Questions and Answers about Avian Influenza
Good biosecurity practices and producer awareness are top issues.
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Horse Breeders Can Balance Mare Nutrition with New Guide
Nutritional needs change significantly across gestation and lactation.
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Beef Cow Clinics to Help Iowa Producers Prepare for Successful Calving Season
The beef cow clinics will include a hands-on calving issues session featuring a life-size cow model.
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Fly Control
With summer in full gear it is a good time to evaluate how your fly control program is working. When horn fly numbers are greater than 200 flies per animal we see significant production losses associated with blood loss and decreased feed consumption. Numbers of face flies and stable flies are harder to assess because they only spend a small amount of time feeding on cattle but are still significant pests.
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How Many Horses Can Your Pasture Maintain?
Stocking rates provide information on how many horses a pasture can carry in a month. In general the approximate pasture needs per average-sized mature horse, with pasture providing most, if not all, of the nutrition is:
- 1 - 2 acres with an excellent, dense sod, permanent pasture
- 2 - 2.5 acres with an average permanent pasture (spring growth will be OK but summer forage is average)
- 3+ acres with a thin, poor sod that is unmanaged (supplemental forage will likely be needed)
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Managing March Madness: Mud in Iowa
Significant presence of mud can increase energy requirements by as much as 30%. Wading through mud burns more calories, resulting in reduced gain for developing breeding stock and fed cattle as well as reduced milk production for cows. Confounding things further, cattle to tend eat less by simply avoiding putting in effort to get to feed.
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Optimizing Ventilation in Small Scale Production
The environment inside our livestock and poultry houses is important for maintaining a productive and healthy herd or flock. Ventilation or fresh air exchange is important to remove undesirable moisture and noxious gases during winter months and in summer, make sure the indoor temperature is not too much warmer than outdoors.
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Caring for Cows in the Cold
Caring for cow herds during the winter can be challenging when it becomes bitterly cold. In general cows are cold tolerant and are comfortable down to 20°F. What are management strategies when temperatures dip below that?
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Summer Heat and Cattle
Recent hot temperatures brings the reminder to prepare for some heat stress events in cattle this summer.
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The Buy Local Movement for Beef
Regardless of the history, the recent closure of a number of large-scale meat processing facilities and the subsequent backlog of market-ready livestock caused virtually an immediate spike in the demand for locally processed beef.
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