As a young dairy nutritionist years ago, university research taught me that once a lactation cycle is completed, the dairy cow should be dried off, dry-treated and put onto a 60-day dry cow feeding program — an initial faraway stage of 40 days, and followed by a 20/21-day close-up stage. As a result many metabolic […] Read more
Faraway dry cow program provides important break
High-producing cows need time to recover before next lactation period
Midwinter inventory for swath grazing
Swath-grazing cattle without shelter often require 40-50 per cent more dietary energy
Barley swath-grazing has become a viable alternative and practical means of feeding a low-cost forage to overwintering pregnant beef cows. Since nutrient supplementation may be required later on as they approach calving, producers should take a midwinter look at the feed value of swaths to ensure all nutrient requirements are always met. It is well […] Read more
Hutch-housed calves need extra milk replacer in winter
There is a limit to how much cold that calves can handle
Despite the trend to build heated barns to raise young stock, there are still lots of outside hutches and cold barns to feed pre-weaned dairy calves. Many of these calves are raised solely on commercial milk replacer. As a dairy nutritionist, I review many of these milk replacer-feeding programs and make the necessary changes to […] Read more
Grazed standing corn will need supplements
A great feed source, but added protein may be needed as winter progresses
Putting beef cows out to tramp through the snow to graze standing corn has become more popular in the last few years. It’s relatively low-cost forage which can make up a sizeable portion of a pregnant cow’s overwinter diet because whole corn plants (with ears) can provide a significant amount of dietary energy and protein. […] Read more
Vitti: Options for including mouldy feed in rations
Know what you have and blend it off with the good stuff
This year, not many people harvested and stored good-quality hay on the northern Prairies. A cool spring and droughty summer capped by a couple of feet of autumn snow forced many producers to harvest thousands of mouldy hay bales. For many, this is their only forage supply to overwinter beef cows. Fortunately, we can set […] Read more
Pregnant cows need their protein
Molasses lick-tubs can help maintain cow condition and keep fetuses growing
I was recently driving west through the southern Prairies and saw a beef cow herd grazing late-autumn straw-coloured pasture. I suspected the calves were probably just weaned, which simply puts these dams at their lowest dietary requirements. I believe that these particular cows were getting plenty to eat, but they were probably not getting enough […] Read more
Drought-stricken corn can make dangerous silage
High nitrate levels, moulds and toxins might prevail
Much of this year’s corn crop across the southern Prairies has been once again hit by drought. My photograph of a southern Manitoba cornfield in mid-August shows one of the worst cornfields I have ever seen. It tasselled out early with curled grey leaves and no visible cobs on its stalk. Most whole plants were […] Read more
Fall is no time to slack off on a livestock mineral program
Plenty of hidden benefits for overall herd health and reproduction
Since April, I’ve had the privilege to criss-cross the Prairies to witness the opposite effects of drought and continuous rainstorms upon hundreds of square miles of pasture. In some areas, the pastures were brown, short and by themselves didn’t produce enough feed to support cattle, while other regions were green, lush and had lots of […] Read more
Don’t force cattle to eat bones for phosphorus
It’s an important nutrient for overall animal health and reproduction
A long time ago in university, I came across a faded photograph in our animal science book (Animal Nutrition, Maynard et al, 1979) that showed a poor Venezuelan cow chewing on a bone. Its caption read that she suffered from phosphorus deficiency. I thought at the time that this poor animal was so skinny and […] Read more
Molasses lick-tubs for cattle can fit different needs
A useful tool for both good and poor pastures
Recently, a friend who operates a 400-head cow-calf operation drove through a quarter section of one of his pastures. He told me he made a few stops and pulled up some grass and several roots were brittle. Hundred of kilometres away, another beef producer told me his pastures had lush grass after a couple of […] Read more
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