Missouri's drought in 2022 and 2023 may have been underrated, says Eric Bailey, University of Missouri Extension. He offers tips for stretching your feed during the next few months.
U.S. hay production in 2023 was 6.3% higher than the drought year of 2022, but remains 7.8% lower than the 10-year average. Hay stocks were higher in eight of the ten states, with decreases only in Kansas and Kentucky.
If your pastures were able to recover from drought, winter grazing of stockpiled grass produced during the growing season might be an option to extend the grazing season and reduce winter feed costs.
Calving during the winter months can present some unique challenges. What can we do to make calving in the late winter months as problem-free as possible? Get prepared.
Leasing pasture is common in the beef industry, especially for those just getting started. However, fencing leased pastures can be a challenge depending on the conditions of the existing fences.
Areas on the ranch lacking vegetation or poor productivity? Now's the time to strategically designate these spots for hay feeding to enrich the soil with essential nutrients.
Some individual cows or groups of cows experience significant decline in body weight and condition over the winter known as “winter cow syndrome.” The best strategy of prevention is twofold.
In developing a protein supplementation strategy, it is important to consider what is the goal of feeding the protein supplement and that not all protein sources are equal.
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.
Buddy Rowlett of Richmond, Kansas covers the basics of managing added snow pressure with fence design, working with frozen ground and offers a creative solution for electric fences during winter storms.
Although U.S. cattle inventories declined, following widespread drought, cattle feeding margins are not as wide as in the previous period of low cattle inventories. Here's some management strategies to consider.
Here's some tips and strategies to help cattle producers stretch their dollars when it comes to winter feeding, shared by Aaron Berger, extension educator for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
As cattle producers, we see abbreviations, such as CP, RDP, RUP and MP, in relation to feedstuffs. It is important to understand the different terms related to protein in feed.
Keeping cattle fed, bedded and out of the wind is one thing; but making sure they have flowing water is another. Here's some tips on winter watering your livestock.
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.
Utilization of winter forage will be critical in many parts of the country this year. Plan ahead to maximize utilization of forage resources, including: reduce wastage, maximize digestibility and extending the supply.
The first frost may be welcome for its fly-killing ability, but for cattle on annual forages, a few management steps this time of year can make sure that first frost doesn't have the same effect on cattle.
In an effort to evaluate the potential compensatory effects of winter rate of gain and implant strategy across the entire production system, a two-year study by the University of Nebraska addressed those questions.
Cattle prices have responded to lower cattle inventory. Yet, with increasing costs of maintaining a cow, producers may wonder: to increase revenue in 2023, is it worth retaining or backgrounding calves?
For cattle producers that are set up to feed calves in a bunk, limit-feeding a high energy diet may be a cost-effective option for growing calves this fall and winter.
Composting livestock manure will increase the volume reduction compared to stockpiling, as well as reduce internal and external parasites, pathogens and weed seeds.
Managing cows in a drylot can be a way to maintain the herd when forage production is reduced. However, it's important to make sure cows are getting the vitamins and minerals they need.
Feeding cows through the winter after a drought season is always challenging. Did you know the mineral content of forages, even if the same hay fields that are always used, is likely different than normal?
Who loves winter fencing? Here's a look at some tips and strategies for working around the challenges winter throws at cattle producers when it comes to the not-so-loved winter task.
Breaking ice on water tanks is often a daily or multiple times per day task this time of year. What water systems do you have on your operation to ensure cattle always have water on the coldest days of winter?
The past year has been no walk in the park for producers. As we prepare to close out another year on the calendar, here’s a look back at the top production stories that cow-calf operations found helpful this year.
Cold stress increases a cow’s energy requirement and can pull down her body condition. As winter storms have already swept through cattle country, here's some tips to help your herd now through spring.
Understanding the amounts of mold and mycotoxins present can help with deciding which classes of cattle to feed and how much silage can safely be included in the diet.
Improving hay feeding efficiency represents “low-hanging fruit” in many seedstock and commercial operations. Feeding strategies for large round bales can be separated into use of a hay feeder and rolling bales out.
Pasture and hay supplies are short in many areas. Here's a list of options and tips for livestock producers to consider for feeding their livestock this winter.
As grazing or forage-based livestock, cattle present a few challenges when it comes to mineral intake. However, here’s several considerations to help you provide the best nutrition to your herd.
Distillers grains offer many nutritional and digestive benefits over corn, including lower starch content, higher total digestible nutrients and higher crude protein content. So, how do the feed sources costs compare?
In developing a protein supplementation strategy, it is important to consider what is the goal of feeding the protein supplement and that not all protein sources are equal.
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.
Having corn stalks to graze is a great resource for livestock producers, as a relatively inexpensive feed and helping get rid of corn remaining in the field. But are cattle really grazing stalks?
Baled forage probably constitutes the highest percentage of winter feed cost we have wrapped up in a cow. Here's how to best protect the asset from the elements.
There is often fear associated with grazing alfalfa due to bloat potential or hurting the alfalfa stand. However, with proper management, fall and winter grazing may be an option to harvest quality feed.
Nutritional management of fall-calving cows is a little different than spring-calving herds throughout the production cycle. Here's some things to consider.
The U.S. hay supply is at a 50-year low. Couple this with rising costs and it becomes prudent to plan fall, winter and next spring’s hay needs sooner rather than later.
As expenses increase and producers evaluate more-efficient management techniques to lower production costs, one alternative may be to incorporate swath, or windrow grazing.
Testing the quality of your harvested hay is important as hay quality is variable depending on the type of forage, soil type, fertilizer rate, and the maturity of the forage when it was hayed.
Wheat and other small grain pastures have been short, but as growing conditions improve, forage growth comes on rapidly. Rapidly growing small grain forage can lead to bloat of grazing cattle.
Cows/heifers are faced with nutritional and environmental stressors. Knowing the stress periods that cause nutrient deficiencies is where you must help the herd meet these nutritional challenges.