Not long ago, cheap commodity prices made it easy to look at hay as just filler. Nutritional deficiencies could be inexpensively corrected by feeding a supplement.

Meeting the most basic nutrient require­ments needed for survival should be the goal when feeding cattle following a disaster. Knowing these nutrient requirements and the types of routine and alternative feedstuffs that can meet them is impor­tant.

About this time of the year, thousands of families start countless cattle on feed in hopes of achieving show ring stardom! The cattle show circuit is a significant component of the beef cattle industry in the United States.

In a three-state collaborative study, beef cattle specialists from North and South Dakota and the Univ. of Montana evaluated premiums paid for feeder calves in those states across auction sales for three consecutive weeks in October and November, 2006.

Stored feeding costs are usually the single largest input in beef cow-calf operations, representing approximately 60% of all production cost.