When I visit with producers about their feeding program, I often get questions on “nutrition lingo.” Examples include questions on the meaning of a mineral or protein supplement tag or how much supplement do you need to feed to achieve an ionophore concentration of 22 or 33 ppm? Such confusion is understandable, particularly when you […] Read more
Nutrition with John McKinnon
Many of you are likely aware that the feed industry is facing a critical shortage of vitamins A and E. This shortage is the result of a fire in October at a processing plant in Germany owned by BASF, one of the global leaders in the provision of vitamins for humans and livestock. The damaged […] Read more
Nutrition with John McKinnon
Many of you may be aware of a recent donation of $5 million by A&W to the University of Saskatchewan’s Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence. I am sure this donation took many in the ranching and feeding community by surprise and there are likely a few of you who are wondering about the sanity […] Read more
Nutrition with John McKinnon
The winter of 2017-18 is shaping up to be full of unexpected challenges, particularly for those wintering cows in Western Canada. Drought, as well as recent wildfires, have caused many producers to scramble for a forage supply. As well, “old man winter” in all his wisdom has arrived early, with November temperatures in the minus […] Read more
Nutrition with John McKinnon
It is a time of year when feedlot operators and cow-calf producers are implementing their winter feeding programs. Forage, whether it is fed as hay, stockpiled forage (i.e. barley swaths or standing corn) or silage will play a big role in the vast majority of these operations. For feedlot operations, good-quality hay is often used […] Read more
Nutrition with John McKinnon
Striving for consistency may not sound like the most exciting goal, but when it comes to feeding cattle, it should be one of our golden rules! Consistency is essential if we want to keep cattle on an even keel and prevent wild swings in intake. This includes consistency in when we feed; how we load, […] Read more
Nutrition with John McKinnon
My August column focused on alternatives to current growth promoting technology. My general conclusion was that while there are alternatives on the market, they fail to achieve the same beneficial production responses as seen with implants, ionophores and prudent use of antibiotics. While I applaud and encourage continued research into new/alternative technology to promote production […] Read more
Nutrition with John McKinnon
Recently I was invited by the University of Calgary to give a presentation at their annual beef conference on alternatives to growth promotants. The presentation was part of a larger program that addressed alternative beef production strategies that could be used to access niche markets or used in the future if federal regulatory agencies place […] Read more
Nutrition with John McKinnon
Last month I wrote about the importance of variety when it comes to seeding barley for silage. When writing that article, I got thinking about the principles of making good-quality silage, particularly in relation to feed quality. What really brought this connection home to me however, was my experiences this past winter where I had […] Read more
Nutrition with John McKinnon
When growing silage, particularly barley silage, most producers select varieties with proven agronomic traits such as yield, disease and lodging resistance. In contrast, relatively little information is available on the nutritional value of the numerous barley varieties that are available for seeding. Recently a joint research project was run at the University of Saskatchewan and […] Read more
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