How to Feed More Cattle from your Unique Acres

Oct 18, 2023

Shrinking margins and high land costs mean making money in farming is harder than ever. For exactly that reason, one of livestock farmers’ most critical priorities is how to grow more feed, more reliably and more economically. The answer? An increasing number of Albertan farmers are looking to corn.

“Corn acres are expanding because beef and dairy producers are realizing it to be a preferred feedstock over conventional short-season cereal forages. Corn’s higher yield means more productivity per acre, which makes a huge difference to livestock producers’ bottom lines,” says Georges Uebelhardt, a livestock nutrition consultant who owns Heartland Feeds in Ponoka, Alta. and offers silage and grazing corn hybrids from Maizex Seeds.

Since every field in Alberta is unique, achieving success with corn depends on choosing the right hybrids to suit one’s specific priorities, management, and acres. That’s where Maizex Seeds fits into the equation.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.