Good nutrition management is a key to reproductive efficiency in heifers.  Animal scientists at the university of Georgia Cooperative extension Service say heifers must be bred to calve at two years of age, and it is critical that they reach 65 percent of estimated mature weight prior to breeding.1  Nutrition management during this development period […]

Body condition scores (BCS) are an excellent means of monitoring the effectiveness of your beef-cow-nutrition program. Here are 10 management tips to help ensure your cows are at a target BCS of 6.0 by calving: Late summer – Evaluate your cows while still on grass. If they score thin to borderline moderate during this time […]

There are unfortunately many examples to draw upon from our history, especially during wartime, of maternal nutritional deprivation and the long term effects on the lives of their children, and their children’s children. The list includes: diabetes; hypertension; glucose intolerance; insulin resistance; renal failure; cardiovascular disease; and hyperlipidemia. The word “Epigenetics” has emerged as “the idea that […]

One of the things beef producers dread most about the coming warm weather is the advent of troublesome horn flies. These insects are annoying, to be sure.  But, they are more than just pests, they are really “obligate parasites,”  who must stay with –and live off of- their host in order to survive.  They feed […]

Having nutritional supplements always available for your cattle to utilize during critical times, can pay dividends. Not meeting nutritional requirements of heifers and cows during the last third of pregnancy and the first 60 days of lactation, for example, can cost producers great economic loss, according to an Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet on […]