Animal Nutrition
USDA reports 47% of pasture and range conditions are in good to excellent health, compared to just 34% a year ago. Pasture and range conditions rated poor and very poor is down 9% from last year.
The goal of formulating milk replacer is to as closely as possible duplicate – and even improve upon – whole milk. A team of researchers is exploring how to do that based on fat source choices and fatty acids.
Numerous studies have now shown that feeding colostrum replacer to mimic transition milk has beneficial effects for preweaned calves.
Missouri’s drought in 2022 and 2023 may have been underrated, says Eric Bailey, University of Missouri Extension. He offers tips for stretching your feed during the next few months.
While it’s easy to immediately place blame on your nutritionist for diet related problems, these three problem solving steps need to be taken before you jump to conclusions.
In both human and veterinary medicine, we’re hearing more about the benefits of gut supplements to support health, performance, and well-being.
Road ditch hay can provide needed forage. With a few precautions and a forage analysis, it can help you meet your cow’s nutrient requirements this winter.
Help cattle weather the elements and combat cold stress when the temperature drops.
When cows get below their lower critical temperature and get into cold stress, they can adapt by increasing feed consumption to increase their basal metabolic rate and increase heat of fermentation.
Incidence rates for displaced abomasum (DA) range from 1% to 6%, and up to 90% of DA’s happen within the first 30 days in milk.
Bulls are often a part of the cow herd that slips through the cracks during the winter months as breeding seasons end. Bull management strategies can impact a bull’s performance in the upcoming breeding season.
Evaluating money saved when purchasing feed on cost per unit of protein and energy basis.
This low-cost feed option can get the herd off pastures and save harvested forages for winter. But the rumen has to be managed in the process, and it can’t adjust overnight. Water, salt and protein also need monitoring.
In any nutritional program it is imperative to determine the objective of why we are feeding or supplementing. After defining our goal, we can minimize input costs and maximize our profit potential.
Pregnant cows and heifers should be supplemented with 30,000 to 100,000 IU/head/day of Vitamin A and 50 to 100 IU/head/day of Vitamin E when green forage is not available.
Implementing a weaning program that emphasizes quality nutrition helps give calves a healthy start and can bring more return on investment
Feeding hay to preweaned dairy calves remains a topic of frequent confusion and debate. Should you do it at all? And if so, when, and what type? Penn State offers some answers.
While trace mineral deficiencies can vary widely by animal and region, the most common ones Jeffery Hall, DVM, PhD, DABVT, sees in cattle today are insufficient copper, manganese, selenium and zinc.
Windrow grazing, sometimes called swath grazing, is a management practice that can significantly reduce harvesting and feeding costs.
Pioneering an investigation into the potential use of discarded canola as a dietary supplement for pregnant cows, graduate student, Erika Cornand, aims to enhance both their health and the well-being of their calves.
KENT Corporation will celebrate the grand opening of the Iowa State University KENT Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex on Sept. 8.
To help fill energy gaps in late-season grazing additional supplementation will likely be needed and rumen-protected fat supplements should be a key component in buffer rations to maximize milk yield and quality.
Although drought persists north and south of Oklahoma, forage conditions have improved greatly in the state this summer. July was the seventh wettest July on record in Oklahoma.
Grazing cornstalks or drought-stricken corn can fill feed gaps during drought, says University of Missouri Extension beef nutritionist Eric Bailey.
Estimating forage usage by cows is an important part of the task of calculating winter feed needs as we head into fall. It’s been dry in so many areas, the need to make these estimations is more important than ever.
In these tumultuous times of drought, global unrest, and supply chain disruptions, feed grains may not be as plentiful, available, and affordable as we have traditionally enjoyed.
Vitamin A is critical to cattle health and is generally consumed in adequate quantities. But Vitamin A in stored feedstuffs declines over time with exposure to sunlight and high temperatures.
With no end to the higher feed cost trend in sight, farmers are looking at ways to get the most out of their rations while minimizing wasted feed.
What’s the perfect close-up ration to optimize calf health -- something that’s not too much of this or too little of that, but “just right?”
Ruminants walk a fine line in their ability to utilize certain feedstuffs while maintaining digestive integrity. Michigan State University researchers recently evaluated the effect of starch in dairy diets.