Health and nutrition. To some livestock producers these terms might seem like the “chicken and egg” expression, and leave you wondering which one came first. Do you amplify your nutrition program to get your animals to perform to their highest potential? Or does a high-quality nutrition program help keep your animals healthy and therefore performing? […]
Tag: Nutrition
Give your Calves a Jump-Start the Natural Way
Taking chances usually isn’t easy. In fact, it can be down-right scary. Cody Murphy, owner of Standing M Livestock at Greenville, Ala., faces a lot of challenges, as he preconditions high-stressed, high-risk, weaned calves straight from the sale barn and prepares them for backgrounding on rye grass. Throughout the year, Murphy contracts load lots of […]
How to Prepare a Health Management Plan for your Stockers
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
Tips For Managing Consumption on Cooked Molasses Tubs
Cooked molasses tubs, like the Vita Charge® Stress Tub, VitaFerm® 30-13 Protein Tub, and the VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® Protein Tub, are convenient and cost-effective cattle supplements that help producers enhance animal performance and limit waste. However, to truly maximize their cost-effectiveness, proper consumption management is essential. The easiest way to avoid over or under consumption is to follow […]