Beef cows cannot live without minerals and vitamins, which are often deficient or biologically unavailable in many overwintering forage. I advise people to put loose mineral on a regular basis for their gestating cows, so all essential mineral and vitamin requirements are supplemented. Unfortunately, some people don’t always feed enough mineral. With a little effort, […] Read more
Make sure your mineral feeders for cattle are full
Minerals for the cow also help get the calf off to a good start
Hutch-reared calves need good diet and TLC
Keeping them dry, out of drafts and well fed leads to a healthier calf
Each year, I literarily see hundreds of preweaned dairy calves overwintered in outdoor calf hutches. Most perform well, but there are also more “poor doers” than I care to see. I find that each poor calf tells a similar story. Some of the mediocre calves are shivering, others are skinny, a few calves are coughing […] Read more
Corn residue can cut winter feeding costs
Cows can find at least 1,250 pounds of feed per acre after corncobs are harvested
For years, I have seen cornfields popping up over the Prairies (sorry for the pun). Much of this crop is harvested for corn silage, but significant acres are picked for grain. When just the cobs are harvested there is a tremendous amount of residue left on the ground. This is an abundance of forage for […] Read more
Visible and invisible benefits of preconditioning
‘Truck weaned’ calves are highly stressed and ultimately suffer from a higher rate of shrink during trucking to a feedlot
Preconditioned is a general term for feedlot-destined calves that have been vaccinated, castrated, dehorned, weaned, have some feed-bunk/waterer experience and have been fed a nutritious post-weaning diet for at least 30-45 days prior to being sold to a feedlot. Recently, I’ve talked to some cow-calf operators selling spring calves to feedlots in the fall, who see […] Read more
Test corn silage moisture for better milk production
The Dairy Corner: Dairy producers should test every time a new bag, bunk or silo is opened
There are three stages to the corn harvest in Manitoba. The first starts in September when the corn crop matures and whole plant moisture dries to about 35 per cent dry matter — it’s one of the best time to take off corn silage. The second occurs weeks later when the grain corn dries to […] Read more
Mineral deficiency can affect weaned calves
Even preconditioned and vaccinated calves can get sick in a feedlot
Recently, I drove some back roads and took a picture of a herd of Black Angus cattle with a few of the cows and calves with a rough red hair coat or a red sheen to them. I was always taught in school that a red coat colour was a classic sign of a copper […] Read more
The Dairy Corner: Soybeans have excellent fit in dairy diets
Sometimes more expensive, but they can put more milk in the tank
I am fortunate to travel across wide stretches of Manitoba and have observed the explosive growth of soybean acres over the last decade. From 2005, only about 100,000 acres were planted and this acreage has steadily increased to about 1.3 million acres, today. Recently, I asked many dairy/soybean producers, why they grew this crop. Most […] Read more
Pay attention to post-weaning programs for dairy cattle
You want replacement heifers to grow at an optimum rate, but not too fast or too slow
Almost every time I visit a dairy barn, I make a point of looking at post-weaned replacement heifers as well. Raising young dairy heifers can be one of the greatest challenges even on the best-run dairies. I believe implementing a good post-weaning heifer program makes good sense and contributes to their future success as high-milk-producing dairy […] Read more
Money to be made in creep feeding calves
At least pencil it out for your farm — you could be leaving $85 per head on the table
As a beef nutritionist, I have advocated creep feeding spring calves for years. That’s because as feeder cattle prices have steadily risen, there was a real profit due to creep feeding as well as some decent side-benefits. I haven’t changed my position for 2015 and advise each cow-calf operator to calculate their own situation and […] Read more
Help cattle cope with the three Bs of heat stress
If cows and calves aren't eating, overall performance and weight gains are down
I always feel sorry for beef cattle in an open field that cannot escape the hot summer sun. The other day I was driving a pasture with about 30 Black Angus cows and spring calves. Not a tree or waterer in sight. All the animals were crowded together, none were grazing and their calves were […] Read more
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