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Beef System of Production on Current Case Study Farm

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Beef System of Production on Current Case Study Farm

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Dixon Springs Agricultural Center in Southern Illinois
Fall Calving Cow/Calf and Research Operation

5509 acres (2229.413 hectares)
-580 acres owned
-4,929 acres leased from the Shawnee National Forest

DSAC area: 3968 ac
ANSC total area: 2708 ac
ANSC forage area: 2400 ac
Fields: 133 fields
Fences: 103 miles
Roads: 24.3 miles
Corrals: 9 working centers
Timber and Fallow: 258 & 35 acres

Grazing days 210 days
Cost/day: $0.40
Feeding days: 150
Cost/day: $2.05
Grain Stored: 842 t
Silage Stored:500 t
Hay Stored: 4500 bales

1203 head of cattle
-590 cows
-95 yearling
heifers (13-24 m)
-151 young heifers
(8-12 m)
-121 steer calves
-215 heifer calves
-31 clean-up
bulls

Forages
Cool Season grass:
Tall Fescue E+
Novel Fescue
Clover w/r
Warm Season grass:
Sorghum hybrid
Crabgrass
Johnson Grass
Cover Crops:
Winter rye
Crimson clover
Wheat

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-Young manager, full time job
-Educated: DVM and MS
-Willingness to progress
-Technology Adoption-Innovator (2.5%)
-passionate employees
-Good relation with direct oversight
-Heavy focus on research
-On-site Illinois Beef Extension Officer
-Social Media collaboration
-Brazilian beef  background
-In depth map

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-Understaffed
-Whole day to check cattle
-Inefficient moving of cattle-horseback
-Inconsistent rotational grazing
-New management learning curve
-Winter feeding problems
-poor quality hay
-no silage infrastructure
-Time management
-Old/efficient infrastructure
-bad relations with local companies/ hostility from neighbors
-Oversight inefficiency
-distance from school: 3 hours
-Allocation of
resources is  scarce
-Research Parameters
-inconsistent reseeding
-Competing weeds to grass

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- Join a grass focused association: Illinois Forage and Grassland Council
- Join a young beef farmer leaders association -IBA
- Attend farm walks
- Measurement tools available: Grasshopper or Grasstec
-Reseeding program
- Create silage infrastructure to decrease winter cost
-New technology adoption
-Use UIUC connections

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-dry and hot in summer
-heavy snow and cold in winter
- extreme weather events
- Leased land: no pesticide treatment, only bushhogging
-Reduction in meat consumption
-Aging farmers (less likely to utilize research we are producing)
-Labor shortage/wary
-Policy
-Political atmosphere/Trade-war
-Demand for beef influences beef industry research attention
-Tall Fescue ergot alkaloid - decreased profitability
-Health-anaplasmosis, pneumonia, leptospirosis

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-Soil fertility
test
-Bushhog 2000 acres annually
-In-Person communication meeting with all levels of oversight to lay out 5 year plan for the future of Dixon Springs
-Budget for 2 part-time bushhoggers for the growing season
- Create silage pad/infrastructure
-Get Grasstec electronic plate meter
-Weekly test grass heights in pastures
-Fix essential infrastructure problems on farm

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-Bushhog 2000 acres annually
-Plant silage crop
-Try electrical or temporary fencing techniques to split up pastures
-Weekly test grass heights in pastures
-Create long term solutions to infrastructure problems
-Amend the weed:grass ratio for each pasture for better rotational grazing
-Fix Grain Bins + Feed Truck for more efficient supplementation and feeding

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-Bushhog 2000 acres annually
-Adjust the weed:grass ratio for each pasture for better rotational grazing
-Weekly test grass heights in pastures
-Continue to create long term solutions to infrastructure problems
-Soil Test-monitor progress
-Get New Tractor for more efficient pasture maintenance
-Start a silage analysis

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                            Five Year Grass Management Plan

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                            Five Year Grass Management Plan

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Research Update_ Beef Cattle Management Considerations for Grazin

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-Bushhog 2000 acres annually
-Weekly test grass heights in pastures
-Continue to create long term solutions to infrastructure problems
-Adjust the weed:grass ratio for each pasture for better rotational grazing

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The objective for this operation in the next 5 years is to start measuring grass consistently, budgeting for new projects, + create a rotational and winter grazing plan.

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-Bushhog 2000 acres annually
-Weekly test grass heights in pastures
-Adjust the weed:grass ratio for each pasture for better rotational grazing
-Continue to create long term solutions to infrastructure problems

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Copy of Dixon Springs Agricultural Center - Google My Maps

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-current economic value of these southeastern forage systems of the beef system is approximately
US $11.6 billion annually(Bouton 2007)
-Currently 19 million hectares of tall fescue
pasture in the country(Bouton 2000)
-Negative effects of fescue toxicity on animal liveweight gains and reproduction
result in annual losses of US$600 million (Fribourg and Waller 2004)
-The total USA inventory of beef cows was estimated at 31.7 million head, with cow-calf operations (USDA 2018)

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                              Maps and More Information

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                              Maps and More Information

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Dixon Springs Agricultural Center: University of Illinois Extension

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