July 17, 2025

From the Barns: Will balloon burst?

The heat of summer is taking a toll on feed consumption by the cattle in the feedyard. With the record prices being paid for fat cattle, I am trying to get them to eat and gain as fast as possible so we can take advantage of this crazy-high cattle market. We have been feeding through this great market and yet one can’t help but wonder when this balloon will burst and we will have some event to wreck this ride.

Feed prices are still very favorable, and with the way this corn crop is looking I can’t imagine feed cost will be much of a factor. Feeder replacement cost, on the other hand, is quite another issue — if it looks remotely like a cow, it’s worth a fortune.

We started working through our cow groups with the first round of vaccinations and are looking for cooler mornings to work the next group. We have treated some pinkeye problems, but nothing out of the ordinary. The pastures have all headed out so some eye issues from seed heads will arise as summer continues to dry things out.

The wheat is cut and straw baled so as soon as we get some manure pumped we can plant our last field of corn for the year. We seeded some lots where we fed cows and bulls last winter to forage sorghum. We turned the main bull battery out to graze off the first growth of this crop and they are really mowing it off. We will be turning the bulls out in a week, so it looks like they should complete their graze out just in time.

Kaden has been spraying some pastures with his drone and we are impressed with the results. Russian olive, locust and hedge are our major problems and all seem to succumb nicely to foliar applications from above. I have sprayed lots of brush from the ground, but can’t get close to as complete a kill as he can. Being patient waiting on spraying results is frustrating, but it certainly looks promising.

Our crew is taking turns vacationing with their families so we will be sandwiching big projects in the time when everybody is around and before school resumes in the fall. Early start times have been on the schedule so cattle work can be completed before it heats up. The early starts also get things wrapped so the hot afternoons can be spent in the lake and gobbling up whatever Grandma Linda has in her kitchen. Seven teenaged boys and their friends can devour a mountain of food.

Steve Foglesong

Steve Foglesong

Astoria, Ill.