Feeding beef cattle during the winter can be a challenging experience if being profitable is one of your goals. Proper nutrition is a key component for a successful cow/calf operation.
Cows go through many physiological changes during a year. The winter/early spring feeding period is one of the most critical times to provide adequate nutrition […]

There are a limited number of days left in our growing season here in Ohio and the opportunity to increase your dry matter as stored feed or stockpiled feed before winter is winding down quickly.

The plants your livestock graze the next few weeks will impact those plants’ growth not only now, but possibly next year […]

Many pastures in Ohio contain tall fescue as one of the cool-season plants which make up our pasture’s mix. Tall fescue is a persistent perennial bunchgrass that adapts to a wide range of conditions.
It is tolerant of low pH, poor soil drainage and can endure drought situations well. Tall fescue adapts to most Ohio […]

Some cows I’ve seen lately look thinner than normal for this time of year. With more than a month of winter remaining, it could mean trouble for producers as calving time approaches.
We’ve had colder than normal temperatures, combined with a longer than normal continuous cold spell in our part of the state and this […]

The lack of adequate rainfall in our area this summer and fall left many producers with less forage than they would like, but that doesn’t mean they are all feeding hay yet.
If you do not have forage left for livestock to graze at this time of year you may want to reconsider some of your […]

Salt is an item commonly used in livestock feed rations and because it’s used so regularly, it is easy to forget the importance of it in the diet.
Salt is the best source of both sodium and chloride, which all farm animals need.

Important nutrients

Sodium constitutes a very high percentage of the basic mineral elements contained […]

If you’re like me, it doesn’t take you long to count the number of hay bales you have remaining for this year’s winter feed.

The time of the year when frost seeding is most effective in Ohio will not be here until February or March.

The drought that hit much of the state this summer added new wrinkles in forage and water management for many livestock producers.

Storing hay, after production, has a cost to the farm operator in terms of time, effort and machinery required to move bales from production areas to storage areas and then to feeding areas.