Supplementing Cattle Diets with Canola Seed Pellets

Sep 13, 2023

A research project looked into if canola seed pellets can be used as a dietary supplement for pregnant cows to improve their health and the health of their calves, a Sept. 12 news release said.

University of Saskatchewan graduate student Erika Cornand and her supervisor Bart Lardner used research facilities located at the USask Livestock and Forage Excellence Centre (LFCE) in Clavet, Sask. to monitor 72 cows over the past two years during their pregnancies.

The release noted the groups of cattle were randomly chosen to receive differing amounts of the canola supplement at the same stage in their pregnancies. One group received no extra fat supplement, while the other two groups received 150 and 300 grams of fat per day, respectively. Body weight of the cows and the quality and volume of milk produced after calving was recorded throughout the study to track the effects of the additional fat supplement.

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Video: How American Farmers Harvest 1.15 Billion Pounds of Sunflowers

Across the open plains of North Dakota and South Dakota, sunflower fields turn the American landscape into a sea of gold. In this farming documentary, we go inside modern sunflower farming to see how farmers plant, grow, harvest, clean, dry, process, and transform sunflower seeds into valuable products used every day.

In 2024, American farmers harvested about 1.15 billion pounds of sunflowers. This video follows the full journey from warm spring planting to combine harvesting, seed cleaning, storage, oil extraction, refining, roasting, packaging, and animal feed production.

You will see how sunflower seeds are processed into cooking oil, roasted snacks, bakery ingredients, birdseed, livestock feed, and useful byproducts. From golden fields to modern processing plants, this is the story of how a beautiful flower becomes one of America’s important oilseed crops.

Watch until the end to discover how sunflower farming connects farmers, machines, factories, food production, and sustainable agriculture.