Help us celebrate and
recognize the most hardworking, noble and dedicated industry that is agriculture.Submit your favorite photos of all things
agriculture and they will be highlighted in a video for National Ag Day, thanking
America’s hardworking men and women for all they do in our industry.
The video will be posted on March
18th, National Ag Day, and will be available for you to share and spread
the message about this great industry.
Email your
photos to Kristi Olson (kristi.olson@landmark.coop)
by March 17h.Submitting
photos will enter you in a drawing for Landmark apparel.
Why
do calves struggle to grow and survive in the winter?Much of the answer comes from the fact that
calves have a lot of surface area relative to their mass.This means that calves need a lot of energy
to keep warm due to the amount of body heat they can lose.An excellent tool to predict performance of
calves in different temperature scenarios exists in the 2001 Nutrient
Requirements of Dairy Cattle (NRC, 7th edition, 2001).Simulations of calf performance can be made
using diets with various levels of nutrition fed at various temperatures.A calf's energy requirement increases as
ambient temperature decreases.
Table
1 shows a comparison of three milk replacer feeding programs for a 100 pound
calf one week of age that is not consuming any starter.In other words, the baby calf relies on milk
replacer for all nutrients.The three
milk replacer feeding programs are a 20% protein, 20% fat (20/20) all milk,
calf milk replacer fed at 1.0 pounds/day (conventional) or 1.25 pounds/day
(increased gain).The third program uses
a high protein (28%) milk replacer fed at 2.5 pounds/day using an intensified
calf-feeding program. Using the NRC program, daily gains on calves were
predicted for each program at 0, 20, 40, and 60° F.
The
table shows that at an average temperature of 60° F, the calves gained
weight on all programs, although the calves fed the higher protein milk
replacer gain 6 times as much weight as the calves on the conventional feeding
program.When average temperatures drop
to 40° F, calves fed a conventional program do not
have enough nutrients to gain weight and the gain on the increased gain program
drops by two thirds while the calves fed the intensified program continued to
gain, but at a slightly slower rate.As
average temperatures drop to 0° F and 20°
F, calves fed the 20/20 milk replacer on either the conventional or increased
gain program either stop gaining weight or lose weight.Only the calves on the intensified feeding
program continue to gain weight, even at colder temperatures.In extreme cold temperatures where calves are
kept in cold housing, traditional milk replacer programs do not provide enough
nutrients to maintain a healthy calf.The calf will lose weight, the immunity may be compromised and some
calves may die of starvation if they do not increase their starter consumption
dramatically.Many calves are not able
to increase their starter intake rapidly enough to compensate for the energy
shortfall.The result is that the calf
may become weakened and ultimately dies of malnutrition or starvation.
Table
1.Comparison of average daily gains
for a 100 pound calf, one week of age, fed different amounts of milk replacer
at different temperatures (Based on 2001 NRC predictions)
Conventional
Increased Gain
Intensified
Management
Milk
replacer (protein/fat)
20/20
20/20
28/20
Pounds
powder (#/d)
1.0
1.25
2.50
Average
Temperature
Average Daily gain
(#/day)
60°
F
.39
.79
2.48
40°
F
.01
.26
2.11
20°
F
Weight loss
0
1.83
0°
F
Weight loss
Weight loss
1.56
What
are the options to prevent starvation of calves during cold stress?Some producers will attempt to improve the
energy status of calves during cold weather.When average temperatures are 0° F, it will take .3
pounds of fat to prevent the calf from losing weight.However, additional fat will result in up to
.4 pounds of gain when temperatures average 20° F.Another option is to feed an additional
feeding of milk replacer.Feeding 1.5
pounds/day (in 3 feedings/day) of 20/20 milk replacer at an average temperature
of 0° F will maintain body weight and result in
gains of.30 pounds/day when
temperatures average 20° F.However, the best option for cold weather
feeding is an intensified feeding program, as it will maintain the nutrients a
calf needs to maintain body heat and continue to grow.
Some
producers will argue that an intensified feeding program is too expensive to
implement.Table 2 shows an economic
comparison of the three scenarios presented in Table 1 at 40°
F.On a cost/day basis, the conventional
program is the lowest cost at $.84/calf/day, with the higher feeding rate of
the 20/20 milk replacer costing $1.05/calf/day and the intensified management
program costing $2.70/calf/day.Purely
from a cost standpoint, the conventional program makes the most sense.However, if you factor in calf performance
and evaluate cost in terms of pounds of gain, the results reverse
themselves.With virtually no gain the
conventional program costs $84/pound of gain, the increased gain program costs
$4.04/pound of gain and the intensified feeding program costs $1.08/pound of
gain.Clearly, the returns are improved
when the nutrition of baby calves is improved.If your calves have not performed very well this winter, consider
providing them with the nutrients they need to achieve acceptable gains.
Table
2.Economic comparison of average
daily gains for a 100-pound calf, one week of age, fed different amounts of
milk replacer at 40° F.
During the
holiday season nothing makes me feel better than helping those in
need.That’s why I couldn’t have been
more excited when I learned that Landmark partnered this year with Second Harvest
Foodbank and the NBC 15 Share your Holiday’s campaign to help local families in
need.
In the
preliminary meetings of our committee we knew we had an opportunity to make a
HUGE impact throughout our entire organization and the communities we serve if
we came up with just the right activities for our employees to get involved
with.
So, after numerous
pots of coffee, a bit of research and some collaborative brainstorming, our
committee came up with several activities for employees to participate over the
course of the campaign.
The
activities, albeit a bit ‘off-the-wall’ if you will, truly captured the
excitement, big hearts and generous nature of the Landmark team.I mean, who doesn’t love a good game of “Cow
Pie Bingo,” seeing a “Pie in the Face” of one of our team members,
having a friendly “Cook-off Contest,” or seeing your “CEO do something extraordinary” if
your company meets their giving goal?!
All details aside,
let’s get down to the brass tacks of how truly amazing and generous our
employees are.Over the course of the
1-month campaign, through the aforementioned activities, a food drive, a
generous Landmark donation and matching funds from our partners at Co-Bank and
Land O’Lakes we were able to donate 50,581
meals to Second Harvest Foodbank and the NBC 15 Share your Holiday’s campaign!You guessed it-- that translates to enough meals
to feed 10 families for one year.How
amazing is that?
In our first
year of participating in this program, I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of
a team who truly opens their hearts, unselfishly gives, and whole-heartedly
cares about helping our communities.So,
from the bottom of my heart I say THANK YOU.Thank you to our employees for their generosity.Thank you to our management team for allowing our ‘off-the-wall’ ideas to be put into action.Thank you to our partners for their matching funds.Thank you to everyone who helped make this entire
campaign happen.Simply put, THANK YOU!
This growing season has been a wild ride, from shockingly
low corn prices to incredibly high yields and surprising weather all year long-
and a huge spurt in innovation across the industry. What worked? What didn’t?
What would you change if you could, and how can you use this to make sure your
future is stable?
Partners
If you followed the prescription of your agronomist to the
letter, I bet you saw great yield. In a market like this one, all you have to
hang your hat on is yield, and hope that yield will cover the cost of operating
and give you some left over. If you didn’t use all the tools in the box, and
went mediocre- you probably saved money on inputs but got a less than desirable
yield, leaving you with little to no wiggle room.
Your grain marketers should be your best friend right about
now. Between your agronomist and your grain go-to person, you should have both
on speed dial. Why wouldn’t you use the people that exist to make you
profitable? Think about it- if you’re not profitable, Landmark isn’t
profitable. We are a cooperative- partnerships are the reason we were formed-
over 85 years ago.
Speaking of partners, have you Heard of Innovation Edge Test Plots? Probably
not- it was “Top Secret.” Landmark stuck their innovative neck out and tried
prescriptions, products and seed to test their “promise” in the types of
conditions our growers face so they could prove out these inputs. Why? So our team could
go to the farm gate with 100% confidence that what they are recommending will
work. Our team eats, breathes, lives and sleeps YOUR profitability- if it isn’t
going to make you money, they are not going to recommend it. Now THAT is a true
partnership.
Check out the InnovationEDGE test plot Curry Seed trial
results. Pretty interesting and a bit exciting to think that we have the
ability to reach 300 bushel.
Planning
Without proper planning, you will get poor performance. Plan
ahead for 2015- set goals, get your farm plan together and work with Verity
for your financial needs.
0% Seed financing for a year and competitive rates on
equipment, farm input and real estate loans.
Call your agronomist and get your inputs ordered- get your
yield goals set and above all else, dream of a profitable year.
Profits
Trust Landmark to work with you and help you remain
profitable. Our toolbox gets bigger every year with tools to help you stay
strong, and our team gets bigger too- and their priority is to keep you doing
what you love not just for today but for future generations.
Happy Holidays- get planning for profits for 2015!
Landmark is excited to offer four new seed trait packages to their long-standing lineup of seeds in 2015. These new seed trait packages have different base germplasm than other seed available in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, giving growers additional options for reducing risk and reaching 300 bushels per year.
“Planting a diverse variety of seeds is important to prevent putting all your eggs in one basket,” says Joe Slosarczyk, agronomist and certified crop advisor with Landmark Services Cooperative. “When selecting seeds, look for a diverse portfolio that gives you options in genetics, traits and germplasm base. With our new partnership, Landmark Services Cooperative has the most diverse portfolio in our trade territory.”
Grain harvest is coming quicker than we think. In about 4-6 weeks, the big harvest push will be on, and in most small and big towns alike, you could see lines of trucks waiting to unload at the local grain elevator.
Not at Landmark's Evansville Grain Terminal, nor at the Fall River Rail Terminal. Grain Haulers will be in and out in about four minutes, definitely not enough time to have a cup of coffee and enjoy local neighborhood banter.
The Fall River Rail Terminal is open for business, and started taking loads of grain on August 29th. Built to perform to be efficient, true to the vision, it is lightning fast, seriously efficient and unbelievably steeped in technology and innovation.
Compu-Weigh scales and an RFID card reader means the grain hauler never leaves the truck. A loop rail system with capacity for 125 rail cars and storage for over 4.65 million bushels means Landmark has the ability to store and market grain for the best prices, and get grain to various markets enabling premium pricing.
The Fall River Rail Terminal is a game-changer is the industry. With over 85 years of experience, a passionate leadership team and the technology to answer the call of speed, space and markets, this state-of-the-art grain terminal wins, hands down.
If you think you want a cup of coffee, call Doug Cropp--he will talk grain marketing over coffee all day long!
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