Manage feeding to help cattle handle cold stress
Good winter management practices contribute to healthy cattle, reasonable feed costs, and long-term productivity of the beef cow herd. There will be times during the winter when it will be necessary to adjust the ration to help cows through cold conditions.
Maintain beef bulls through winter
As the cold weather sets in and winter feeding begins, many bulls have already been removed from the cows to wait for the next breeding season. During this time away from the cows, bulls may be expected to require minimal maintenance to thrive through winter, but it is important to understand the significance of meeting bulls’ needs to ensure their dependability for the next breeding season.
Biosecurity: Start with small steps
Producers can take steps to minimize the risk of a disease outbreak on their livestock premises. When beef producers increase biosecurity measures to decrease the likelihood of foreign animal diseases, they are also taking steps to reduce exposure to and disease losses from more common endemic diseases such as bovine viral diarrhea, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, mycoplasma, Johne’s disease, shipping fever, trichomoniasis, warts and ringworm.
New Sheep Operation Enterprise Budget Tool available for farmers
Download a copy of the Sheep Operation Enterprise Budget to determine the past year’s production costs and profitability, and develop budgets for evaluating next year’s profitability. Accurate closeouts and projections can help identify the sheep enterprises’ strengths and areas for improvement.
Questions to ask before you try contract hog feeding
Contract hog feeding is an arrangement where one entity contracts with another entity to provide daily care for hogs in various production phases. The most common arrangement, and the arrangement we will discuss here, is a wean-to-finish arrangement where one entity provides weaned pigs, feed, transportation of feed and pigs, and veterinary services and medicine.
Preparing for a foreign animal disease outbreak in swine production
Preparing for a Foreign Animal Disease outbreak continues to be one of the most discussed topics in the pork industry. With African Swine Fever as close as the Dominican Republic and Haiti, it has never been more important for pork producers to have a plan in the event of an outbreak.
Are you ready? Antibiotics for livestock will be prescription only in 2023
The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) plan for supporting veterinary antimicrobial stewardship will be fully implemented in 2023 when all remaining over-the-counter (OTC) antibiotics are switched to prescription-only status. The medically important antibiotics (used by humans and animals) becoming prescription only include injectable tylosin, injectable and intramammary penicillin, injectable and oral tetracycline, sulfadimethoxine and sulfamethazine, and cephapirin and cephapirin benzathine intramammary tubes.
Work with vet to establish heifer vaccination plan
Veterinarians are a great resource when establishing a vaccination plan on your farm. A heifer’s destination might lead to different immunity goals depending on if they become replacements or head to a feedlot.
Cattle Handling and Stockmanship Influence on Animal Performance
Research has been done to investigate the influence that stockmanship has on disposition and animal performance and more is being done. Good stockmanship and low-stress handling methods include utilizing the animals’ natural tendencies to the handlers’ advantage while working or handling cattle.
Annual Forages Provide Options
Perennial pastures can benefit from incorporating annual forage into the management plan. Annual forages can be a tool to control weeds, improve overwintering damaged areas, and increase the length of the growing season.
