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Feed Forum

Photo submitted by a local producer to our feed department manager.  It's great to see how our local coop is reaching out to the next generation of producers!  It's about more than just making feed.

Preparing for Winter

By Shannon Voegele, Nutritional Consultant

It looks like winter is finally upon us. Is your cattle operation ready? In extreme cold, cattle require more calories to maintain their body condition and stay warm. When the temperature approaches zero degrees, you can expect to feed about 30% more than you would at temperatures above 32 degrees. Use your feed to congregate your cattle where you want them to be ahead of incoming severe weather. When a storm is approaching, place feed behind your windbreak to encourage your cattle to stay there. During severe winter weather, water access can be compromised and should be checked daily in the winter months. Without adequate water access, cattle will not eat as much and will lose body condition. If water is unavailable for long enough, cattle will attempt to eat snow, but they cannot consume enough snow for their water needs. This would be a great time for us to chat about what options we have for stress tubs and additional mineral supplements. 

11/22/2024

Protein Options

By Tyler McCoy, Feed Department Manager

Harvest is starting to wind down along with weaning as we have sold quite a few stress tubs in the last month. I have a feeling that our protein tubs are going to start flying off the shelves with cows getting moved to harvested corn fields. Don’t forget to add some extra protein to help those girls out. We offer either protein tubs or QLF. Our team is meeting next week to pick a date to have another semi sale like we held last year. It’s a neat little promotion that we do to help save costs the time you need them the most. There are some factors that you should consider before adding protein.  The first factor is the quality and quantity of forage available. The amount of corn, leaves and husks will vary with growing and harvest conditions. Cattle will select the grain and best quality forage first when initially turned into a field. As cattle continue to graze diet quality will decrease. Once cattle have eaten the available husks and leaves and begin eating more of the stalk, diet quality will go down significantly. Weathering will deteriorate forage quality. Cool, dry weather conditions in the fall and winter will maintain quality for a longer period; while wet, warm, muddy conditions will result in a faster deterioration of leaves and husks. These are all factors on when to pull them to another field or when you need to supplement tubs/QLF to keep them in condition. Any questions at all please feel free to reach out to one of our team members. As always, thank you for your business!

10/25/2024

Profitability

By Brooke Brunsvig, Nutritional Consultant

The current focus for most of Central Farmers customers and farmer/feeders in the region is in the combine. Your feed consultants are anxiously waiting for producers to pull the trigger on weaning. We talk constantly about best practices in the process; that’s all very important and good, but we need to circle back to the big picture of profit potential. As I did last year, I write this early October update trying to wrap my head around the scope.

I haven’t gotten much feedback, if there have been any decisions made yet, about when cow/calf producers are planning to sell their calf crop this fall. There was a feeder market high seen in July, but to put things into perspective, the market closed on Sept 24 at $244.02; the market has only been a bit higher one time when looking back on 2014, 2015, and 2020 to now.

Now the question is will they stay good for the fall, or what’s the market projection? There are indications that retention has not started, which was a factor for the fall in the market seen in 2015. Onsetting drought with the low inventory levels likely mean prices won’t dip as low as typically seen this time of year. Lastly, grain prices are 18-24% lower than last year which allows feedlots to retain cattle longer, making them bigger. The grain price makes cattle favorable to add pounds all throughout the industry, in my opinion.

We again have 0% interest financing options for both Hubbard and Purina feeds. We have 30% protein tubs at many locations for optimum utilization of the late season grass and corn stalks soon. All of us at CFC aim to do our best for the profitability of your operation.

10/4/2024

Are you thinking about creep feeding?
Call a Nutritional Consultant or Location Manager for pricing and availability today.

Keep our feedlot programs in mind once you wean your calves.
Call a Nutritional Consultant or Location Manager for details.

Central Farmers Cooperative is dedicated to serving our patrons.
Please call the location nearest you to find out how one of our professional staff members can help you.

 Feed Staff