Colostrum is the "first milk" produced after calving. It has a different composition than milk as it has an important role in being the first meal a calf receives. Colostrum is more nutrient dense than milk and contains antibodies essential for calf health.
Beef feedlot managers, owners, employees and allied industries will learn new information related to feedlot nutrition and health at Nebraska Extension's 2020 Beef Feedlot Roundtables Feb. 18-20 in Bridgeport, Lexington and West Point.
The adverse weather conditions experienced by most agriculturalists in 2019 certainly impacted sugar beet production. The reduced volume of sugar beets available for sugar production has impacted the amount of the by-product, sugar beet pulp, available for beef cattle diets this winter.
Sugar beet pulp is often used in gestating cow diets in the winter to increase the energy density of a forage based diet. The highly digestible fiber in sugar beet pulp gives it a total digestible nutrient or TDN value of 85-90%. The crude protein value is approximately 10%.
Beef production from conception to consumption is a complex, biological system where cause and effect are often distant in time and space. For example, things that occurred to a calf while it was developing inside of a cow, can impact that animal throughout its life all the way to harvest. This can make it challenging to identify and address the actual source of a problem when it is observed. To better understand and address the source of problems, consider asking the question “why?”
