P.C. Extension Office Holds 35th Annual Jim Schumacher Day

The local Extension Office honored one of their own with the 35th Annual Jim Schumacher Day last week.

Jim Schumacher served as the County Agent in Phillips County for years. Serving in the office for seven years, he was active with the kids in the 4-H program, and a shoulder for a rancher or farmer when support or ideas were needed. To the rest of the community he was a down-to-earth man with a big and generous, tireless heart. Jim passed away in 1989, on Jim Schumacher Day, just before the day he had worked and prepared for, was about to begin.

It goes without saying, a friend to all.

Jim passed away in the prime of his life with much left to do and big shoes to fill.

In 1989 the Jim Schumacher Day was originally set up with speakers which brought in farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, and several wives of farmers and ranchers to partake in a full day of education information.

MSU Extension Agent Christina Murphy put together a program with the assistance of speakers from across the state for the 2024 Jim Schumacher Day, held January 29th at the GN Lodge meeting room.

Opening the day was Wendy Becker, Roosevelt County Extension Agent, who spoke on Livestock Risk Management, a great way to protect your herd and bottom line in case of a tragic event.

Following her presentation, Hannah Speer, of the Northern Ag Research Center, who spoke on Beef Cattle and nutrition, emphasizing body condition and what the animals are going to be needing leading up to not only calving, but post calving and weaning.

She spoke of focusing on the body condition of livestock prior to those event; stating it keeps them in healthier condition and aid in their bounce back after the taxing stress of calving.

Speer suggested having your cattle at a body condition score of 5 or 6 before calving. In essence, the cow would only gain the weight of the calf during pregnancy. She suggested the best practice is to go out into your herd while you are feeding, select a handful of cattle and do a body score.

If they are low on the body scale it would be beneficial to assess your feed regiment and minerals to see if you are meeting their needs.

Megan Van Emon, MSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, also speak on cattle nutrition but focused on the feed specifically, stating it is highly recommended to have your hay tested for nitrates. This can be done by bringing a sample to the extension office. The other option is to send it off to a lab and have it tested for nitrates, but a more beneficial option would be to add overall nutrition testing.

This test would give you dry matter, crude protein, fiber, total digestible nutrients, and relative feed value. She also talked about feed rations for bred cattle. The total digestible nutrients a 1400# cow needs are 20.5#/day post calving, 11.6#/day Mid-gestation, and 14.5#/day pre-calving.

That same cow needs 2.1#/Day of protein for pre-calving, 1.6#/day Mid-gestation, and 3.5#/day post-calving. You would want to make sure you are meeting those requirements as they are pivotal for not only the cow but for the calf, as well.

Van Emon spoke about the importance of knowing what is going into your feed rations as well as the usefulness of Pearson Square, which calculates the amount needed of two different feeds. This is a great tool when having to create a feed ration which might be high in nitrates or to know how many tons you may need and or potentially buy.

Malta's own father-daughter team of veterinarians, Dr. Rick Levesque and Dr. McKenna Levesque contributed to the program.

Dr. McKenna Levesque spoke on Johne's Disease, a gastrointestinal disease which is fatal to cattle. The infection happens in the first few months of life, but the animal can stay healthy for months up to years. This infection is contagious throughout the fecal matter of cattle and can be spread from one animal to another or from one ruminant species to another (cattle, sheep, goats, deer, antelope, and bison).

Levesque stated there are two clinical signs of Johne's Disease in beef cattle which are rapid weight loss and diarrhea. While these are signs of other diseases, this disease doesn't usually appear until the animal is an adult (3 years of age). Leveque said the best thing to do is to keep accurate records of your animals so if one does come back positive for the disease you have a starting point of where to begin testing. Record keeping is a must in the business.

She stress it is also important to test any animals you might be bringing onto the property such as bulls. A contaminated animal can also spread the disease and during breeding season. As a livestock manager, the best thing to do is be proactive and work with your local veterinarian to do testing to slow the spread of this disease.

Lastly, a "ask a veterinarian panel" was held. This provided a great opportunity for producers to ask about any animal questions they might have. Some great questions were presented, and everyone was able to learn from other experiences.

The Extension office sends their appreciation to the Malta Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring lunch and to the Phillips County Cattlewomen for all the delicious cookies brought.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact the Phillips County Extension Office at 406-654-2543 or stop by the office at the lower level of the Phillips County Library. The staff would be happy to help in any way they can.