Alternative Feed Options Over The Winter Months

Oct 13, 2017

This year’s dry conditions have left some livestock producers looking for more feed.

Regional Livestock Specialist Sarah Sommerfeld says with some shortages of perennial forages producers are looking at other options.

She says it’s even more important this year to do a feed test and analysis so producers know what they have to work with.

"If you have been able to put up some alfalfa grass hay as well as secure some barley grain feed and perhaps maybe a salvage canola crop for a grain feed," she explained. "All three of those different types of feed should be sampled and submitted for feed analysis separately."

She says depending on the feed test results producers may need to look at increasing rations or supplements to ensure the animal’s nutrient requirements are met over the winter.

"When she is at mid-pregnancy you need to be providing her about 8% protein and 55% total digestible nutrients or TDN and that's really the energy content of that feed," Sommerfeld said. "As she moves into late-pregnancy you want to be providing her more protein and more energy, so 10% protein and 60% TDN."

Source : Discoverestevan

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.