Latest News From Nutrition

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Remove Guesswork from Feed Buying

Buying grain to feed livestock can be expensive, but there are ways to protect your risk and reduce market volatility. 

Even with better vaccines and more information, BRD remains the most economically important disease to the beef industry.
A Good Start for New Cattle

Starting calves can be as much art as science, which explains why some stocker operators and feedlots have more success than others. 

Hemp
Hemp for Cows? Colorado Approves Hemp-animal Feed Study

Colorado livestock could be eating hemp under a bill that passed the state Senate Tuesday.

Intensively Fed Calves Need Transition Help
Intensively Fed Calves Need Transition Help

Calves fed high levels of liquid nutrients in their first weeks of life are ahead of their limit-fed counterparts in many ways. But University of Florida assistant professor of animal science Emily Miller-Cushon says th

A load of Skittles spilled on a rural highway in Wisconsin and it had people wondering where they were headed. The answer: to feed cattle.
Mars: "Miscommunication" Led to Skittles Spill

Mars says a miscommunication with a subcontractor led to a defective batch of its Skittles, reportedly on their way to becoming cattle feed, ending up scattered across a highway.

Profit Tip: Understanding A Forage Analysis
Profit Tip: Understanding A Forage Analysis

More economical and better balanced diets can be formulated using nutrient concentrations determined from feed analysis.

Adaptive Grazing Pays Dividends
Adaptive Grazing Pays Dividends

At the root of raising beef are truly the roots that provide nutrients through grazing to cattle.

Winter Ration Considerations for Beef Cows
Winter Ration Considerations for Beef Cows

The majority of feed costs are from feeding cows during the winter season when most grasses are dormant.

Time to Begin Early Evening Feeding of Cows
Time to Begin Early Evening Feeding of Cows

Cow-calf producers who ensure adequate supervision at calving can have a significant effect on reducing calf mortality, always important but increasingly so with the higher price of live calves at sale time.

Drought Considerations for the Cattle Herd
Drought Considerations for the Cattle Herd

Drought has consumed the Southeast United States for several months. The focal point of this drought has been where Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia meet. However, the drought has spread into East Texas and Eastern Oklah

Forage Tests and BCS Scores Can Save Money on Cattle
Forage Tests and BCS Scores Can Save Money on Cattle

To fully and accurately know what to supplement a cattle herd the owner needs to know the current body condition score of this cattle.

Reducing Yucca in Rangeland
Reducing Yucca in Rangeland

Yucca plants develop rapidly once established on drier rangeland sites.

Proper Winter Supplemental Feeding can Optimize Future Breeding
Proper Winter Supplemental Feeding can Optimize Future Breeding

Supplemental feeding during winter months is critical to ensure cows are in optimal condition for pregnancy, calving and future breeding.

Nutrient Value of Annual Forages Left Standing Through the Winter
Nutrient Value of Annual Forages Left Standing Through the Winter

Producers often have concerns about the loss of forage quality if forage is left standing.

Cattle Consume 30 to 50% More During Extreme Cold
Cattle Consume 30 to 50% More During Extreme Cold

A cow's nutritional demands increased depending on weather conditions. Animals burn more calories to keep warm during extreme cold.

Feed Cost Outlook: Will this Year's Record Crop Carry Cattle Producers Through 2017?
Feed Cost Outlook: Will this Year's Record Crop Carry Cattle Producers Through 2017?

Fortunately for the cattle industry, there should be many opportunities for lowering costs over the next year.

Feeding at the Right Price
Feeding at the Right Price

Managing feedstuffs efficiently becomes more important during drought conditions or low revenue year(s).

It is Time to Start Early Evening Feeding?
It is Time to Start Early Evening Feeding?

The easiest and most practical method of inhibiting nighttime calving at present is by feeding cows at night; the physiological mechanism is unknown, but some hormonal effect may be involved.

More Fall Grazing for Stocker Cattle Possible with Mixed Small Grains
More Fall Grazing for Stocker Cattle Possible with Mixed Small Grains

More forage for cattle in the fall could be grown with a mix of spring barley and winter wheat.

Alfalfa Hay as a Protein Supplement
Alfalfa Hay as a Protein Supplement

Lots of data and producer experience support the importance of protein supplementation with low quality forages or winter grazing.

8 Colostrum Reminders
8 Colostrum Reminders

The first hours of a calf's life set the course of that calf's health for the remainder of its life. It's always critical to handle and feed colostrum properly, but because calves are under extra stres

Water for calves is important
Water for calves is important

Water is essential to raising healthy calves and must be provided separate from milk from an early age.

Meat of the Matter: A sea of absurdity
Meat of the Matter: A sea of absurdity

Conventional nutritional 'wisdom' continues to espouse the consumption of healthy proteins—other than meat—without much of a clue as to why that might not be such a great idea.

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Company Makes Dry Cattle Feed Pellets From Ethanol Byproduct

A Nebraska company has found a way to make dry cattle feed pellets from an ethanol byproduct without adding any binding ingredients.

Planning for winter wheat grazing
Planning for winter wheat grazing

The current wheat market is such that there will likely be considerable interest in grazing wheat this winter. Producers will not only be looking at winter grazing but may also be thinking about the prospects for grazi

Bermudagrass Stem Maggots plague Southeast hay producers
Bermudagrass Stem Maggots plague Southeast hay producers

Bermudagrass Stem Maggots continue to be a cause of consternation to producers of high quality hay in the Panhandle in 2016. Research in Georgia indicates that, since their first discovery in that state in 2010, stem ma

Feeding drought-stressed crops to cattle
Feeding drought-stressed crops to cattle

As drought conditions continue to expand across South Dakota, a number of producers will be considering harvesting failed grain crops as forage as a way to salvage some value from those fields. Besides considering crop

Managing Beef Cow Margins: Round bale pitfalls, part 2
Managing Beef Cow Margins: Round bale pitfalls, part 2

Cow-calf production is best viewed as the business of producing and marketing grass. The most successful and profitable cow-calf operations are generally those that most efficiently use grazed forage. However, seasonall

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Understanding the Difference between Corn and Corn Distillers Grains as Energy Supplements for Pasture Cattle

One of the big differences between corn and corn distillers grains is the starch content.

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Fetal Programming and Calf Health

Fetal programming is generally considered the impact of nutritional and health status of the mother during pregnancy and its impact on the health and productivity of the offspring.  

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The "Positive Associative Effect" of High Protein Supplements

Protein supplementation of low-quality, low protein forages results in a “positive associative effect”.

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Drylot Feeding Cows in the Summer may be Cost Competitive with Grazing Pasture under Current Feed Prices

Dry lot feeding of summer calving cows may be a cost competitive production system when grass prices are high, distillers grains prices are comparatively low, and corn stalks are readily available for grazing.

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Consideration of Fat and Protein in Alternative Feeds

Cattle are tremendous creatures that can handle many feeds that non-ruminant animals, pigs and chickens, for example, cannot eat. Thus, beef cattle producers are uniquely positioned to use new and changing feed ingredients.

Smooth bromegrass grazing management
Smooth bromegrass grazing management

Smooth bromegrass is a cool-season introduced grass with an advanced root system that tolerates temperature extremes and drought exceptionally well. This sod-forming perennial grass spreads rapidly through seeds and rhi

Should I plant summer annual forage grasses?
Should I plant summer annual forage grasses?

It's never too early to be focused on the next potential forage stressor - Summer. In the Southeast we are no stranger to the long, hot, dog-days of summer and the impacts we see on forage availability thro

Pastures need nutrients: Don't expect cattle to supply everything
Pastures need nutrients: Don't expect cattle to supply everything

Despite what people generally seem to think when they drive by a pasture with cattle grazing, the cattle are not fertilizing the grounds.

Use dormant native range and supplements to possibly improve cow herd efficiency
Use dormant native range and supplements to possibly improve cow herd efficiency

Maintaining cow herd nutritional requirements in an economically feasible way is vital to efficient cattle production, according to John Jaeger, Kansas State University associate professor of animal sciences. Jaeger has

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Cow-Calf Cowboy College Early Registration Deadline Coming Up

Monday is the early bird deadline to register for Drovers Cow-Calf Cowboy College at a reduced rate. 

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BeefTalk: Urgent: Obtain a Well-balanced Mineral Program With Magnesium Now!

Grass tetany is difficult to detect early, so make sure cows have sufficient supplementation.

Anticipating spring grazing
Anticipating spring grazing

Evidence of new life, that occurs so reliably each spring, is one of the non-monetary rewards resulting from association with grazing livestock production. New calves and green grass are welcome reminders of the marvelo

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Figuring Out the Forage

Evaluate your recent winter-feeding season. Stockpiling grass in the fall reduces farm expenses. Strip graze to effectively use stockpiled pastures.

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Using Ionophores with Grazing Beef Cattle

An ionophore is a feed additive used in beef cattle rations to improve feed efficiency and animal gains.

Keen management key to alfalfa's success
Keen management key to alfalfa's success

Alfalfa helps meet protein and energy needs of beef cattle. Plan ahead for successful stand establishment. Monitor stands closely to control pests.

Prevent overgrazing
Prevent overgrazing

Grazing stick helps monitor pastures and rangelands. Get accuracy by measuring grazed and unglazed plants of the same species. Monitoring utilization throughout the grazing season prevents overuse of key species.

Figuring out the forage
Figuring out the forage

Evaluate your recent winter-feeding season. Stockpiling grass in the fall reduces farm expenses. Strip graze to effectively use stockpiled pastures.

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Grazing Winter Small Grains

Small grains planted last fall are greening up and may be ready to graze soon. This spring, let’s make sure these pastures are productive and safe.

Grazing winter small grains
Grazing winter small grains

Small grains planted last fall are greening up and may be ready to graze soon. This spring, let's make sure these pastures are productive and safe.

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Feed Conversions of Creep Feeds for Nursing Calves

Feed conversions of calves fed creep feeds have been quite variable to say the least.

Feed conversions of creep feeds for nursing calves
Feed conversions of creep feeds for nursing calves

Feed conversions of calves fed creep feeds have been quite variable to say the least. Conversions of 5:1 or 5 pounds of grain consumed to 1 extra pound of calf weight are very rare and the optimum that can be expected w

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A Heads-up for a Dry Summer: Plan Forage Production Now

Take forage quality as well as quantity into account when deciding when to harvest.