Fly season is in full swing. Horn flies cost the beef industry upwards of $1 billion annually, in losses from poor cow and bull performance, lowered weaning weights, and disease. Producers spend upwards of $600 million dollars to combat files. When you consider what’s at stake, how do you know if your fly control program working for you and your cattle?
June is dairy month
The dairy industry is celebrated throughout the month of June with Dairy Breakfast and Farm City Days. These are excellent events where dairy producers are able to offer the food consumer a glimpse into the daily activities and workings of a dairy farm. Farms that are hosting these events deserve a big THANK YOU from not only the visiting consumers but from the rest of the agriculture community. Collectively, the animal agriculture industry needs more of these type of events to foster a higher level of consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply and a better understanding of the effort and dedication it takes to care for our animals. Heat stress abatement strategies and feeding management is one of the areas we can highlight for the consumer. Officially, summer begins on June 21st, however heat stress is beginning to impact dairy cattle in many parts of the country.
Take extra care with sheep hooves in wet weather
Horse folks are often fond of the saying – No hoof- no horse. Well, horses aren’t the only animals in which we need to worry about hoof soundness. Hoof soundness in sheep is absolutely critical. Grazing sheep that are lame won’t venture out and forage well and thus may gain less weight or even lose weight. Breeding rams that are lame will not travel to seek out ewes in heat and may lose libido all together. Prolonged wet conditions make foot rot complaints common.
Treat your cows like 5-star recruits
I’m a huge football fan. As I sit here writing, it’s the first day of spring practice for my son’s football team. And on this day, it’s easy to observe which boys worked hard during the off-season and which didn’t. Who’s vying for a starter’s position and who’s in danger of being cut. In football the ground work for a successful program is laid in the many months leading up to the first practice, let alone the first game. One can draw similar comparisons when speaking about calving season with beef producers.
The future of CRYSTALYX: What is better nutrition?
With Agriculture, you can count on change, uncertainty, challenge, risk and opportunity. It’s only 5 months from 2017 when the new Veterinary Feed Directive becomes law of the land. This directive/ruling will regulate the feeding of Antibiotics in food animals giving oversight to veterinarians and has been well described in previous blogs by my colleagues.
Conception rate versus calving distribution
With bulls going into breeding pastures every day now, cattlemen easily understand the impact of a good conception rates on their bottom line. Another measure that can directly affect ranch profitability, is calving distribution.
Product spotlight: Stable-lyx with ClariFly
A horse is more than just another animal on the ranch or farm. It’s a best friend, a true companion, a teammate, or an integral part of your operation. It makes perfect sense that you want what’s best for your horse to keep them happy and healthy. Supplying all the nutrients they require can be tricky. However, providing the right supplement can take all the guesswork out.
Maintain beef and dairy cattle performance during fly season
With each new season there are things that we look forward to like green grass, warm days and watching the new calf crop develop. One thing we and our cattle do not look forward to is the suffering, annoyance and general loss of performance that excessive fly pressure can create. We have recently expanded our fly control options available in the CRYSTALYX® self-fed supplment line.
Organic, natural, just what are we talking about in livestock production
Organic or Natural were terms that seemed pretty descriptive and easily understood years ago when describing nutritional supplements used in Livestock production. That was then and now they have seemed to take on lives of their own as they can now also be used to describe very detailed marketing programs resulting in value-added products in both crop and livestock production. With the broader use of both Natural and Organic, we have found confusion with livestock producers when matching supplements to meet not only their nutritional needs but also complying with any marketing programs that they are targeting for specific animals.
Wet spring means ideal fly conditions
Weather forecasters are calling for El Nino weather patterns to continue through the spring, meaning wet and relatively mild conditions. Unfortunately, these are perfect conditions for the horn fly to propagate. Excessive horn fly populations can literally suck the profit out of your cattle operation! Biting flies reduce weaning weights, lower milk production and spread disease.
