In one of his recent blogs, Dan Colling explained the “large” benefit that you can get from a “small” amount of protein supplement on dry or mature pastures.
This week I’d like to talk about another benefit of self-fed protein supplements. While this benefit of CRYSTALYX® does impact the nutritional status of your herd, it is primarily a behavioral modification of your cattle.
You don’t have to be a weather expert to know that this spring/summer has been plain nuts. From tragic storms and severe flooding to drought, no one is really having an easy time of it. Here in the upper Midwest, we’ve had the range of odd weather for what should be summer, but sometimes feels like early spring. The upside of this crazy weather is that cows have grass up to their bellies or even over their backs. However, tall grass doesn’t have what your cows need.
As we celebrate the 4th of July Independence Day and our FREEDOM this week, we should all be mindful that we live in a great country where we still have choices and opportunity. That is very true for how we choose to produce and market our beef products to the consumer. We need to have the consumer engaged in making a buying decision based on how they value one type or brand of beef over another. However, we do not want to confuse the consumer about the safety of one product verses another. From an industry prospective, cattle producers, feeders, packers and the feed industry need to be engaged in educating our politicians and the consumer about the possible benefit of each option while maintaining the FREEDOM to market these value-added products. If we create confusion, we create fear which could lead to less FREEDOM due to undue regulation.
Once the bulls have been turned out and your herd has settled into their summer grazing routine, it’s easy to overlook some of the more obvious management clues when monitoring your cow herd. Although beef cows can be very forgiving at times, it is much more difficult to catch-up if you avoid timely management corrections. Below are a few summer time management reminders to help you stay on top of your herd and maintain performance that ensures profitable returns.
