A protein tub is a very good way to provide extra nutrition when needed. One benefit is that once you have placed it in the pasture you don’t need to check it every day. This is helpful for those that may have a job back in town.
A benefit it can provide for both the full-time and “part-time” rancher is that a protein tub can be used to improve the overall grazing in a pasture. You can move them into more underutilized areas to encourage cattle to move to those areas.
With making any type of investment it is prudent that you do your homework before you make any decision. So before you go running off to the local feed store I have 5 things that you can look at before you buy your first protein tub.
It is never good whenever your cattle are suffering from a disease. It can rob you of performance while at the same time increasing your expenses.
Breeding season preparations are a very important task for any cow/calf producer’s bottom line. The steps that they take now will determine if they will have a good calf crop or not. Having good quality calves to sell is the defining factor between a successful and a not successful rancher.
Drought is one of those things that every cattle producer will have to deal with at some point. It ranks right up there with Death and Taxes. Just like those two though it is unavoidable however it is also something that most producers find themselves unprepared for.
Using a mineral supplement is one of the most important yet overlooked parts of cattle management. Sure, we all are concerned with the amount of protein or energy they are getting but what about meeting their mineral needs?
Using a hay bale to supplement your cattle is a tried and true method that many producers use. It is reasonably priced compared to other feedstuffs. Though just like other feedstuffs the quality can vary depending on many different factors.
Having the right replacement heifers is important for the long-term profitability of any ranch. It is necessary to be able to rotate the breeding stock out to improve the overall genetic pool. Also, cows will get to a point where they will get to be too old to breed any more. When this happens you will need to have new stock to take their place.
Pinkeye is a very common as well as a highly contagious disease in cattle. Once it shows up if you do not take proper steps it can quickly affect all of your cattle.
Fertilizer costs have increased a lot over the last few decades, even more over the last year. An example of this is that nitrogen fertilizer has doubled in just the last 2 years. With the way things are going it is not looking it will change for the better any time soon.
The value of a bull is something we have always tried to figure out. It is a question that we have been asking for as long as we have been trying to make the next generation better. It is a question that is asked a lot during this time when many bulls are being marketed and we are getting ready for spring breeding season.
