Early-season drought conditions across much of the country have affected the hay supply. Beyond basic availability, there are concerns about nutritional value, dependability of the hay source and what is in hay bought from an outside source. Whether buying hay for horses or cattle, there are important considerations to get the quality and value animals need. The five … [Read more...]
Hardware, plastic disease still found in cattle
Fifty five percent to 75 percent of cattle slaughtered in the eastern U.S. have hardware in the reticulum. Cattle don’t usually sort their food, which means they can ingest foreign matter when eating hay or processed feed. This include pieces of fencing, nails, metals and more recently, plastic fibers used to bind hay. Magnets are used to remove metal objects, but plastics are … [Read more...]