Dietary minerals are necessary for optimal growth and reproduction. The amount needed depends on forage mineral content. the age of the animal, and the stage of production. Just knowing what the cow requires is only 1 component in evaluating its mineral status. Even the soil type, fertilizer used, and rainfall can affect what mineral is available at a certain time.
While forages, and even water, can provide some minerals to the animal they may still be lacking. No region will have every mineral available at all times. Even if they do provide them if they are in certain amounts they can affect the absorption of other minerals too. Also, just providing some minerals may not solve all of your problems.
There are some people that believe that cattle will naturally seek out the minerals they need, but this is not true. In fact, cattle are much like people in that they only eat what they think tastes good. The problem with that is that some minerals have a bitter taste so they are less likely to eat them. Here are some things that you can do to improve the consumption of your mineral supplement.
Hay is a very important part of any winter feeding program. It is used to supplement cattle’s nutritional needs when forages become dormant. However, when it comes to feeding harvested forages you need to know what you have in order to know what to feed.
Deciding which cows to cull is not an easy task for most producers. Sometimes their personal feelings about that particular animal get in the way. There are even sometimes they do not even know which ones are underperforming and which ones need to be kept.
Heifer development can be one of the most challenging yet also rewarding tasks that can occur on the ranch. The very basis of your future depends on your ability to develop the young heifers into productive mothers. But these challenges do not come without problems.
Grazing management in the fall can have an impact on your future forage production. The intensity of your grazing animals determines what state they will be in. Also, grazing during the winter may be limited depending on what forages you have available.
It may not seem like it now but winter is on its way. The change in seasons also brings new problems to deal with to keep your cattle performing at their best. Keeping your cattle healthy during the stress of colder winter temperatures can be a pain in the neck. It is also doable.
Protein supplements are often needed during the fall and winter months. This is because during this time most of your tame pasture forages go into dormancy. When this happens things like their protein content will go down.
You can feel it in the air, the days are getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler. It will soon be the time that most producers do their fall processing. They will be running their cows through the chutes and for any spring-born calves they will be weaning them from their mommas.
Nutrition is a big factor affecting your herd’s health during the cold winter months. In order to meet this need producers should plan ahead when it comes to their fall and winter forages. There are many factors to consider when figuring out how much hay will be needed.
Nutrition is one of those things that is important year-round. From just putting on weight for the market to reentering the reproduction cycle everything hinges on the cow’s nutritional needs being met. However, meeting these demands can be a little complicated.
