nutrition
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Dr. Lawton Stewart -As we start 2024, many beef cattle producers are about to start the calving season. Across the state, forage availability is variable. Some places have seen severe drought in late summer/early fall, causing producers to feed more hay and deplete their winter hay supply. In this article, Dr. Stewart will discuss some…
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Brent Credille, DVM, PhD, DACVIM -Producer-level surveys of cow-calf operations across the country have shown that a minority of herds adopt management practices that promote herd efficiency and profitability. The easiest way to improve herd profitability is to focus on optimizing herd efficiency. The goal of this article is to provide producers with management practices…
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Dr. Francis Fluharty, Ph.D. As the movement to regional food production increases, smaller-scale beef processing plants are opening. The result is that many people who have not had a long history of finishing cattle on high-grain diets are starting to feed cattle. In this article, Dr. Fluharty provides an overview of acidosis in feedlot cattle…
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Dylan Davis and Lawton Stewart As winter slowly approaches and producers are planning their winter supplementation, the question comes in each year; can I feed whole cottonseed to my bulls or will it make them infertile? This article will go over the impacts of cottonseed on bull fertility and describe how to safely take advantage…
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Darren D. Henry, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Very often there is a gap that exists between an optimal weaning time and availability of cool season forages for grazing in the southeastern US. As summer is coming into full swing, it is important that producers are preparing for the winter months ahead. Whether a producer buys or…
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Martin Wunderly, Raymond Fitzpatrick, Robyn Stewart, Shanna Reynolds, and Pedro Fontes – Good quality water is essential for adequate animal performance and cattle need between 8 to 20 gallons of water per day, depending on size, diet, status, and weather. As we get into the warmest months of the year, having an adequate water supply for…
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Lawton Stewart, Ph.D., Beef Cattle Nutritionist and Extension Specialist – Most of Georgia, and especially parts of North Georgia, have suffered through some level of drought this summer. The extended drought in many parts of the state have a double whammy effect on producers because not only do they not have pastures to graze this…
Posted in: Nutrition -
Dr. Francis Fluharty. Professor and Head. Department of Animal and Dairy Science. The major nutritional requirements are: water, energy, protein, minerals, and vitamins. In many cases, beef producers do a good job of providing adequate water, energy, and protein. However, many beef producers buy ‘cheap’ minerals, ignoring the fact that the bioavailability of minerals influences…
Posted in: Nutrition -
Andrea Osorio-Doblado and Dr. Darren D. Henry Tannins can be perceived as “antinutritional factors” in ruminant diets. However, when they are provided from low to medium concentrations (< 50 g/kg DM), tannins can improve utilization of feed protein and positively influence animal performance. This short article provides an overview of the potential use of Tannins…
Posted in: Nutrition -
Dylan Davis and Dr. Lawton Stewart – Late summer and early fall have been exceptionally dry. The USDA Drought Monitor indicated that 100% of the state of Georgia was experiencing some level of drought at the beginning of October. This is double trouble for producers because many have missed at least one or two cuttings…