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I have talked with two different local producers whose primary winter pasture is gone now. They are looking for feed alternatives or to destock their herd while prices are high. If you find yourself in this situation, you must perform an inventory of feeds on your operation and calculate how much will be needed.
Deciding which supplement to use will vary depending on forage quality, animal requirements, body condition score, the ability to feed daily or not, product availability and cost per unit of needed nutrient.
You may be familiar with the phrase, “If you don’t test, it’s just a guess,” a phrase that applies directly to hay quality. The only way to know the exact nutrient concentration of hay is to take a representative sample and have it analyzed by a lab.
Having some open cows is normal in a 60- to 90-day breeding season. However, if the number of open cows is excessive (greater than 6% to 10%), evaluation of management, nutrition and herd health needs to take place.
As the summer heat gives way to crisp fall days, we move into the time to ship calves to their next destination. Before they go, weaning them from their mothers needs to take place. Weaning can be achieved using multiple methods, all with different pros and cons, and can be tweaked to fit your operation and its goals.
Hay quality cannot be judged based on looks or if it was fertilized or not. Often, some of the best-looking hay will test out to be some of the lowest quality.
Weaning is part of cow-calf production, and it can occur at different times for numerous reasons. There is varying terminology associated with weaning depending on age of the calf, the weaning location (ranch of origin or trailer) and dictionary versus industry definitions.
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