2018 was Kentucky’s wettest year on record. This resulted in livestock producers dealing with excessive and unprecedented mud, poor quality hay, pugged pastures, scours, poor nutrition and calving issues. Local veterinarians reported high cattle loss numbers, especially among marginal cows and weak calves. One producer in Magoffin County reported losing eight calves due to weather-related events and lack of proper nutrition. 

Utilizing resources developed by UK Extension Beef Specialists, a series of meetings was planned for local producers to not only understand and combat this issue, but also how to prepare for continued wet weather conditions. The series included the distribution of related publications and podcasts recorded by the specialists and ended with a presentation by Dr. Jeff Lehmkuhler at the February meeting of the Magoffin County Cattle Association. The series was also supplemented by a regional cow/calf management demonstration herd at the Extension Farm where participants saw firsthand the difficulties associated with thin cattle. Ninety percent of producers indicated new knowledge gained while 70% reported they would be changing or adding practices.  Attended by more than twenty producers from Magoffin County throughout the series, results of this series included:

1.The construction of three new winter feeding systems to combat mud.

2.Increased numbers of hay samples and ration balance reports. (Two farmers even worked with the County ANR Agent to schedule a private meeting with Dr. Jeff Lehmkuhler to develop plans for providing better nutrition to their herds.)

3.More soil samples and seeding recommendation requests to repair pugged pastures.

4.A greater number of farmers are now using body condition scoring to evaluate their herds.