Winter is upon us, and for cattle producers, the wind and precipitation can make feeding cattle a challenge. Add the fact that most herds calve this time of year, meaning that cows’ nutritional needs are at their highest. Feeding cattle in winter can become a real chore! Feeding cattle in winter is critical to management, […]
Category: Nutrition Articles
Hay for Cattle is an Important Part of the Diet
Hay for cattle plays a critical role in the diet, providing essential nutrients and a reliable feed source when pasture grasses are unavailable or insufficient. The importance of hay is especially evident when analyzed across the four seasons. Understanding how hay contributes to cattle nutrition year-round helps producers maintain healthy herds and ensure consistent production. […]
Protein for Cattle: VitaFerm® Offers Options
Protein for cattle is essential, especially during critical times like winter when a majority of the cow herd is in late gestation. Furthermore, during the winter, forage quality often declines, and protein supplementation becomes crucial to ensure cattle can efficiently utilize available energy sources and maintain body condition. Cattle have specific nutritional needs that vary […]
A Guide to Feeding Cattle in Winter: the Importance of Protein Supplementation
Feeding cattle in the winter is critical to cattle management, especially in regions where forage quality declines significantly during colder months. Proper nutrition during this period ensures cattle health, productivity and reproductive performance. However, low-quality forage alone often cannot meet the nutritional demands of cattle during winter. In these circumstances, protein supplementation is essential to […]
The Importance of Body Condition Score: Cattle Shape is Critical Going into Winter
Managing cattle herd health and nutrition effectively throughout the year is key for livestock producers, but these considerations become even more significant as winter approaches. We ask a lot of the herd during the coldest parts of the year. Cows are calving and going through lactation, all while preparing for breed back. Feed resources are […]
VitaFerm® Cattle Drench Research Proves Increased Health, Performance
Stocker operators and backgrounders want their calves to get the best nutritional start possible. They often receive loads of calves. Sometimes those calves are from multiple locations, often transported hundreds of miles. Maybe they come from a livestock auction market, fresh weaned from their mamas. Early stress, such as weaning or hauling, can take a […]
A Guide to Cold Stress in Cattle
Zip up the overalls and strap up the insulated boots. The temperatures are about to dip. As cattle producers, we know how to bundle up and face the bitter cold. However, your cow herd can’t put on the extra layers required when the temperatures dip below freezing and the snow begins to blow. Although cattle […]
Protein Tubs for Cattle Offer Convenient Nutrition
Protein Tubs Time and labor: two precious resources that every cattle producer wishes they had more of. The two go together not just in production agriculture but in life. There’s always more to get done, but not enough time to do it. On a ranch, in particular, it’s an age-old struggle. What if we told […]
Protein is an Integral Part of a Cattle Diet
Cattle Diet Cattle producers are the original stewards of the land. They know if they take care of the land and the resources Mother Nature offers, that land will ultimately take care of them. However, ranchers are more than cattle producers. As stewards of the land, they also harvest sunshine, Vitamin D, and the forages […]
How to Develop a Cattle Diet Plan for Your Herd
Cattle Diet Plan Raising cattle isn’t as simple as it once was. Generations ago, our great-grandparents likely bought some cows from a neighbor, purchased a bull from another neighbor, and hoped for the best. Their cattle diet plan probably didn’t exist, as they fed the feedstuffs that they raised on their farm – corn and […]
