With summer finally upon us, and for those of you with spring calving herds, you are now building your 2019 calf crop. Hopefully, you have been using a good-quality mineral on your herd prior to breeding season. But if you haven’t, it is not too late to start a summer mineral program and reap the benefits from a higher level of nutrition.
Innovation in cattle mineral delivery
One of our core business values is a commitment to innovation. This sets CRYSTALYX® and Alltech apart from other providers of self-fed supplements. Innovators will challenge the status quo by offering new concepts and new solutions to both old and emerging challenges faced by livestock producers. Some naysayers may consider change to be unnecessary and expensive, while others will rush to offer “me too” products.
Why all the fuss about beef cattle feed intake?
During several recent dealer meetings, intake has been a common topic of discussion. Talk has ranged from modifying total feed intake to the need for predictable intake of certain nutrients and additives to the control of self-fed supplements.
Celebrate the green with your beef cow herd
Despite snowflakes flying through the air as I write this, spring green up has started in many parts of the country or is soon to come. With St. Patrick’s Day and spring arriving, it’s time to Celebrate the Green! Part of celebrating the green is looking at having strategies in place to make this a “green” and profitable year in your farm business.
Self-fed supplement guidelines for beef cow-herds during cold weather
There have been bouts of cold weather episodes this winter ranging from short, tolerable conditions to extreme almost unbearable extended cold with little relief. We still have several months where temperatures can influence cow herd condition and it is extremely important to successfully manage through them, especially for spring calving cow herds.
Innovations are not just nice, they are necessary
A couple of years ago, I posed the following question: What do BioBarrels®, 48 row corn planters, GPS and net wrap have in common? They all allow one person to do much more than you could, 10 or 20 years ago.
Surviving the vitamin crisis
Most of you have probably walked into your local feed store or glanced at your current price list and gotten a shock at how much prices have shot up in the last few months. A global vitamin shortage (particularly vitamin A) has set the feed industry on edge. This shortage is expected to continue well into 2018.
Have you heard about vitamins lately?
Has anyone noticed the increased cost of supplements and manufactured feeds lately? What's the reason? Vitamin costs. In beef cattle nutrition, it seems a lot of attention is given and information is reported, regarding the importance of nutrients like protein, macro and trace minerals, fats and carbohydrates (starch and sugar).
Reducing oxidative stress for optimal performance
Recent studies cite that 83.9% of the cattle at harvest showed signs of chronic oxidative stress. What role do chelated trace minerals have in improving oxidative balance and how can we help cattle reach their full genetic potential?
Thinking multiple steps ahead for cow-calf producers
This is a topic that I have tried on several occasions to write about but thought that it might be too ambiguous in terms of what could possibly be written that would seem valuable enough or intriguing enough to be read by cow-calf producers. What has kept this topic simmering on the backburner have been observations not only at work but also with my kids at home.
