I attended a producer meeting in Weyburn where speakers addressed issues with winter feeding. One of the speakers, Leah Clark, a livestock agrologist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture gave an excellent presentation on body condition scoring (BCS). Her focus was the relationship between a cow’s body energy stores, nutrition program and the subsequent impact […] Read more
Sound advice from a new generation of agrologists
Nutrition with John McKinnon
Dietary energy levels for backgrounding calves
Nutrition with John McKinnon, beef cattle nutritionist
In my last two columns, I have written about issues regarding starting cattle on feed and with the use of grain screening pellets in backgrounding and wintering diets. With this column, I want to focus on developing backgrounding rations for weaned calves, particularly issues with setting up diets from an energy density perspective. Backgrounding is […] Read more
The facts on grain screening pellets
Nutrition with John McKinnon, beef cattle nutritionist
At this time of the year, many of you are still looking to finalize your winter feeding program and are searching for competitively priced ingredients. Typically producers are looking for alternatives to high-priced cereal grains or protein supplements. In such cases, many producers look at grain screening pellets (GSP). Grain screening pellets are by no […] Read more
The challenge of starting newly weaned calves on feed
As this issue comes to press, the yearling run is coming to a close and we are in the middle of the fall calf run. Feedlots across the country are filling and are faced with the dual challenge of keeping cattle, particularly newly weaned calves healthy and on feed. Most managers recognize the value of […] Read more
Avoiding the pitfalls of non-conventional cattle feeding programs
Nutrition with John McKinnon, beef cattle nutritionist
Following up on last month’s column on the challenge of solving a feed shortage with non-conventional feeds, I would like to focus this column on identifying the issues you can face when some of the more common alternative feeds are substituted into the ration. Many of these issues are related to atypical nutrient content and […] Read more
Feeding non-conventional feeds to cattle
This is a time of year when many of you turn your thoughts to winter feeding programs. In normal years, you typically have a good handle on the quantity and quality of your forage supply and the challenge is to balance the ration with appropriate energy, protein and mineral supplements for the class of cattle […] Read more
Nutritional considerations for the cow-calf herd during drought
News Roundup from the August 2015 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Lower-than-normal seasonal rainfall this spring and summer has led to severe drought conditions throughout much of Alberta and Saskatchewan resulting in poor growth of annual cereals, crops for hay and pasture. This will have obvious implications on the nutrition and management of the cow-calf herd during the grazing season and into the winter as preserved […] Read more
Is creep feeding an answer to your pasture woes?
As this summer unfolds, drought has reared its head across much of western Saskatchewan and Alberta. As a result many producers are scrambling to find alternative pasture and hay supplies and soon will be looking for alternatives to traditional winter feeding programs. When the quantity and quality of pasture starts to decline due to drought […] Read more
A Colorado low you say – only in Manitoba
Understanding heat stress in beef cattle and the 'thermal neutral zone'
There is a great deal of newsprint these days about the relative merits of a “Colorado High,” a subject I will leave readers to explore on their own. In May, however, Manitoba residents were introduced to a “Colorado Low,” an intense weather system that moved up from North Dakota and Montana over the Victoria Day long […] Read more
Focus on your yearlings this breeding season
Calving is well underway across the country and many of you are turning your thoughts to activities associated with breeding, pasture turnout and spring seeding. Before your schedule gets too hectic, it is a good time to take stock of your nutrition program particularly as it relates to the breeding herd. In past issues, I […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
