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At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live and feeder cattle were higher, waiting for direct business to develop. June live cattle closed $.07 higher at $178.25 and August lives closed $.40 higher at $176.52.  August feeder cattle closed $.20 higher at $255.87 and September feeders closed $.32 higher at $256.95.  Direct cash cattle trade was quiet again Wednesday.  Bids were elusive for most of the day. A few asking prices surfaced around $186 to $187-plus live in the South, while the North was quiet. ...     

Ohio Corn and Wheat is providing resources to help ease farmers into the conversation about succession planning. Director of Marketing and Communications for Ohio Corn and Wheat, Marlene Eick says it’s never too early to start preparing. “There is not just this legal component, this is a full kind of picture to look at,” she said. “What’s the succession plan for my farm? What am I doing to plan for my estate, but also the legacy of the operation and business that I have? ...     

A state cattle association supports USDA’s final animal disease traceability rule. Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association director Kaitlyn Root suggests updates requiring visually readable electronic identification of certain cattle should not be too cumbersome for producers and will help in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak. “It’s estimated that a Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in the U.S. would lead to $200 billion of losses for the economy, so it’s just very important that we are able to find where this foreign animal disease is coming from and feel like this rule would help with that.” She tells Brownfield the association is pleased USDA is providing financial assistance to reduce the cost of implementing the change. ...     

An extension agronomist is stressing the importance of fertility when managing forages. Aaron Saeugling with Iowa State University says as pastures and hayfields green up, growers need to be thinking about their fertilization program. “So I kind of have some rules that I tell folks that we want to address when it comes to forages, and the first thing is I want to correct the pH. That’s number one, that’s where I’m going to allocate dollars. ...