Now is the perfect time for beef producers to make management decisions that will affect the health, productivity and profitability of the herd over the next production cycle. The following are tips and guidelines to consider. 1. Wean based on pasture quality and quantity: When pasture quality declines below that required to support calf growth, and/or quantity [...]

Now is the perfect time for beef producers to make management decisions that will affect the health, productivity and profitability of the herd over the next production cycle. The following are tips and guidelines to consider. 1. Wean based on pasture quality and quantity: When pasture quality declines below that required to support calf growth, and/or quantity [...]

Traditionally, grazed forages provide beef cows the majority of their nutrients during the spring and summer months. However, during droughts when forage production stops, alternative feeds and feeding programs need to be used utilized until forages are growing again. When deciding on and alternative feeding program there are several options to consider. The goal is [...]

Now is the time to map out your fly control program. Horn flies normally begin showing up in spring when average daily temperatures reach 65º F for a period of two weeks.  They remain a nuisance until cool weather in late fall or early winter.  Here are four quick tips to help you develop an [...]

Good nutrition management is a key to reproductive efficiency in heifers.  Animal scientists at the university of Georgia Cooperative extension Service say heifers must be bred to calve at two years of age, and it is critical that they reach 65 percent of estimated mature weight prior to breeding.1  Nutrition management during this development period [...]

Plan now for winter feeding Program Now is the time to plan your beef herd winter feeding program.  Fine-tuning winter feeding management helps optimize performance, but it is also essential for good animal husbandry, according to livestock nutrition and animal health experts with north Carolina State university (nCSu). 10-Point Plan Matt Poore, PhD, professor and ruminant nutrition specialist [...]

Body condition scores (BCS) are an excellent means of monitoring the effectiveness of your beef-cow-nutrition program. Here are 10 management tips to help ensure your cows are at a target BCS of 6.0 by calving: • Late summer-Evaluate your cows while still on grass. If they score thin to borderline moderate during this time and forage availability is still sufficient, [...]

There are unfortunately many examples to draw upon from our history, especially during wartime, of maternal nutritional deprivation and the long term effects on the lives of their children, and their children’s children. The list includes: diabetes; hypertension; glucose intolerance; insulin resistance; renal failure; cardiovascular disease; and hyperlipidemia. The word “Epigenetics” has emerged as “the idea that environmental factors (to include [...]

One of the things beef producers dread most about the coming warm weather is the advent of troublesome horn flies. These insects are annoying, to be sure.  But, they are more than just pests, they are really “obligate parasites,”  who must stay with –and live off of- their host in order to survive.  They feed on [...]

Having nutritional supplements always available for your cattle to utilize during critical times, can pay dividends. Not meeting nutritional requirements of heifers and cows during the last third of pregnancy and the first 60 days of lactation, for example, can cost producers great economic loss, according to an Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet on winter [...]