RANCHING Business
Making the Most of Cattle Herd Nutrition Dollars By Lorie Woodward Cantu
A
N OPERATION’S NUTRITION PROGRAM DEMANDS CAREFUL attention because it is crucial to both cattle performance and the ranch’s bottom line.
“The nutrition program is typically the largest vari-
able cost of cattle production,” says Dr. Deke Alkire, nutritionist and planned consultation manager at the Noble Foundation. “It has to deliver the right nutrition at the right price to be successful. If producers can save even a small percentage on their annual feed costs, it can amount to a large number. “Of course, the more cattle you have the more
dramatic the savings might be. Producers with small herds can still enjoy bottom-line-changing returns by evaluating their nutrition programs and practices. In any size operation, saving money is making money.” With all of the feedstuff options available in today’s
marketplace, it is not always easy to discern the best option, especially since the decision must be based on both nutrition and economics. For instance, not all 20 percent protein cubes are
created equal. Some have lower energy content, or might contain a less digestible protein source. Be sure
to ask the supplier when comparing options. In some instances, the producer might be money ahead by spend- ing slightly more for a nutritionally superior product. If that is not enough to consider, Alkire says there
were at least 10 different byproduct blends that could deliver 20 percent protein content. Moreover, that does not take into account the commercially available op- tions that are pre-bagged or in liquid form. “Having so many options is both a blessing and
a curse,” he says. “Many options provide a lot of op- portunities for savings and convenience, but con- sidering all the options can be overwhelming and time-consuming.” This is especially true because there is no one-size-
fi ts-all solution when it comes to nutrition. The best solution is site- and program-specifi c, because every ranch is different, he says. The environment, the soils, the forage, the cattle, and the labor pool are different. His suggestion? “Evaluate your overall operation and fi gure out what
you want your nutrition program to accomplish within that context. Then ask for help in sorting through the
Editor’s Note: This is the 10th installment in a 12-part series on “The Realized Value of Management Decisions”
that was developed in conjunction with the advisors in the Producer Relations Program of the Agricultural Divi- sion of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. The independent, non-profi t Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., assists farmers and ranchers and conducts plant science research and agricultural programs to enhance agricultural productivity regionally, nationally and internationally.
108 The Cattleman October 2015
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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