Latest News From Animal Nutrition

Numerous studies have now shown that feeding colostrum replacer to mimic transition milk has beneficial effects for preweaned calves.

While it's easy to immediately place blame on your nutritionist for diet related problems, these three problem solving steps need to be taken before you jump to conclusions.

In both human and veterinary medicine, we’re hearing more about the benefits of gut supplements to support health, performance, and well-being.

Colostrum’s myriad benefits for calves may be transferrable to an entirely different field: human health. Researchers are discovering the benefits of colostrum in both health nutrition supplements and therapeutic agents.

In these tumultuous times of drought, global unrest, and supply chain disruptions, feed grains may not be as plentiful, available, and affordable as we have traditionally enjoyed.

With no end to the higher feed cost trend in sight, farmers are looking at ways to get the most out of their rations while minimizing wasted feed.

What’s the perfect close-up ration to optimize calf health -- something that’s not too much of this or too little of that, but “just right?”

Feed costs will continue to be the No. 1 expense. Jim Salfer, Extension dairy educator with the University of Minnesota, offers some best practices to help producers lower feed costs.

More dairy heifer raisers are taking a page from the feedlot world these days by utilizing liquid supplements as carriers for vitamins, trace minerals, and feed additives in heifer TMRs.

The livestock production businesses of the future will need to balance much more than the bottom line.

Head to Lancaster County Pennsylvania and the sweet aroma of candy can be smelled on a family dairy farm. Red Knob Dairy has been feeding upcycled Hershey candy waste to their cows for more than a decade.

“Pushing feed is perhaps the simplest and least expensive management strategy dairy operators can implement.”

Supplementing early lactation dairy cow diets with bile acids could provide a pathway to suppressing fatty liver and ketosis, and ultimately boosting milk production and profitability.

Feed additives can be included in dairy cattle diets for a variety of reasons. However, feed additives should not be considered a cornerstone to any farm feeding program.

Could probiotics improve early calf growth? Researchers think so.

Creating a herd where all the individuals are healthy and normal increases your chances of economic success.

Researchers at Virginia Tech University have investigated what effects infusing extra acetate or propionate, or lowering the pH, would have on thermodynamics of VFA in the rumen.

TMR consistency and composition are important to efficient and reliable nutrient delivery in lactating cow rations. But the impact of those factors actually can span much further.

Anti-caking agents make the pellet manufacturing process easier, and can help prevent ground feeds from doming, bridging, and sticking to equipment.

Incidence rates for displaced abomasum (DA) range from 1% to 6%, and up to 90% of DA's happen within the first 30 days in milk.

As feed prices currently challenge U.S. livestock producers, Feedipedia can be a resource for incorporating non-traditional feedstuffs into innovative rations.

“The more we understand about how specific nutrition components influence health and performance responses, the more we can support cows in their production cycles.”

Anticipated tight supply and higher prices for vitamin E may require dairy managers and their nutritionists to dial back vitamin E inclusion rates in rations, or seek alternative options.

A high level of crude protein helps support development of the gastrointestinal system, especially important as calves go through the weaning process.

Researchers at the Ohio State recently completed a study evaluating how dietary protein and amino acid supplementation influenced milk production during the first three to four weeks of lactation.

Whether or not to feed hay to preweaned dairy calves is a longstanding debate, without an absolute answer.

With varying degrees of success, different supplements – including seaweed - have been fed to cattle in an effort to reduce methane emissions. A new product developed by a Swiss firm is achieving positive results.

Essential oils and gut health promoters are garnering significant attention in human health and nutrition. Could these substances be beneficial to calves, too?

An esophageal tube feeder can be a lifeline for young calves, delivering colostrum, milk or electrolytes when they are unable to suckle a bottle. But incorrect use of these feeders can be dangerous or even deadly.

Coastal Maine has a lot of seaweed, and a fair number of cows. A group of scientists and farmers think that pairing the two could help unlock a way to cope with a warming world.

Could a simple administration of “good” digestive bugs improve the health of young calves?

Less salad, more carbs and proteins. That’s how cow diets are likely to shift as farmers try to keep animals well fed amid a Midwest shortage in hay and other forages.

In the coming months feed cost and availability will be a challenge. One opportunity livestock producers can use to get ahead is to store wet or modified distiller’s grains now to be fed at a later date.

Spring, summer and fall typically mean higher humidity and fluctuating temperatures. Milk replacer should be stored in areas with controlled temperature and humidity to prevent spoilage.

Providing concentrate to cows in box robots offers challenges and opportunities to optimize production.

Stay on top of the progress of your corn crop to be ready for the impact an early frost will have on corn silage harvest.

Late planting dates will impact quality and digestibility.

All hay contains some mold, but when mold becomes noticeable the decisions become important.

As understanding of the cattle microbiome improves, dairies can benefit from strategic use of probiotics and microbial management.

Growth-promoting implants, and implant protocols, have evolved considerably since their introduction in 1958.

Pregnant heifers are one cohort on dairies that don’t need nutrient-rich diets. In fact, over-feeding mature heifers can lead to excess fat deposition, which may cause calving difficulties and challenging lactation transitions.

Grass tetany might be easily defined as a deficiency of magnesium, but for Dick Kurtz of Oregon, Mo., it just means trouble. He lost three cows in March to the disorder and is carefully watching a few more.

Grass tetany might be easily defined as a deficiency of magnesium, but for Dick Kurtz of Oregon, Mo., it just means trouble. He lost three cows in March to the disorder and is carefully watching a few more.

Reduced-fat corn dried distillers grains with solubles (RFDG; 5 to 8% fat on a DM basis) are another type of DG and produced by partial fat removal from DG.

Graduate student Miriam Martin sees a bright and profitable future for a cattle industry that’s willing to tackle tough topics like animal welfare and pain mitigation.

Adding extra fertility after drought is boosting toxins like nitrates in hay.

Winter feeding of forage to beef herds doesn’t rank high as a favored job for herd owners. But there’s a bright side to feeding fescue, whether in hay or grass. Fescue toxins are down.

Forage sorghum silage in the Texas High Plains is a viable option with sugarcane aphid control, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service study.

Here's what you need to know about hemp as a feed ingredient for cattle.

Medical goldmine, pipe dream or somewhere between?