Feed & Nutrition

As calving season runs for many spring-calving herds across the U.S., keep in mind that a successful breeding season starts with nutritional management decisions made months ahead of bull turnout.

For nearly 60 years, carcass weights for finished cattle have been on a linear increase. As an industry, we have not practiced single-trait selection for cow size. However, we have unknowingly increased cow size by selecting for growth.

Colostrum management is a topic that comes around each calving season, and cattle producers should understand the importance of getting proper colostrum intake.

Mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites which pose a significant threat to animal health and productivity and are found in a variety of feedstuffs including cereal grains, grain byproducts, harvested forages and pasture grasses.

While many nutritionists and producers are aware of probiotics and the potential benefits of feeding them in commercial animal operations, it is not clear to all how to distinguish proven and effective probiotic products from costly, ineffective microbial feed additives.

There are more microbes in the rumen of a single feedlot animal than there are humans on earth. If you think it’s challenging for all of those people to work together, imagine what’s going on in the rumen.