natural
Resources Agent for Baker
and Union counties, was
Cliff Lamb, University
of Florida, North Florida
Research and Education
Center (NFREC)-Mar-
ianna, Reinaldo Cooke,
OSU, Eastern Oregon
Agricultural Research
Center (EOARC)-Burns,
J. Benton Glaze, Univer-
sity of Idaho, Twin Falls
Research and Extension
Center (TFREC)-Twin
Falls, and David Bohnert,
OSU, EOARC-Burns.
The tour, sponsored by
the Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association (OCA) and
Genex, Cooperative,
Inc., began at 4 p.m., and
ended at about 7:30 p.m.,
in the east meeting room
of the Extension Service
building. Attendees were
allowed a dinner break
partway through, and were
provided with delivery piz-
za and beverages. Regis-
tration for the tour, payable
to EOARC, was $10 per
person. Each speaker used
a slide show presentation,
displayed on the meeting
room’s TV monitor, to
discuss their topics.
Varelas was the first
speaker of the evening,
presenting her segment
titled “Basic Concepts on
Cattle Reproduction and
Genetic Management.”
She said, “I just want to
thank everyone for coming
out tonight. It’s good to
see such a good turnout,
and, thanks to all of our
speakers…”
She gave a basic in-
troduction to her topics,
explaining some issues
with non-producing cattle,
or under-producing cattle,
and the economic effects
associated with that. She
emphasized the importance
of pre-calving nutrition,
and she discussed the
benefits of developing
a program to encourage
earlier spring calving, and
a shorter breeding season,
when possible.
Varelas also discussed
herd management, includ-
ing having a consistent
vaccination program, and
detailed record keeping, a
critically important prac-
tice, she said. She said that
the beef industry has “…
made great strides…” in
the area of Expected Prog-
Friday, December 4, 2015 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady compared to week
ago prices. The upcoming holidays have slowed
sales. Many producers have decided to hold on to
their hay for now, in hopes for higher prices. Snow
has hit some of the hay producing areas.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
Alfalfa — Large Square, Good/Premium
900 130.00-130.00 130.00
Alfalfa/Orchard Mix— Small Square, Good
17 195.00-200.00 195.50
Timothy Grass — Large Square, Good
65 200.00-200.00 200.00
Timothy Grass— Small Square, Good
5 200.00-200.00 200.00
Barley Straw—Small Square Utility, Fair
5 125.00-125.00 125.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 1,404
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Cattle producers from across the county gathered at the Extension Office this
week for several hours of industry information.
eny Differences (EPD).
“EPD is the prediction
of how future progeny
(offspring) of each animal
are expected to perform
relative to the progeny of
other animals listed in the
database,” according to the
American Angus Associa-
tion.
The EPD values list
includes almost 20 items,
including birth weight,
weaning weight, yearling
weight, yearling height,
maternal milk, mature
weight, and carcass weight.
Varelas explained briefly
some details about the
OSU Across-Breed EPD
Calculator, a program
developed by Barbi Riggs
and Bohnert. This topic
was discussed in greater
detail later in the tour by
Bohnert.
Lamb followed Varelas,
presenting his segment,
“Economic Impacts of
Estrus Synchronization
(ES) and Fixed-Time AI
(Artificial Insemination) in
Beef Systems.” Lamb, who
grew up in Zimbabwe,
South Africa, began by
explaining briefly his back-
ground and education, and
he said, “I’ve spent a lot
of time working on more
advanced reproductive
systems.” While comment-
ing on his background, he
said, jokingly, that crime
is a “bit” of a problem in
South Africa.
He’s conducted AI re-
search for the last 25 years,
and he spoke about his
involvement in updating
AI protocols for differ-
ent companies around the
U.S., each year. He said,
“Just to be very clear
here, it is a lot easier to
synchronize recipients
for embryo transfer, than
it is to synchronize cows
for artificial insemination,
because, we don’t have to
have a healthy follicle for
embryo transfer.”
Lamb discussed, among
other things, the economics
of using a bull, verses AI,
and, he said that using AI
is probably the better route.
Data for his overall discus-
sion were gathered from
studies he’s conducted with
herds at UF-NFREC.
Cooke, originally from
Brazil, followed Lamb,
with his topic, “Trace Min-
eral Supplementation To
Gestating Beef Cows.” He
discussed cattle nutrition,
using an example of a hu-
man pregnancy to describe
how, in the human case, a
mother actually needs the
weight gain--of about two
pounds a month during the
nine months--for proper
body conditioning, which
he said is a similar idea as-
sociated with calving.
Cooke spoke about
organic versus inorganic
minerals, and, he said that,
according to his stud-
ies data, organic mineral
supplements translated to
a better body conditioning
score (BCS), more weight
gain, and more income for
the producer.
After about a 20-minute
dinner break, Glaze con-
tinued the discussion with
his topic, “Use of Genetic
Tools in Beef Cattle Selec-
tion.” He spoke about the
importance of sire selec-
tion and culling, and differ-
ent traits regarding selec-
tion. He said he knows
using EPD is a valuable
tool, but, the beef industry
is slow in acceptance of it.
Glaze discussed details
regarding trait selection
and EPD, citing the Na-
tional Beef Cattle Evalu-
ation Consortium as one
source. He used different
value tables, and discussed
expected performance,
versus actual performance,
the interpretation of EPD.
Bohnert followed Glaze,
as the last speaker of the
evening, with his topic,
“Using the OSU Across-
Breed EPD Calculator.”
This topic included a
handout with instructions
for using the program,
developed by Bohnert
and Riggs, as mentioned
earlier.
Bohnert used a com-
puter to display, on the TV
monitor, a live example
of using the EPD Calcula-
tor, using different breeds
and values. The calcula-
tor, formatted to run most
efficiently in Excel 2007
(Excel is required), can be
downloaded from www.
beefcattle.ans.oregonstate.
edu, or by contacting the
Extension Service.
The program, accord-
ing to the handout, “…is
a tool to help commercial
cattlemen evaluate and
compare sires of different
breeds using adjustment
factors generated from
the MARC (Meat Animal
Research Center in Clay
Center, Nebraska) data.”
The adjustment factors,
which change each year,
are a result of using the
most recent genetic evalua-
tions for eighteen different
breeds, currently includ-
ing: Angus, Hereford,
Red Angus, Shorthorn,
South Devon, Beefmaster,
Brahman, Brangus, Santa
Gertrudis, Branvieh, Cha-
rolais, Chiangus, Gelbvieh,
Limousin, Main Anjou,
Salers, Simmental, and
Tarentaise.
Stops on the Beef Indus-
try Tour included Cen-
tral Oregon Community
College, in Prineville, on
December 8, Black Bear
Diner, in Medford, on De-
cember 9, and Springfield
Golf Club, in Springfield,
on December 10. More
information about the tour
and other subjects can be
found at www.beefcattle.
ans.oregonstate.edu.
wildlife from importation
into Oregon for rehabilita-
tion. Oregon has about 35
licensed rehabilitators who
help care for and eventu-
ally return sick, injured or
orphaned wildlife to the
wild.
In other business, the
Commission:
Adopted administrative
rules for HB 3315, which
requires ODFW to track
and prepare reports that
show the number of hours
spent providing services
to other state agencies
as these agencies imple-
ment their own fee-funded
programs.
Amended Division
435 rules for wildlife
control operators, private
businesses that respond
to wildlife damage and
wildlife-human conflicts.
The new rules require all
employees doing wildlife
control activities to pass
a WCO test, charge a fee
of $25 for the test and a
$60 biannual permit fee,
extend permit validation
period from one to two
years, and reduce live-trap
check times from 72 to 48
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 201.00 - 232.00 Top 240.00
400-500# Bulk 179.00 - 221.00 Top 225.00
500-600# Bulk 158.00 - 200.00 Top 201.75
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 172.00 - 194.00 Top 197.00
400-500# Bulk 162.00 - 191.00 Top 198.00
500-600# Bulk 153.00 - 175.50 Top 176.50
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 155.00 - 173.00 Top 174.00
700-800# Bulk 154.00 - 164.00 Top 165.00
800-900# Bulk 144.00 - 153.50 Top 154.00
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 137.00 - 161.00 Top 163.00
700-800# Bulk 141.00 - 153.00 Top 155.00
800-900# Bulk 135.00 - 143.00 Top 144.00
900-1,000# Bulk 121.00 - 128.00 Top N/A
Thin Shelly Cows 47.00 - 59.00
Butcher Cows 61.00 - 69.00
Butcher Bulls 61.00 - 78.00
Stock Cows Yng. N/A
Younger Hfrts. 97.00 - 115.00
Stock Cows Older. - 1075.00 - 1275.00
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon
Doug Fir is $415.00/mbf
White fir is $365.00/mbf
Ponderosa Pine is brought sold
on diameter splits
6 to 11 inch dib $300 to $310/MBF
12 to 17 inch dib $350 to $375/MBF
18 to 23 inch dib $400 to $430/MBF
24 inch plus dib $450 to $500/MBF
DIB is diameter inside bark at
small end of log.
MBF is thousand board feet lumber, net scale.
People interested in selling logs
should call and get specific
quotes from saw mills.
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
ODFW adopts new rehab rules
SALEM, Ore.—The
Fish and Wildlife Com-
mission adopted new rules
for wildlife rehabilitators
today at its meeting in
Portland.
The new rules provide
species-specific guidance
for reporting, handling
and rehabilitating com-
mon mammals like black
bears, deer and elk. They
also add language to make
state rules consistent
with federal guidelines
for federally-listed or
endangered species and
prohibit certain types of
— Weekly Hay Report —
hours.
Approved funding
for 10 project proposals
and one modified project
recommended by the Res-
toration and Enhancement
Board. Projects include
replacing the Thief Valley
Reservoir Boat Ramp,
which has been damaged
by ice, with a more weath-
er-resistant boat ramp. All
projects are designed to
restore or enhance fisher-
ies in Oregon.
The next meetings are
Jan. 15 in Salem and Feb.
12 in Tigard.
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1,074.10
Silver: $14.14
Platinum: $847.81
Palladium: $547.75
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $373.50/bu/USD
Wheat: $481.50/bu/USD
Soybeans: $876.75/bu/USD
Oats: $242.00 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $10.97/cwt/USD
Canola: $483.20 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $127.08/lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $153.85/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $58.35/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com