Episode 1- Sustainability Definition, Cattle Greenhouse Gases, Small and Family Farms

In this episode, we go into what sustainability is and the different components of sustainable beef production, cattle’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, and what family and small farms are in the United States. These podcasts are sponsored by Beef Checkoff. Follow BCI on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. If you have any questions email us at bci@ksu.edu.

Grazing Rates, Labor, Solar Panels, Anthrax

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

4:58 Kansas grazing rates

9:02 Labor shortage/ automation

14:00 Solar panels and leases

18:23 Is Anthrax more likely in drought conditions?

The report discussed in the podcast: Bluestem Pasture Report 2021 | AgManager.info

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Pond Management, Invest in your Herd, Reducing Shrinkage, Weaning and Cow Health

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

4:28 Pond management

8:58 How to invest in your herd?

19:12 Listener Question: reducing shrinkage

26:21 Listener question: weaning and cow health

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Grazing of Herbivores including Cattle is Essential for Wildlife Success

Phillip Lancaster, PhD
BCI Nutritionist

Wildlife are important to overall ecosystem function, are asthethically pleasing on range and pasture landscape, and provide recreation. When parts of the ecosystem change so can wildlife populations, and human activities have greatly altered the natural ecosystem. However, grazing of cattle on rangelands is much the same it was with bison many years ago – the large herbivore functions as an ecosystem engineer to create a variety of plant structures needed by wildlife. A recent analysis of published studies from the Great Plains region by researchers in the Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources and the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University found that grazing overwhelmingly had no effect or a positive effect on several wildlife communities. The one exception being herptile communities, but few studies evaluated herptiles and more research is needed. Generally, grazing had minimal negative effects although specific grazing practices were not evaluated. Many individual wildlife species responded to varying degrees to grazing such that heterogeneous grazing pressure across the landscape provides a diversity of plant communities and structures to satisfy the habitat requirements of many wildlife species. Grazing management practices that create a heterogenous landscape are likely to result in greater wildlife diversity.

Figure 1. Proportion of studies that found negative effect, no effect, or positive effect of cattle or bison grazing on avian, mammal, herptile, or arthropod populations.

Rabies in Cattle, Choice vs. Select, Research Roundup, Blackleg, Invest in your Herd

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

4:03 Rabies in cattle

10:20 Choice vs. select and changes over time

20:10 Research Roundup: Lilli Heinen

23:17 Blackleg

30:20 Options to invest in your herd

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Grazing Season, Purchase or Produce Hay, Hay Quality and Quantity, Pre-weaning Health Management

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

2:37 Extending the grazing season

8:39 Listener question: purchase or produce hay

14:40 Listener question: hay quality and quantity

23:02 Pre-weaning health management

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Nutritional Aspects of Cattle Health

Bob L. Larson, DVM, PhD 
Beef Cattle Institute
Kansas State University

Meeting the nutritional needs of cattle is the foundation of a healthy herd. Nutritional needs differ between bulls, dry cows, lactating cows, growing replacement heifers, and post-weaning calves; and the nutrient composition of forages change throughout the year. Because of the interaction between changing animal needs and changing forage conditions, herd managers must be informed and prepared to provide appropriate supplements when needed. In almost all situations when cattle have the opportunity to graze green growing forages that are high-quality and readily digestible, the only supplement needed is salt (and based on local soil and plant characteristics, possibly other minerals). However, even green growing grass has the potential to cause health problems if the concentration of the mineral magnesium is low in the lush leaves at the same time that cows grazing the forage have high magnesium requirements due to being in early lactation or late pregnancy.  

While green growing forage is an excellent feed source for cattle, because of weather factors and growth characteristics of grass, for many weeks of the year cattle only have access to mature or dormant forage that has reduced quality and digestibility. Standing dormant forage and moderate-quality hay can meet most, if not all, of the energy and protein needs of cattle that have relatively low nutritional demands, such as mature cows that are not lactating and bulls that are not active. But if cattle are growing or lactating, dormant forage or hay may be deficient in energy and/or protein and these nutrients must be supplemented to avoid inadequate growth or even weight loss. The maturity and quality of forage when it is cut for hay as well as the conditions in which the hay dries before baling have tremendous impact on the nutrients present. Waiting to cut hay until the forage is very mature may increase the tonnage available, but the quality may be so low that either the cattle will not be provided needed nutrients or the needed supplementation drive up the total diet cost. Because growing replacement heifers, growing bulls, and cows in late stages of pregnancy or early lactation have high nutrient needs, these classes of cattle require higher quality forages or more supplementation of poor-quality forage than adult, non-lactating cattle.     

Because forages and readily available energy and protein supplements vary greatly across North America, knowledge of the local forages and feeds is essential when planning the most cost-efficient diets for cow herds. The types of predominant forage plants and the growth patterns of the different plants in diverse areas of the country greatly impact the quality of the diet for grazing cattle. Many forages and feeds have specific characteristics that affect not only the diet quality but also potential negative effects; and knowledge and experience is needed to avoid health and production problems. Use of some supplemental feeds has to be limited due to adverse effects when fed at higher levels. For example, the high starch content of corn and other grains limits their use in forage-based diets, the potentially high levels of sulfur in corn gluten feed, distillers grain, and some other by-product feeds requires that they be used in moderation, and gossypol in cottonseed meal can cause reduced fertility in bulls which requires that this feed be fed for limited time or in limited amounts in the weeks ahead of the breeding season.  

Cattle that are not receiving adequate amounts of water, energy, protein, salt and required vitamins and minerals can exhibit a wide range of problems that includes poor growth, weight loss, failure to become pregnant, hair and skin lesions, bone and joint problems, and susceptibility to sicknesses such as pneumonia, scours, and nervous system disease. Unless underlying nutritional problems are identified and corrected, use of vaccines, antibiotics, and other interventions will not improve heard health. In many situations, outright disease is not detected, but nutrient deficiencies are negatively impacting body weight and fertility of the herd. 

Fortunately, cattle will thrive on many different types of forages and feeds. The rumen has the ability to convert moderate- and even low-quality feeds into needed nutrients. Because cattle can eat a wide variety of feeds, locally available products that could not be easily shipped to other parts of the country or could not be used in other animal diets can serve as excellent cattle feeds. Knowledge of the nutrient needs of different classes of cattle as well as experience with local forages and feeds will allow cattle producers and their advisors to develop cost-effective diets that meet the needs of cattle to maintain good health and productivity.