Think of calf rumen development as a journey. Calves transition through nutritional stages – from milk to starter and grower to TMR. What’s being fed at each of those stages impacts rumen development.

You add it to bread to make the dough rise, and you use it to ferment beer and wine. But why feed yeasts to your herd?

A calf’s digestive system is a battleground between good and bad bacteria. Nutritional additives can bolster good bacteria or diminish bad bacteria to improve gut health, leading to efficient nutrient digestion.

Probiotics aren’t new to the dairy industry. In fact, they’ve been around for a long time. However, with a recent focus on antibiotic use, there’s a renewed interest in feed additives that support calf health. Probiotics are one option.

Each day, multiple times a day, you carefully calculate the amount of milk replacer and calf starter you feed each calf. But what about after weaning? What if you place the same level of focus on heifers 24 weeks and older?

Reaching breeding size sooner. Improving conception rates with fewer services. Achieving an earlier age at first calving. Healthier first-calf heifers and calves. Don’t you want it all on your farm?

Among the numerous management issues facing cattle producers, a key nutritional challenge is to satisfy the trace mineral requirements of the cow herd throughout the production year.

Heat stress has a significant negative impact on milk production and the dairy cow’s immune system, weakening her defenses against a myriad of metabolic diseases and infections. The sooner you begin planning for heat stress instead of waiting for hot, humid summer weather, the better your herd will be prepared.

It’s interesting to compare the results of the National Beef Quality Audits (NBQA), which are conducted every five years.