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Feed Forum

Photo submitted by a local producer to our feed department manager.  It's great to see how our local coop is reaching out to the next generation of producers!  It's about more than just making feed.

Cattle Management

By Brooke Brunsvig, Nutritional Consultant

This week, I’m thinking about a couple of cattle management things to keep in mind. It’s post-harvest, mostly post-weaning, not yet the dead of winter, so what should we be thinking about?

External parasites are one. If you applied pour-on in the recent past, when temperatures were still not very cold, you may have applied it too early to be effective. Lice hibernate in skin folds in warm weather and become active when they get cold. If you generally see a lice problem in February, you should apply product in January or February. Taking care of internal parasites is best done during fall processing. Using the right product at the right time saves money and keeps parasites from stealing precious feed resources from the critter. Follow label instructions and be careful not to underdose or misapply.

Many are receiving, or hearing, preg-rates. The earlier it works to schedule a preg-check for your herd, the more economical. Even with good summer haying season and early pasture, feed stuffs put through cattle who won’t provide a return for you are expensive. While we want to utilize crop residue and cover crop as long as we can, we should also be mindful of body condition score and protein supplementation to ensure max forage utilization. Now is the easiest, most economical time to return to an optimal body condition for a great breeding season.

11/27/2024

Preparing for Winter

By Shannon Voegele, Nutritional Consultant

It looks like winter is finally upon us. Is your cattle operation ready? In extreme cold, cattle require more calories to maintain their body condition and stay warm. When the temperature approaches zero degrees, you can expect to feed about 30% more than you would at temperatures above 32 degrees. Use your feed to congregate your cattle where you want them to be ahead of incoming severe weather. When a storm is approaching, place feed behind your windbreak to encourage your cattle to stay there. During severe winter weather, water access can be compromised and should be checked daily in the winter months. Without adequate water access, cattle will not eat as much and will lose body condition. If water is unavailable for long enough, cattle will attempt to eat snow, but they cannot consume enough snow for their water needs. This would be a great time for us to chat about what options we have for stress tubs and additional mineral supplements. 

11/22/2024

Protein Options

By Tyler McCoy, Feed Department Manager

Harvest is starting to wind down along with weaning as we have sold quite a few stress tubs in the last month. I have a feeling that our protein tubs are going to start flying off the shelves with cows getting moved to harvested corn fields. Don’t forget to add some extra protein to help those girls out. We offer either protein tubs or QLF. Our team is meeting next week to pick a date to have another semi sale like we held last year. It’s a neat little promotion that we do to help save costs the time you need them the most. There are some factors that you should consider before adding protein.  The first factor is the quality and quantity of forage available. The amount of corn, leaves and husks will vary with growing and harvest conditions. Cattle will select the grain and best quality forage first when initially turned into a field. As cattle continue to graze diet quality will decrease. Once cattle have eaten the available husks and leaves and begin eating more of the stalk, diet quality will go down significantly. Weathering will deteriorate forage quality. Cool, dry weather conditions in the fall and winter will maintain quality for a longer period; while wet, warm, muddy conditions will result in a faster deterioration of leaves and husks. These are all factors on when to pull them to another field or when you need to supplement tubs/QLF to keep them in condition. Any questions at all please feel free to reach out to one of our team members. As always, thank you for your business!

10/25/2024

Are you thinking about creep feeding?
Call a Nutritional Consultant or Location Manager for pricing and availability today.

Keep our feedlot programs in mind once you wean your calves.
Call a Nutritional Consultant or Location Manager for details.

Central Farmers Cooperative is dedicated to serving our patrons.
Please call the location nearest you to find out how one of our professional staff members can help you.

 Feed Staff