Horses are not ruminants, but still can live off of plant material. Horses are grazing animals with digestive tracts best suited for eating forages for 15- 20 hours per day. Grass and hay are the natural feeds for horses due to the structure and shape of the equine digestive tract. Unlike the cow, their stomachs are relatively small and can only hold about eight quarts. Their stomachs can actually hold more, but the stomach begins to empty when it is only two-thirds full.
Free Choice Mineral
Free choice mineral mixes are commonly used to provide the mineral that grazing cattle need. Cattle are great self-regulators and they usually know about how much to consume in order to balance the minerals in their body. Free choice programs are an excellent way to allow the livestock to choose the nutrients they need and replenish what might be lacking in their feeds.
Salt can be used as a weapon to control intake.
Selenium
Selenium is an essential trace element for ruminants. It is required in cattle for normal growth and fertility and for helping to prevent other health disorders such as mastitis and calf scours. Many pastures are short in natural selenium levels. Therefore, cattle should be supplemented with selenium. The level of selenium in the pasture is dependent on the level of selenium in the soil. Pastures have the lowest levels of selenium occurring in the spring and summer.
Pain Management
It is fundamentally important to address pain for the animal’s benefit and production efficiency. Noticing early physiological and behavioral changes can help producers recognize problems before the pain becomes chronic or debilitating. For example, when calves are dehorned and in pain, they will flick their ears and shake their heads repeatedly. Noticing these behavioral changes, along with redness and warmth of horn buds, gives producers the opportunity to manage calf pain and decrease the risk of future health challenges, like scours.
It is estimated that approximately 20% of lameness in cattle – dairy and beef is attributed to foot rot. Foot rot is an infectious condition that causes swelling, heat, and inflammation in cattle’s feet, resulting in severe lameness. Bacteria are responsible for causing foot rot. Fusobacterium necrphorum is the main foot rot causing bacterium. All the foot rot-causing microbes are mainly anaerobic, meaning they thrive in an environment without oxygen. Many of these bacteria are found in feces, so even healthy feet are present with bacteria.
Q: What is biological farming and how does it compare to organic farming?
A: Most organic farming practices implement biological farming principles, but not all biological farming practices are organic. Biological farming, much like organic farming, treats the soil as a living ecosystem that works best when care is taken to limit our negative effects on soil life.
Gary Zimmer, one of the co-founders of Midwestern BioAg, has refined the biological farming approach since the 1980s and has published two books on biological farming.
Regenerative Agriculture: When do you start and how?
Dear farmers and agriculturalists,
It appears we live in a world with a lot of dissatisfied people. How do we determine what is right and what is wrong? The fun in farming, and in life, is to contribute. Contribute to the goal of healthy, mineralized soil by using the best knowledge, common sense, and observed practices to be stewards of the land and grow feed and food that is nutritional, clean and soil-building – that …
Steve Berning, owner of Galusha Farms in Warrenville, Illinois, has been a loyal customer to Midwestern BioAg for over 15 years. Berning cites flexibility, attention to detail, and timeliness as some of the reasons he chooses to work with MBA. “It is custom-tailored to what we need,” said Berning.
Berning has grown hay all his life. The oldest of seven children, he grew up on a dairy farm in the hills of Galena in northwest Illinois, milking cows, raising hogs, and growing hay.
Now in its second year, Midwestern BioAg’s liquid carbon-based fertilizer (L-CBF) study at the University of Illinois is once again showing positive results. In early June, Midwestern BioAg scientist Bill Petersen traveled to the University’s research farm and reported back visible improvements in plant height. “Early plant response to L-CBF treatment was consistently positive,” said Petersen. “Plants in treated plots were noticeably taller, validating for the second year that L-CBF application gives plants an early season advantage.”
Derived from cane molasses, L-CBF delivers quality plant nutrients …
