New Year's Resolutions

Posted: 1/5/2015

by Rebecca Christman

 

2014 is finished and we’ve already started a new year. With the start of each year comes New Year’s resolutions. If you’re like me, your resolutions often focus on eating right and staying healthy.

 

Nutrition isn’t important just for people, it’s important for livestock as well! On our farm, we make sure that each animal is getting the nutrition it needs at every meal.  If you’re trying to eat healthy, you know it takes a little planning to make a nutritious meal.  Farmers go to great lengths to plan the most nutritious diet for their animals at every stage in their life.

 

The crops we harvested this fall are used to feed our cattle during the winter. We want to know exactly what nutrients the cattle are eating, so we send a sample of the feed to a lab for analysis.  We receive a report detailing its nutritional value so that we can ensure the cattle get a balanced diet filled with protein, energy, vitamins and minerals. 

 

After the feed is tested, an animal nutritionist then creates a ration for us to feed the cattle. This ration is similar to a recipe for each meal. We weigh each ingredient that will go in to the recipe, mix it up, and then feed it to our livestock. Below, you will find the “recipe” that our cattle are being fed right now.

 

Bred Cow Ration

Mineral                                       .28 lbs

Corn Silage                               10.5   lbs

Straw                                       2.2   lbs

Alfalfa                                       4.5   lbs

Grass hay                                14.6   lbs

Modified distillers grain             5.0   lbs

Corn                                          1.2   lbs

Total                                       38.2   lbs

 

 

Our cattle are eating a variety of things, not just corn.  It’s a common misconception that cattle and other livestock are fed mass amounts of corn, but as you can see it’s just a small part of their diet. Like humans, an animal’s nutritional needs change with age.  The ration we feed will change with the animal’s growth.

 

Unlike many of us, healthy cattle don’t have “skip days” when it comes to eating. Each meal is filled with the proper nutrients to keep them healthy. Here’s hoping this year you can stick to your diet as well as our livestock stick to theirs.

Listen to this week's Farmer's Daughter radio segment here! Farmers_Daughter_Jan_5th.mp3