Volume 6, Number 1 - January 2000

This Month in Ag Connection

• Anaplasmosis
• Show-Me-Select Enrollments Due February 1
• Livestock Herd Health Programs
• Routine Swine Vaccinations
• Report Market Gains on CCC Loans Correctly
• Useful Web Sites
• Swine Reproductive Management Checklist

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Anaplasmosis

Anaplasmosis is a disease of cattle that has historically been a problem in the southern parts of the United States. Reports of cattle affected by the disease have gradually spread north so that now Missouri cattlemen are facing this problem.

Infected cattle that survive remain carriers for the rest of their lives - unless they are treated to specifically remove the organisms.

Test the herd and separate carriers from non-carriers.

To eliminate the carriers treat them with one of the following tetracycline treatments.

• Oxytetracycline can be administered by injection at a dose of 9 mg per pound of body weight every three days for a total of four treatments.
• Chlortetracycline can also be fed at .5 mg per pound of body weight for 120 days.

Programs to eliminate the carrier state should be conducted after the fly and tick season has ended. Six months after the carrier elimination treatment, the cattle should be tested and if a positive is found, it should be considered a treatment failure and eliminated from the herd.

An in-depth article will be published in the April Ag. Connections. If you have immediate concerns, contact your local University Outreach & Extension Center for more information.

(Author: Bob L. Larson, State Beef Specialist, University Outreach and Extension, DVM, PhD, ACT)

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Show-Me-Select Heifer Enrollments Due February 1

Over 8000 heifers were enrolled in the 1999 Show-Me-Select Heifer Development Program (SMS). Two thousand fifty-eight bred SMS heifers were sold in 8 regional sales, averaging $823 per head.

SMS enrollments are due to your University Outreach & Extension regional livestock specialist by February 1, 2000. Enrolling in the SMS program does not obligate you to complete the program or sell heifers in a sale. While you may drop out at any time - you can not get into the 2000 program after February 1. For enrollment forms or additional information contact your regional livestock specialist.

• James Rogers – (660) 438-5012 (Benton, Cooper, Morgan, Moniteau, Pettis counties)
• Mark Stewart – (573) 642-0755 (Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Cole, Osage counties)
• Dale Watson –(660) 542-1792 (Carroll, Chariton, Howard, Saline counties)

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Livestock Herd Health Programs

It is important for cattle and swine producers to interact with their local veterinarian as they can provide valuable services in the area of diagnosis and treatment of diseased animals. They can help in determining if environment, nutrition, genetic or management of livestock is contributing to disease conditions. A producer and veterinarian should develop a written health plan that accomplishes at least the following goals:

1. Establish a biosecurity plan – to minimize the introduction of disease-causing germs onto your farm by developing a vaccination protocol, a isolation plan for new or returning livestock, and a traffic flow and visitor restriction plan to reduce the likelihood of infectious disease.
2. Establish a sanitation plan – to minimize the potential for spread of disease-causing pathogens in manure between animals by means of feed handling equipment (front-end loaders, feed wagons, etc), processing equipment, syringes, boots, and clothing.
3. Establish a parasite control program – to effectively and efficiently use internal and external parasite control products.
4. Establish a nutrient management program – to optimize the use of manure nutrients and demonstrate an effort to reduce odors associated with livestock production.
5. Establish the proper antibiotic use in accordance with quality assurance programs – this implies there is a diagnosed disease as defined by a valid veterinary/client/patient relationship. It is also important that there is a working understanding of injection sites, injection routes (sub-Q, intra-muscular, oral, etc.), dosages, and withdrawal times that must be observed.
Beef	Hogs
6. Establish a program to optimize the use of performance-promoting products such as growth-promoting implants in growing cattle.	6. Establish a program of genetic improvement by utilizing artificial insemination techniques or selecting boars and replacement animals from proven genetic seed stock producers.
7. Establish a program to minimize calving difficulty in first-calf heifers by proper replacement heifer selection, nutrition, and sire selection.	7. Utilize records to evaluate production and financial performance in the areas of: farrowing rate, wean to service interval, pigs born live, weaning average, non-productive sow days, days to market, ADG, FE and all input expenses including feed costs.
8. Establish a method to evaluate the herd’s performance (records) in the areas of: pregnancy rates, death rates, growth rates (weaning or other weights) and nutritional needs (use of body condition scores).

The actual program implemented on each individual farm will be similar, but have differences based on particular circumstances and pathogens present. By developing a complete herd-health program, the costs of disease and production loss can be minimized.

Authors: Dr. Tom Fangman, Swine Veterinarian, UOE Commercial Ag. Program, Dr. Bob Larson, Beef Veterinarian, UOE Commercial Ag. Program.

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Report Market Gains on CCC Loans Correctly

Many people may be incorrectly reporting the taxable income related to CCC loan market gains. Market gains on CCC loans occur when a commodity loan is redeemed for a payment which is less than the original loan amount.

For example: if a farmer receives a CCC loan on 10,000 bu. of soybeans for $5.10 per bushel or $51,000 in December 1998 and subsequently redeems the same loan in May 1999 for the posted county price of $4.50 ($45,000), the farmer has a $6,000 market gain which CCC will report on a 1099-G. To finish this example the farmer, later in 1999, sells the 10,000 bu. of soybeans for $47,000.

Reporting CCC Loans as Income:
Given the facts in the above example, farmers who elect to report CCC loans as income will over-report their income by $6,000 for 1999 - if they report the $6,000 CCC loan market gain on both Schedule F line 6a as agricultural program payments received and on Schedule F line 6b as taxable agricultural program payments.

This over-reporting of income can easily happen because the farmer captured the market gain in the cash transaction accounting process. You will generally want to report the market gains as agricultural payments received on Schedule F line 6a, but exclude them from the amount reported as taxable agricultural payments on Schedule F line 6b. The following illustration displays to proper year and amount of income reporting using this CCC loan reporting election.

	1998	1999
CCC Loan	$ 51,000
CCC Loan Redeemed		< $45,000>
Soybeans Sold		$ 47,000
		$2,000

CCC Loans Reported as Loans:
If a farmer reports CCC loans as loans rather than electing to report them as income, then taxable income will more likely be under-reported instead of over-reported. This under-reporting is more likely since the CCC loan market gain results from a non-deductible transaction (paying off the principal amount of the loan) which is often ignored in too many simplified farm record systems. Utilizing this CCC reporting process and given the same example presented above, the farmer will need to report the $6,000 market loan gain on both Schedule F lines 6a (payments received) and 6b (taxable payments) in addition to the sale of the soybeans.

	1998	1999
	-0-
Soybeans Sold		$ 47,000
Taxable Ag Program Payments		$ 6,000
Total		$ 53,000

In Summary:

Regardless of how you report your CCC loans for income tax purposes, extra attention is warranted to insure the proper amounts are reported as taxable income and are reported in the correct year.

(Author: Parman R. Green, University Outreach and Extension, Farm Business Mgmt. Specialist)

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Swine Reproductive Management Checklist

		YES	NO
1.	Are boars purchased 60 days prior to use?
2.	Are boars free of any lameness or stiffness?
3.	Are boars free of lice and mange?
4.	Are the newly purchased boars isolated for 30-45 days?
5.	Are boars given fence-line contact with females 30 days prior to use?
6.	Are young boars old enough to use (at least 9 months of age?)
7.	Are boars either fertility checked or test-mated prior to use to check semen and ability to breed?
8.	Are boars treated for internal parasites?
9.	Are boars free of flu or high body temperature prior to and/or during breeding?
10.	Is breeding done on a dry, not a slick surface?
11.	Is boar power adequate?
12.	If a large number of females are to be bred, are boars rotated?
13.	Is using a young, untried boar to pen breed a group of sows just weaned avoided?
14.	Are gilts at least 8 months old at breeding?
15.	Do gilts have at least one heat cycle before breeding?
16.	Are sows and gilts vaccinated properly before breeding?
17.	Is fresh manure exchanged between existing breeding stock and new breeding stock at least 2 weeks before breeding?
18.	Are sows and gilts free of any exposure to high temperatures during breeding and gestation?
19.	Are sows and gilts in breeding condition?
20.	Are sows on full feed after weaning until they are bred?
21.	Is a balanced ration fed to the breeding animals?

Items checked "NO" should receive immediate attention.

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