Latest News From Animal Nutrition

Road ditch hay can provide needed forage. With a few precautions and a forage analysis, it can help you meet your cow’s nutrient requirements this winter.

Help cattle weather the elements and combat cold stress when the temperature drops.

When cows get below their lower critical temperature and get into cold stress, they can adapt by increasing feed consumption to increase their basal metabolic rate and increase heat of fermentation.

Bulls are often a part of the cow herd that slips through the cracks during the winter months as breeding seasons end. Bull management strategies can impact a bull’s performance in the upcoming breeding season.

Evaluating money saved when purchasing feed on cost per unit of protein and energy basis.

In any nutritional program it is imperative to determine the objective of why we are feeding or supplementing. After defining our goal, we can minimize input costs and maximize our profit potential.

While trace mineral deficiencies can vary widely by animal and region, the most common ones Jeffery Hall, DVM, PhD, DABVT, sees in cattle today are insufficient copper, manganese, selenium and zinc.

Windrow grazing, sometimes called swath grazing, is a management practice that can significantly reduce harvesting and feeding costs.

Pioneering an investigation into the potential use of discarded canola as a dietary supplement for pregnant cows, graduate student, Erika Cornand, aims to enhance both their health and the well-being of their calves.

Although drought persists north and south of Oklahoma, forage conditions have improved greatly in the state this summer. July was the seventh wettest July on record in Oklahoma.

Grazing cornstalks or drought-stricken corn can fill feed gaps during drought, says University of Missouri Extension beef nutritionist Eric Bailey.

Vitamin A is critical to cattle health and is generally consumed in adequate quantities. But Vitamin A in stored feedstuffs declines over time with exposure to sunlight and high temperatures.

Raising heat-tolerant cattle that are able and willing to go further to graze in subtropical climates is the goal of a new beef cattle research project at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research station at Beeville.

Persistent drought in major beef cattle production regions continues to have a significant impact on the cattle industry despite improvements in drought conditions in other parts of the country.

So-called “sacrifice pastures” might be needed to help promote forage production the rest of this cattle grazing season.

When cattle diets are changed without an adaptation period or if cattle have sudden access to a new feedstuff, health problems can follow.

Testing forage and feed for nutrient quality helps ranchers ensure they are meeting nutrient requirements for optimum beef cattle performance.

When calves on grass drop like flies, have minimal gains and many carcasses are condemned on the rail, Kansas State University experts uncover the unfortunate cause.

While “high-risk” cattle are often given high levels of hay or forage to aid in the transition to a milled diet, a study at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station researches ways to increase performance.

When cows get below their lower critical temperature and get into cold stress, they can adapt by increasing feed consumption to increase their basal metabolic rate and increase heat of fermentation.

When a significant number of cattle died in less than two hours, a number of questions are raised. Kansas State University experts discuss this toxicology case and the answers that were found.

Determining how much forage cows will eat on a per day and per month basis for the duration of winter always requires a little “cowboy math”.

Estimating forage usage by cows is an important part of the task of calculating winter feed needs. Hay or standing forage intake must be estimated in order to make the calculations.

Grazing regrowth on irrigated alfalfa fields is likely in fall grazing plans for many producers. However, alfalfa has several challenges to grazing from animal and plant health perspective.

Purina introduces EfficienZ, a non-nutritive feed additive available in select supplements marketed by the company.

Cattle grazing pastures with high soil-test phosphorus may be getting enough of the nutrient from the grass to eliminate the need for a phosphorus feed additive.

There is considerable variation in the mineral composition of small grain forages, depending on management, growth conditions, and soil mineral content.

Many producers assume providing minimal protein supplementation to target approximately 1.0 pound/day gain during the winter is the most economical system. However, research data would suggest otherwise.

Colostrum plays a large role in the health of a newborn calf. Preparing for calving season starts well before the first calf hits the ground.

Genetics solutions exist to achieve superior feed efficiency and superior carcass quality. Both are relevant to profitability in cattle production.

With the average frost date upon us, prussic acid will be (or already is) an issue in certain forages. Prussic acid is found when susceptible plants are under drought conditions or after a light frost.

Join Drovers editor Greg Henderson and experts from all segments of the beef value chain to better understand the current and future dynamics of this crisis at 3 p.m. on Thursday, August 5, for this free discussion.

Reduced performance or ‘Summer Slump’ is associated with decreasing forage quality during the late summer.

Dr. John Goeser of Rock River Laboratory hosts feed hygiene webinar as part of a seven-part mycotoxin webinar series on Phibro Academy platform.

When commodity feed prices become high, cattle producers should consider options for getting more out of their livestock feeds. Using other methods to get more nutrients out of the feed is now cost effective.

Pastures stressed by drought and/or overgrazing this fall more than likely will experience a delay in grazing readiness in 2021, irrelevant of the amount of snow received this winter and rainfall received next spring.

Develop feeding plans now to maintain body condition and reproductive performance.

Forage analysis can be a useful tool to remove some of the mystery concerning the hay that producers will feed this winter.  The out-of-pocket costs of protein and energy supplements are further fuel to this advice.

Cattle are champions at protein upcycling. Tryon Wickersham talks beef nutrition and the subsequent effects of health and sustainability.

Growing more pounds of beef efficiently makes sense for everybody from ranch to consumer, according to a longtime South Dakota feedyard nutritionist.

As concern for climate change – and how to mitigate it – grows, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine explore potential in livestock-centered, regenerative agro-food systems.

A pending trade agreement between the US and the EU would give the US 50% of the EU’s imported beef. 

Cow-calf producers know that a dam’s body condition during late gestation and through early lactation has long-term and economically significant impacts on cow and calf performance.

​​​​​​​Grazing on harvested corn fields provides a fall and winter management option for cattle owners and an income opportunity for landowners.

Body condition is categorized by a scoring system based on “1” being very emaciated and “9” is extremely obese. Most commercial range cows will be in the middle three scores of 4, 5, and 6.

While the payoffs are not always obvious, the right trace-mineral program can benefit cattle health and performance at every production stage.

Ranchers in northwestern New Mexico suspect toxic plants, used in Navajo and Hopi religious ceremonies, are responsible for the recent deaths of more than a dozen cows.

Ranchers in northwestern New Mexico suspect toxic plants, used in Navajo and Hopi religious ceremonies, are responsible for the recent deaths of more than a dozen cows.

Now is a good time to assess both cow body condition and feed resources and develop a plan to provide adequate nutrition to meet cow needs.

During the recent Academy of Veterinary Consultants (AVC) Spring Conference in Omaha, Stuart Heller, a sales manager with Neogen, reminded veterinarians that animals drink about twice what they eat.