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 [...]
Posted Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 BY STEVE CAMPBELL sfcampbell@star-telegram.com After watching helplessly as the merciless heat and drought ravaged his vegetable crops by 75 percent last season, Cisco farmer Payton Scott says he won’t fight another losing battle. “If it burns up, I’ll quit on it,” said Scott, whose 60-acre Scott Farms supplies a wide variety of vegetables to [...]
A shortage of drinking water for your cattle can happen quickly during hot, dry summer months. Assuring good quality water for your animals also can be a challenge in warm weather.
Good quality water is one of the most important nutrients required by cattle and must be provided on a daily […]
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The major nutritional requirements are: water, energy, protein, minerals, and vitamins. In many cases, beef producers do a good job of providing adequate water, energy, and protein. However, many beef producers buy ‘cheap’ minerals, ignoring the fact that the availability […]
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).
Proper storage of hay between harvest and feeding is critical for preserving nutrients in the hay and assuring that you have high quality hay to feed your cattle when they need it most during the winter months. The nutrient requirements of cattle are more likely to be met with quality […]