I have a riddle for you: If you have too much or too little, you worry about it constantly, but if you have the right amount you don’t think about it at all. What is it?

Cows return to lush, green pastures as we ponder the mating decisions of the upcoming breeding season. The present time is critical for quality nutrition because we are asking for the most from our cows during the annual production cycle.

Swath grazing is an economic management strategy that helps ranchers extend their grazing practices into the spring and winter months. It has been shown that swath grazing can reduce the cost of beef production by over 40%.

There’s only one surefire way to know what hay weighs: Put it on a scale. However, most buyers and sellers don’t have a scale big enough or handy enough to weigh bales.

Fall is a wonderful season for agriculture and a time to, hopefully, reap the bounty of the year’s production.

A recent USDA cattle behavior-based grant focused on beef production decentralization, especially among small farmers.

Although managing starch digestibility may feel like uncovering the center in a never-ending set of nesting dolls, there are many tools available to help us start to break this down. Doing so can help ensure that rations meet expected values and help farmers make the most out of purchased and homegrown feeds. It can also shed light on opportunities to improve starch digestion and ensure we aren’t missing out on valuable energy.

Nobody likes to walk through a freestall pen and see manure laden with flecks of yellow corn pericarp. To any dairy manager, herd manager or nutritionist, “pretty poo” is all the rage – and pretty means consistently fleckless. This pretty manure is not only important to the diet but also a key part of every dairy’s bottom line.

While understanding the impact of feedstuff dry matter is critical for making informed management decisions, we also must consider how differences in nutrient composition, in addition to dry matter, influence feedstuff cost scenarios.