Welcome to Part 2 of our blog series on Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle's Winter Hay. Please be sure to read Part 1 - Why should we care about hay quality? Today's post will focus on the methodology of collecting a forage sample, the tools/supplies needed, and where you can send your forage sample for analysis. We live in Northern Maine and send our … [Read more...] about Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay – PART 2: Testing Hay Quality
Equipment
Beef Bull Castration: How to Use Castration Banders, including the Callicrate SMART Bander
Humane, quick, bloodless, drug-free and EFFECTIVE. These are all adjectives that should come to mind when discussing castration for your beef bulls. As beef cattle producers, castrating your bulls is just another part of the cattle raising process. Unless you are selling your bull calves intact or retaining them, you will need to castrate. Having the right tools for … [Read more...] about Beef Bull Castration: How to Use Castration Banders, including the Callicrate SMART Bander
Happy New Year 2016: Update on the Farm
Happy New Year! I can hardly believe that 2016 is upon us. We are about a month into our winter hay bale grazing season and already looking forward to our 2016 calving season! 2015 was definitely a growing year for our farm, our cattle herd and our family. As with any farmer, there is always that driving force, that desire to be independent … [Read more...] about Happy New Year 2016: Update on the Farm
Estimating Calf Birth Weight
For cattle producers with cow-calf operations, you may also be interested in our October 2019 post on: Beef Bull Castration: Using Castration Banders, including the Callicrate SMART Bander. We also discuss our new approach of "delaying calf processing." Be sure to check it out! Thanks! Birth weight is a genetically heritable trait in beef cattle that has a direct impact on … [Read more...] about Estimating Calf Birth Weight