Harvest was in full gear as I traveled through the heart of grain country this week. Combines were running, the last of the hay was coming off and beef herds had been weaned or were soon to be weaning spring born calves. Several years back I was traveling with a gentleman from Montana during harvest. The combines got his attention but he was most impressed by the forage available for the cow herd with grazing corn stalks.
LICS app for calculating beef cattle supplement intake is free and ready to download
Mark Robbins had recently written a blog about the new Livestock intake calculator for supplements (LICS) app that was soon to be released. Well the release date has arrived! It is designed to be a useful calculator with minimal, intuitive inputs that makes free-choice supplement performance easier to monitor and manage. The FREE LICS app is available on the IOS (IPhone) and Android platforms and can be downloaded either at their app stores or by scanning the following QR codes with your smartphone.
Combating FUD by telling our story
Today as I was reading an article online I came across the term FUD and it really hit home for me. FUD is an acronym for fear, uncertainty and doubt. This tactic has been around since the dawn of time and has been used extensively in sales, marketing, propaganda and politics. In general, FUD is a strategy to influence perception by the dissemination of negative, dubious or false information. Do you know of any organizations using FUD to discount animal agriculture? We all do and the examples are numerous.
CRYSTALYX Brigade: Don’t wean calves without it
Over the past few years of blogging on www.crystalyx.com, several articles have been written about using CRYSTALYX® in calf weaning and receiving systems. I’ve been involved in marketing CRYSTALYX® for over 15 years and would honestly say that utilizing it in a weaning/receiving situation is the most visible and expedient way to experience the value in this supplement. The practice of using Brigade® in weaning and receiving programs is well accepted, even automatic with many producers. And folks selling CRYSTALYX® should make Brigade® a part of their nutritional offering.
Perception equals reality
Many of you have probably heard the cliché “Perception equals reality” or “Perception is reality”. It is very true in any industry or for any subject. Many of us “know” that lowering the tailgate on your pickup will give you better fuel economy. The TV show Myth-Busters tested this on their show, and could not find that it increased fuel economy. They received so much mail claiming that they must have done something wrong, that they did it a second time, with different methodology, and again found no advantage to this tried and true practice that we all used at one time or another. While I still find it tempting to lower the tailgate on long trips, I resist, and trust the science behind what I have come to believe is the reality of the situation. Besides, I really don’t want to lose some of that junk in the truck box.
Planning for a better tomorrow
Goal setting… it’s a somewhat painful, but useful tool when you want to focus on a particular aspect of your life, work or production system. Setting production goals can be beneficial for cattle producers as it can assist with culling and buying decisions, in addition to herd health and nutrition programs.
Changes to the CRYSTALYX line up starting this fall
Although we usually don’t focus specifically on products with our blog, we have made some changes to the CRYSTALYX® Brand Supplements product line that are important enough to share with our current customers as well as those considering CRYSTALYX® in their supplementation programs. Because of the popularity and wide-spread acceptance of CRYSTALYX® products over the past nearly 30 years, changes to existing products within the CRYSTALYX® Brand Supplement Family have been few. While there have been, and continue to be, new product additions, it is very difficult to make changes to existing products that have a satisfied and very loyal following.
Labeling of beef, dairy, feed and food products: A parable on GMO
Below is a parable about beans and two very interesting tribes of warriors and the cost of not using technology. This story should keep people’s attention and may help them understand the science and importance of technology like genetically modified organisms, GMO.
Antibiotics in animal feed: Proposed FDA changes and how it affects you
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is implementing a voluntary program within the animal, feed and drug industries to phase out the use of certain antibiotics in the use of animal feed or drinking water. To date, all animal pharmaceutical companies have agreed to fully comply. Here’s what you need to know about the changes:
The energy value of CRYSTALYX is in the forage
Last week Mark Robbins had an excellent blog written in regards to the fat content of CRYSTALYX®. He explained the changes made to fat levels in the “HE” line of products and what that change of 1 or 2% fat really means in terms of actual energy. The bottom line is that the fat content of CRYSTALYX®, while providing some energy, really is a small contributor as an energy source in products containing 3-5% fat. We do not want to discount the value of fat in any supplement as CRYSTALYX® does market a high fat product, Omega-lyx™ which has a much more significant fat level (12%).
