Sometimes the biggest challenges to livestock production are out of our control, but as producers we still look for ways to work around those obstacles. That is the case for one cattle operation in Northeast Louisiana where heat and humidity are at a peak as they approach weaning time. “The humidity down here is the […]
Tag: Vita charge Drench
Making Weaning More Profitable
In a time of unpredictability in the cattle market, one thing remains predictable. The fewer days you have a calf on feed, the lower your input costs will be. With a great percentage of cow-country covered by drought, higher feed costs and a volatile market, finding profit in the cattle business is on top of mind […]
Don’t Take Chances with Your Nutrition Program
“Leave nothing to chance.” That is perhaps one of the most important lessons that Spencer Nero learned during his time at college. He didn’t learn it from some educated professor in a giant lecture hall. Instead, he learned it from the late Nathan Payne, owner and operator at Bud’s Barbershop along The Strip in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Nero […]
How One Stocker Operator Minimized Medicine Cost and Maximized Return
Farms and ranches passed down from generation to generation, with the younger generation learning from the one before them is just one part of the agricultural legacy. Working together every day to make the land and animals more efficient for the future generations is the other part of that legacy. Howard Cattle Co., at Waurika, […]
3 Tips to Reduce Shipping Stress
Change is never easy. That is true if you’re a young person moving away to attend college, someone changing jobs or a freshly weaned calf with a long truck ride in its future. However, in each of these scenarios there are ways to reduce the stress and make the transition a little easier. Up until this […]
A Guide to Low-Stress Shipping
The cool, crisp mornings are a hint that fall is just around the corner. And for cattle operations, that means one thing – shipping time is quickly approaching. Shipping your cattle might seem like an easy task. Get them penned up, load them up and send them on their way. However, keeping your calves healthy and as low-stress as possible during this […]
How to Get Weaned Calves a Healthy Start
Freshly weaned calves are a lot like small children starting their first day of preschool. They’re learning a new routine in a different environment and eating from a new menu all while being without their mamas for the first time. That equals a lot of stress, which can lead to sickness, going off feed and […]
Progressive Cattleman: Tips for Growing Bulls During Summer Heat
Oil and water. Cats and dogs. Bull fertility and summer heat. All of these are things that don’t necessarily mesh. When it comes to reproductive performance of your herd, you work hard to make sure your cows are in an ideal body condition and are reproductively sound; however, the bull’s reproductive health and condition also […]
Vista Farms Beats Summer Stressors
Summertime heat can be both a blessing and a curse to those in production agriculture. For those who have planted crops, and received adequate rainfall, the heat is the element that makes those crops grow and thrive. However, for the cattle producer, heat stress can wreak havoc on reproduction, growth and efficiency, as the cattle […]
Seeing is Believing When it Comes to Healthy Calves
For one progressive cattleman, seeing is believing. And seeing a program on RFD-TV several years ago, has made a difference in the way Tom Carter, Reidsville, North Carolina, backgrounds and markets cattle. Carter buys 300 head of calves throughout the year that he backgrounds on grass, hay and mineral. He puts the calves together and […]
