Let me start by saying that as nutritionists we are, by nature, control freaks. With a little tweak here and a small adjustment there, we can turn that mediocre feeder calf into something special.

Corn silage in cattle-feeding operations is certainly not a new topic, but changes to both the cattle-feeding and ethanol industries have led to some recent research which may make feeding elevated levels of silage in finishing diets more attractive.

When you think of the term “rumen bugs,” you might scratch your head a bit. A rumen bug? My cows have bugs? Yes, your cows have bugs. But when we reference rumen bugs, we’re not talking about insects – we’re talking about micro-organisms.

My shrewd buddy Everett came by for a visit today. I haven’t seen him for a while because he’s been hauling stock, driving his John Deere and learning how to operate a backhoe.

With the advent of the new year, it’s nothing new to see and hear, ad nauseam, about how seemingly everyone is ridding themselves of old bad habits, turning over new leaves, starting fresh and generally being inspired to rise above their lesser selves to become something better than they were in the past 12 months.

The little kid sat on his kneeAnd looked up with stars in his eyesHe said, “Granddaddy, tell me againHow it was when you were my size.”

No one can deny the excitement that comes with calving time. Healthy newborn calves can give anyone hope for the years to come. But when scours hit the herd’s new prospects, it can put a real damper on all of the excitement.

Recent changes in the feeder cattle market have undoubtedly forced many of us to re-evaluate our day-to-day management practices.

Closing Will Feed was not an easy decision. Anne Burkholder grieved a few weeks before she could write about it in her Feed Yard Foodie blog. Some of the initial posts were raw.

A Greene County, New York, woman pleaded guilty to stealing at least $3.1 million from Cargill Inc. over 10 years and causing at least $25 million in losses. The woman was an accounting manager at Cargill, the country’s largest privately held corporation, based in Minnetonka, Minnesota.