Just like any group of livestock you are handling, you need a solid health management plan for your stocker cattle. After being freshly weaned from their mamas or hauled in by a semi, these young, stressed cattle can be more susceptible to sickness than older calves. Knowing what kind of cattle you’ll be getting and […]
Good Nutrition Helps Keep Cattle in Natural Programs
Today’s consumers are more aware than ever before. They want to know where their food comes from, how it is raised, and that is safe and wholesome for the entire family. Consumers are attracted to words like natural, hormone-free and antibiotic-free, and the beef industry has responded with branded programs to meet consumers’ demands. Although […]
How Nutrition Adds Value for Sellers and Buyers
As the leaves turn from green to crisp golds and yellows, it’s a reminder that fall weaning is right around corner. Many weaned calves will be making their way to feed lots across the Midwest. As the time comes to market calves, producers are always looking for ways to capture extra profit, and the buyers […]
What You Should Know: Three Things Buyers Consider
Information is power. In today’s world, more information is available than ever before on about any topic you have an interest in. For cattle buyers looking to fill their feedlots and backgrounding yards, three pieces of information are essential when it comes time to buy calves: vaccination history, genetic makeup and the nutrition program history. […]
How to Put More Pounds on Calves
Changing just one management decision can increase gain, and gain increases profitability. Just ask Ray Fussell. The Tennessee Ridge, Tenn., stockman has been buying stocker calves and backgrounding them for 20-plus years. And after he shipped his 2017 calves, his cattle buyer suggested he look into changing his mineral program. So he did just that. […]
Tips for Reduced Stress at Weaning
If you’ve ever had a young child, think back to his or her first days of school. The word that might come to mind is chaos. Learning a new bus or drop-off routine. Do you pack a lunch or eat the school’s hot lunch? Does your sweetie have a book bag? Item for show-and-tell? The […]
How to Reduce Risk with a 3-Step Nutrition Program
Anytime a backgrounder gathers up mixed calves from different farms of origin and puts them together, they are taking a risk. But, with a high-quality nutrition program in place, the risk can be minimized. That is what Kerry Vogt, Newton, Kan., discovered, as he backgrounds nearly 3,000 stockers each year. Vogt, who was talking to […]
Loyal Customer Finds Reward in Healthy Calves
Red Rock Land & Cattle at Logan, N.M., strives to grow fresh weaned calves into strong, healthy yearlings on its expansive New Mexico ranch. Calf health and performance are the top priorities for the family-owned yearling operation that backgrounds calves until they are yearlings. “Our main goal is to get the cattle in, try to […]
Gain Smart Stocker HEAT Helps Hinder Health Challenges on South Dakota Ranch
In the spring of 2017, Melynda Gress of Y-Cross Inc., was looking for a supplement alternative for her backgrounding operation. Located in the northwest corner of South Dakota where she and her family run 800 to 1,000 yearlings each spring and summer, she knew she needed a more natural mineral option for her calves. Two […]
Gain Smart Line Grows Calves Naturally and Efficiently
“Care that comes full circle” is more than just a company slogan for BioZyme® Inc. It is the principle that the company bases its product development and marketing decisions on daily. Will a new product provide the care that the animal needs? Will the animal stay healthy and continue to grow for the producer if […]