Top-performing dairy cows must have healthy hooves. Walking and standing on four good hooves is the foundation of eating lots of well-balanced feed and then producing lots of milk. It is also a prerequisite for good standing heats, which leads to successful pregnancy. On the other hand, lame cows have a painful time getting out […] Read more
Tips to prevent dairy cow lameness
Proper nutrition is the key to keeping cattle walking with comfort
Cold-weather feeding strategies help overwinter beef cows
Cattle acclimatize themselves by eating more to increase their metabolic rate
After New Year’s, I was driving just south of the Trans-Canada Highway in southern Manitoba and noticed a 100-cow beef herd swath-grazing just along the fence line. Most of these cows were in good body shape, despite it being -25 C and a 25 kph wind (-40 C windchill) on open prairie. I could only […] Read more
Save your best nutrition for late-gestation cows
Producers share winter rations that work for their cow-calf operations
Preparing for the calving season used to be simple. The best green hay was saved for the gestating cows about two months before they calved, and most people started to feed a bit of loose cattle mineral. The funny thing is that this simple program worked at the time. As a beef nutritionist, it’s not […] Read more
Cystic ovaries — a crime against good reproduction for dairy cows
Proper nutrition plays a key role in reducing the risk
Cystic ovaries are much like a case of an unsolved bank robbery — its clues have been extensively studied, but there are no direct causes found for the 10 to 25 per cent of incidences in lactating dairy cows. As a dairy nutritionist, I suspect that there are a number of animal and dietary abnormalities […] Read more
Vitti: Figure out proper rations for replacement dairy heifers
They need to keep growing, but you don’t want them too fat either
Many dairy heifer replacements come out of the calf barn in good shape. That’s because many were fed milk and calf-starter diets that supported exceptional growth. Ironically, some of these heifers are not fed well after weaning, and this nutrition gap makes them struggle throughout their first lactation. Such adverse nutrition can largely be avoided […] Read more
Drought conditions affect usual mineral recommendations
Formulations need to be tweaked to meet needs of gestating cows
Mineral (and vitamin) feeding programs for overwintering beef cows have remained pretty much the same, year after year on the Prairies. However, standard recommendations are likely to change this winter. Better mineral (and vitamin) choices should be fed this year in the wake of last summer’s severe drought. Dry conditions compromised good mineral/vitamin status of […] Read more
Play it safe with high nitrates
Proper management of drought-affected forages can reduce the risk to livestock
This year’s drought taught me many lessons about the dangers of high nitrates in beef cow forage. That is why I recommend that all cow-calf producers test all their harvested forages for nitrates, whatever field it came from. It’s going to be money well spent, whether tests are negative or positive. And if they are […] Read more
Dried distillers’ grains a viable feed option
DDGS is high in nutrients and pencils out well in a ration
Corn-dried distillers’ grains solubles (DDGS) have drawn a lot of attention among beef producers in Western Canada this year. That’s because a lack of good-quality forages caused by one of the worst droughts in years as well as high grain/protein-concentrate prices have created an easy choice for feeding this nutritious supplement to cattle. And it […] Read more
Balance “pineapple” corn silage into dairy diets
Corn with rolled leaves should definitely be tested for nitrates
I never noticed a “pineapple” cornfield until I ‘ve seen several of them in Manitoba this summer. As I have done, dairy producers should take them in stride as part of our ongoing drought. A pineapple cornfield is simply what happens to a corn plant after months of severe drought. (It is a term used […] Read more
Finding affordable cow feed to support body condition
Chances are that pastures have just run out, so what do you feed cattle heading into winter?
Quantity and quality of forage at the end of this summer for beef cows is short. So, where burnt pastures can no longer support the average beef cowherd, whatever forage is on hand with the right supplements might be turned into a sufficient autumn feeding program until winter. The goal of any good fall feeding […] Read more
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