Better rainfall has meant more feed on much of the Prairies, but creep feeding beef calves still pays well in 2025.
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Beef calf creep feeding pays good profits in 2025
Better Bunks and Pastures: With calf values high, creep feeding makes even more sense
Accelerate milk replacer programs for higher heifer gains
Dairy Corner: Milk replacer is expensive, but feeding more still makes sense to grow larger, healthier heifers
Milk replacer is expensive, but feeding more still makes sense to grow larger, healthier heifers
Zinc works hard in the beef cattle mineral feeder
Better Bunks and Pastures: The mineral is part of more than 300 enzyme processes in cattle
Zinc is a part of 300 of the enzymes in a beef animal and is criticially important for hoof health, immunity and reproduction.
The five-minute tricks to identify good dry matter intake in dairy cows
Dairy Corner: Checking the condition of cows, and a quick look at the ration, can tell the story
Checking the animals’ condition, and a quick look at the ration, can tell the story of the dry matter intake (DMI) of dairy cows.
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
Good early-lactation nutrition cuts risk of cystic ovaries
Dairy Corner: A drop in proper metabolic function will pose reproductive challenges in cows
Most producers usually wait until estrus appears in a dairy cow at 60-70 days postpartum, then place an emphasis on getting her pregnant by 90 days. This practice maintains a 13-month calving interval. Unfortunately, the onslaught of cystic ovaries in 30 per cent of all breeding cows makes it a challenge. Yet, there is hope […] Read more
Take care of first-calf beef cows after calving
Keep them separate from older cows and a different ration could make sense
Despite some market volatility, the good value of all cattle is holding for the time being. That’s a good thing because last year, many cow-calf operators bred more replacement heifers that are now calving or about to calve. Some of these producers told me they throw them into their main cowherd if they are big […] Read more
Balancing low cost with enough nutrition
Use caution when feeding low-quality forage to dairy replacement heifers
Most dairy producers always look for ways to reduce the livestock feed costs. Some people have taken advantage that three-month-old replacement dairy heifers have a fully developed rumen and can truly digest lower quality/cost forages. There is nothing wrong in feeding this way, but these forages must be well balanced with other more nutritious feedstuffs […] Read more
Solid deworming programs essential for grazing cows
Understanding the lifecycle of the major worms found in pastures helps with treatment timing
Whenever I heard of a beef cow herd infected with brown stomach roundworms (Ostertagi ostertagi), I used to envision a cow’s abomasum filled with large and living ropes. Then, I looked at some pictures in a cattle parasite book and to my surprise, this common gastrointestinal worm is no more than a quarter- to half-inch […] Read more
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