Drought recovery meetings on Aug. 17 in Springfield

The drought this summer has caused many headaches for livestock producers who are preparing to feed cattle this winter with little forage and hay on hand. The Lawrence and Greene County Extension Councils are offering meetings on Wednesday, Aug. 17, at two locations for cattle producers who want to discuss this issue and gain tips for surviving and recovering from the drought.
The programs will focus on hay quality issues, evaluating quality, alternative feeds, feeding silage, herd culling tips, early weaning, precautions with nitrates and prussic acid, fall forage alternatives, the beef market outlook and assessing the price of forages. Producers are welcome to bring lower stems of fertilized sudangrass, millet, Johnsongrass, corn and bermudagrass for a quick subjective analysis of nitrates.
Tim Schnakenberg, Dr, Eric Bailey, state beef nutrition specialist, Patrick Davis, livestock specialist, Jill Scheidt, agronomy specialist and Wesley Tucker, ag business specialist, will be on hand for the discussion. On Aug. 17 a meeting will be offered from 8:30-11:45 a.m. at the Sac River Cowboy Church west of Springfield (2328 N Farm Rd 101). Another meeting will be offered from 2-5:15 p.m. the same day at the University of Missouri Southwest Research, Extension and Education Center (14548 Hwy H) at Mt. Vernon.
To register, either call 417-357-6812 or register online for Springfield at https://bit.ly/springfielddrought or for Mt Vernon at https://bit.ly/mtvernondrought.