Hormone implants can lead to bigger calves — reducing greenhouse gas intensity, land use intensity and giving the beef farmer more profit, a Manitoba-based model suggests.
Tag Archives cattle feeding
Calf hormone implants can give environmental, financial wins
Bigger calves at weaning can cut emissions intensity and land use intensity and put more money in the pocket of cow-calf farmers
Klassen: Feeding margin uncertainty weighs on feeder cattle market
For the week ending May 31, Western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded steady to as much as $10 lower on average. Dryer grass conditions in certain regions of Manitoba and central and northern Saskatchewan may have contributed to the softer tone at certain locations. Many feedlot operators continue to sit on their hands for the […] Read more
A new season on a Korean beef farm
Better Bunks and Pastures: Why this farm is feeding heifers this time around
Most cattle feeding operations in Korea are like that of my girlfriend’s uncle and aunt — Sang June Kim and Hee Jong’s operation — in the form of an open-roof and dairy-like barn with two longitudinal rows of cattle pens.
GPS system for cattle brings individual animal management to the range
Smart Paddock can measure behaviour of animals far from home
An Australian company with a Canadian connection, Smart Paddock won the Rising Star category in the Canadian Animal AgTech innovation competition at Agribition in late 2024. Smart Paddock’s founder and chief executive officer, Darren Wolchyn, moved his family from Alberta to Australia and ended up working on GPS-tracking golf carts. Ranching friends in Alberta suggested […] Read more
Pencil out the investment in a background feeding program
Better Bunks and Pastures: Knowing the numbers can help dictate whether calves should be sold or retained
As most of the leaves have fallen, many spring calves are being weaned. It’s also the time when many people determine whether their weaned calves are immediately sold or held back for further feeding. Record-high prices, especially on the weaned calf side of the market, should have everyone penciling out the feasibility of continued backgrounding […] Read more
It’s not too late to creep-feed spring calves
Better Bunks and Pastures: Analysis says this could be a highly profitable year to creep-feed calves
A friend of mine operates a 300-cow-calf operation. This year, he put out his creep feeders during the end of July and his March-born calves really haven’t eaten much creep-feed in the last month. That’s because his pastures are still lush and his cows are milking well. He joked that he is ready to lock […] Read more
How to manage beef cow summer mineral intake
Better Bunks and Pastures: Most solutions are found with common sense and changing practices
A long time ago, I helped a producer feed loose mineral to his herd of 60 beef cows. It was at the start of summer and during their breeding season. We’d just rip open a couple of bags and pour the mineral into an old wooden crate near a full dugout of drinking water. Often, […] Read more
Korean beef: similar feed, but much more marbling
Better Bunks and Pastures: Hanwoo cattle are finished to higher weights than most Canadian cattle, with similar daily gains
I am going to take a month off from my regular routine. Rather than discuss the latest in Canadian beef nutrition, I am going to examine a new beef experience, almost 10,000 km west of Winnipeg, at the outskirts of Naju City in South Korea. In short order, my girlfriend and I took a two-week […] Read more
Hustler updates its Combi Multi-feeder wagons
The new Series 2 models incorporate changes from customer feedback
New Zealand-based Hustler Equipment has introduced its Series 2 updated line of Combi RX2 Multi-Feeder wagons. Since introducing the first series in 2019, the company says it has taken user feedback to heart and made several asked-for changes fine-tuning the design. “The RX2 is our latest series,” Hustler’s country manager for North America, Lance Paskewitz, […] Read more
Rethinking yardage costs
Those costs can be higher than most think, so running your own numbers is important
For many of us, winter is a season of feeding cows. Feed is one of the key drivers of animal performance and is one of the highest direct costs for most cattle operations. Notice the use of the word feed. Feeding — that is, the act of providing feed — can also be one of […] Read more
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