The Lohse family near Kaycee, WY has been involved in the ranching business for nearly 100 years and four generations. Today’s operation is managed by Mike and Connie Lohse, and son Reo. They raise commercial cow-calf Angus Cattle where year round grazing is the goal for forage and range management on private and leased land.
CRYSTALYX® has been used off and on over the last several years but is now considered more of a standard program in the cow herd. “The last few years have made ranching move innovative,” says Mike. The Lohse’s have recently moved calving from April to May to take advantage of better weather and grass.
Cow Condition is Key
CRYSTALYX® is the main winter supplement used with grazing mature cows beginning in December until good spring grass. These large winter pastures of Wyoming’s Johnson County have many watering locations. CRYSTALYX® is placed in many areas of the pasture; which can help scatter cattle and be used as a grazing management tool. The main benefit of BGF-30™ however, is that cows maintain adequate body condition through winter months. The Lohse’s commented that, “We had one particular group of cows with replacement heifer calves still on them late, and weaned late. They may have been a little thin starting the winter but wound up doing fine and coming through in good condition. We would have to say that improving our wormer program and feeding CRYSTALYX® are two important things that have helped recently. We wouldn't go back to anything else.”
What about the Bulls?
Let’s face it. Cows get most of the attention when supplementation is discussed. Most CRYSTALYX® programs are positioned and designed with cows in mind but work well for the bulls too. The Lohse ranch is very aware of this and has used CRYSTALYX® in their bull program. Again, with cows, BGF-30™ is consumed between 1/2 and 3/4 lbs per head per day. When feeding to bulls, we expect similar consumption but as Mike Lohse puts it: “In the winter, and spring with bulls, we put plenty of barrels out. If they eat more CRYSTALYX® it’s okay because the bulls must stay in good shape prior to breeding.”
Predictability and Service
The Lohse ranch has in fact, used many other supplement types in the past. With these, they either had poor consumption or service and delivery issues (availability). Lohse’s like the predictable consumption of CRYSTALYX®, and the steel barrel container. It fits their management as the steel barrels don’t blow around like plastic tubs, and hand fed supplement such as range cake became an issue as their cattle are wintered in an area with relatively heavy traffic from oil and gas companies. “Anytime a vehicle would pass through, those cows would follow thinking they were going to be fed something. We like the service from our dealer and getting product delivered to the ranch when it’s on special,” says Mike. The Lohse ranch is nearly 65 miles from the nearest Hubbard® dealer so being able to utilize Hubbard’s Feeder Finance Program and take advantage of fall specials while getting delivery to the ranch is another advantage.
