Temperatures are cooling, mama cows and their calves are bawling for each other across the fence line. Weaning time is here, which adds stress to the calves and their immune system. You can keep them healthy by making sure their respiratory and digestive systems are not compromised during this stressful time in their lives. Ensuring […]
How to Achieve Gain on Declining Forage Quality
Grasses decrease in quality as they mature and the grazing season progresses. When the hottest days of summer arrive, cool-season grasses go into a dormant stage, and their quality declines tremendously. Forage availability is usually sufficient, but the nutritional value of the mature cool season grasses is lower. Warm season grasses will produce between 65 […]
3 Tips to Prepare for Calving Season
You’ve been waiting nine months to see if your cattle nutrition and breeding decisions were on track and D-day is almost here. Kevin Glaubius, Director of Nutrition and Regulatory Support at BioZyme® Inc., offers three tips to make sure you are prepared for this calving season. 1. Make Sure Your Calving Kit is Ready There […]
Health Tips for Calves This Fall
Experience tells us that fall can be a treacherous season for keeping calves healthy. Calves come into the season stout, thrifty and with the expectation of doing well. But changing weather conditions, management systems and nutritional programs can catch the calves off guard and send them into a tail spin of poor health and performance. Planning and implementing a complete program […]
The Power of Protein in Cattle Diets
Protein is essential within the diet of a ruminant to supply the ammonia needed for microbial growth and to provide the amino acids needed for absorption from the small intestine. A deficiency in protein can limit microbial activity, microbial protein synthesis and rate of digestion. All these can in turn impact feed and energy intake. […]
Forage Testing is the Key to Profitablity
Forages are not created equally, but fortunately for producers there are ways to analyze the make-up of the forages to see how to best utilize them for livestock in various stages of production. “Forage testing helps us meet the bottom line on profitability,” said Isaiah Shnurman, owner of SP Genetics & Shnurman Sire Services at […]
Is She Ready? Ideal Body Condition Prior to Calving
Regardless of the time of year when calves hit the ground, you want to make sure you and your cows are prepared. Now is the time to provide quality nutrition to bred heifers and cows. Producers should be focused on ensuring their body condition can support a healthy pregnancy both in young females and mature […]
Understanding The Nutrient Value of Your Hay
Taking hay samples is one step that can ensure the nutrient requirements of your animals are being met. By having a general idea of the quality of your forage, it will enable you to provide the lowest cost ration possible to meet your performance expectations. There are two ways you can take hay samples: with […]
Prepare Fall Calving Cows with Proper Nutrition
Fall calving is on the horizon, and it is important to keep the nutritional needs of the cow herd top-of-mind. As cows enter the last stage of gestation and prepare to calve, their nutritional needs are at her highest. During the last trimester, 75% of the calf’s growth takes place, the organs mature and “brown […]
Get Weaned Calves Straightened Out Quicker
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 […]
