During late gestation and prior to calving, a pregnant beef cow’s nutritional needs surge. Supporting rapid fetal growth, preparing for colostrum production, and building toward a timely return to estrus require more than a dietary status quo.
For commercial and seedstock cow-calf producers across Canada’s Western provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba), this heightened demand often arrives when feed quality and quantity are inconsistent.
To face these broad resource constraints, the core challenge remains — keeping pregnant females in optimal condition and supporting strong reproductive performance despite fluctuating conditions.
“Beginning in late summer and early fall, available forage may not meet a pregnant animal’s nutrient requirements to keep her in the best condition,” says Melissa Jolly-Breithaupt, PhD, Ruminant Technical Services with Lallemand Animal Nutrition. “In some cases, they may even lose body condition, which could affect the cow’s ability to breed back in a timely way. This potential conception loss is costly to any operation’s profit.”
Transitioning from performance to reproduction
Lallemand Animal Nutrition’s BIOPOWER® SC, a research-proven viable yeast probiotic selected from thousands of different strains for its natural ability to optimize rumen function, helps address this challenge by improving fiber digestibility.
For more than 25 years, Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077, the strain utilized in BIOPOWER SC, has proven effective in research trials and demonstrated the ability to increase feed efficiency and milk yield by helping cattle extract additional value from rations, regardless of forage quality.
Today, it’s extending this success to reproductive capacities.
Lallemand’s proactive, science-backed studies confirm BIOPOWER SC is also valuable in supporting pregnant cows during late gestation and pre-calving when nutritional demands are highest, and helps propel them to an optimal body condition, crucial for a timely and successful breed-back.
By increasing fiber digestibility, BIOPOWER SC helps animals unlock more energy and nutrients from their feed.
“The yeast works by creating tiny fissures in forage fiber, attaching itself to the different fiber bundles, allowing beneficial bacteria and other microorganisms to access and break down nutrients more efficiently,” explains Jolly-Breithaupt. “This results in improved body condition, especially during the stages of increased nutritional demands of late gestation and early lactation.”
Jolly-Breithaupt notes Lallemand’s patented coating protects the viable yeast, effectively delivering it to the rumen–alive. This allows the probiotic to be utilized with optimum survivability in virtually any feed delivery system, such as minerals, cubes, tubs, licks, bagged or pelleted feeds, and blocks.
Research-driven evidence confirms success
A 187-day 2023 Kansas study involving 436 Red Angus cows offered valuable insights into how BIOPOWER SC enhances performance in both dams and offspring. Females were divided into two groups: one fed a standard dry, free-choice mineral, and the other supplemented with free-choice mineral containing BIOPOWER SC. Researchers recorded body condition scores at weaning, as well as calf birth weights, weaning weights and average daily gain. Trial results confirmed that while birth weights were consistent across both groups, calves from cows receiving the yeast probiotic were significantly heavier at weaning. In addition, cows from the treatment group also had a ½ point body condition score higher than the control group.
These results not only demonstrate that BIOPOWER SC initiates tangible improvements in calf growth but also offers producers evidence-based confidence in adopting nutritional strategies that can support reproductive efficiency, such as body condition.
Findings like these confirm the importance of rigorous, research-backed trials in evaluating feed additive efficacy trusted by Canadian cow-calf operators, nutritionists and feed and supplement manufacturers.
“Late gestation and calving periods are such a critical time in a cow’s yearly cycle,” says Jolly-Breithaupt. “Our trial not only proved that our yeast probiotic is effective for weight gain and added performance in calves but also transfers to body condition maintenance, which can lead to reproductive health and timely rebreeding in your cows.” It’s recommended BIOPOWER SC be fed at least 30 days before calving and continuously through weaning.
For more information, visit https://www.lallemandanimalnutrition.com
