Cattle parasites come in varying shapes and sizes: short, skinny, long, brown or white. Unfortunately, most go undetected until symptoms appear. As winter temperatures approach, cattle producers should prioritize parasite control. Due to environmental conditions and management practices, cattle are susceptible to certain parasites in winter. As temperatures decrease and cattle get hairy and bunch […]
Tag: Winter Maintenance
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 […]
How to Provide Winter Cattle Shelter for your Herd
Providing adequate winter cattle shelter is essential for herd health and well-being during the coldest months of the year. Yes, cattle are fairly cold-tolerant. However, the combination of wind chill and moisture can lead to cold stress, which leads to lowered performance and decreased immune response. At VitaFerm®, providing quality nutrition is our main priority. […]
How Cold Can Cows Tolerate?
As livestock producers, we have a lot of concerns. We worry about input costs, if we made the right breeding decisions and where cattle prices will be when we are ready to sell. All these are issues that you likely deal with regularly. Another concern for many ranchers is the weather. Now, cattle are hardy […]
Managing Your Cows in the Winter
The changing of the seasons is inevitable. That’s true whether you’re running Angus cows in North Dakota or Hereford and black baldie cows in south central Mississippi. However, when you’re a cattle producer whose livelihood depends on those mama cows, the changing seasons mean making a few adaptations to cow nutrition and care to make […]
4 Tips to Successfully Wintering Stocker Calves
It’s no doubt, agriculture is a risky business. There are a lot of uncertainties, especially when you add the environment and the ever-changing weather into the mix. But with a good plan and some of these best management practices in place, you can come out in the springtime with healthy, growthy calves that are ready […]
Tips for Making Quality Hay
Fresh forage is one low-cost, high-nutrient source of feed for beef and dairy cattle, sheep and horses. However, with a surplus of forage and some land and environmental factors that prohibit grazing fresh forages, making hay is a resourceful way to harvest and store valuable forages for a later time when feed resources become scarcer, […]
Nutrition Keeps Calves Healthy, Performing on the Last Frontier
Northern Minnesota. Picture it. Lakes and woodlands. Prime hunting and fishing. The great outdoors. Premier cattle country. And the home to Wilde Angus Ranch, located at Shevlin. Wayne and Deb Wilde started their cattle operation in 1972 with commercial cattle. Over the years, they transitioned to registered Charolais and today the herd consists of nearly […]
Don’t Skimp on Winter Supplementation
Even though the first few weeks of fall have just “officially” passed, it is never too early to begin thinking about winter. It seems like producers and meteorologists alike have been discussing that this winter could be bitterly cold and snow covered, and if you are one of the many people who refer to the […]
5 Tips for Beef Cow Herd Winter Supplementation
With first blast of winter weather quickly approaching, have you thought about what that means to your cow herd? Keeping cattle in good condition through the fall and into early winter ultimately helps insulate the animal and minimize the amount of feed required later in the winter season. Kevin Glaubius, Director of Nutrition and Technical Sales […]
