Recently, I have consulted with packgoat hobbyist and livestock producers to interpret their livestock water suitability report. Because water is a vital nutrient, understanding these reports is very important to make good decisions. Water plays an important role and many biological functions including transportation of essential nutrients to body tissues and cells, lubricant for the...Read More

I receive many phone calls about interpreting a feed report. The interpretation depends on the reason for testing. Some reports help formulate an animals diet. Other reports determine hay quality for buying and selling. At Ward Laboratories, INC. , we provide the Ward Guide to help producers interpret agricultural testing reports. Here are my tips...Read More

The removal of corn oil from distillers co-products resulted from livestock industry feed back. Interference of fat with rumen metabolism required low inclusion rates in the beef diet. Full fat DDGS had a negative impact on milk quality in the dairy industry. Swine fed co-products with full oil content resulted in soft bacon. The ethanol...Read More

Even before the ‘bomb cyclone’ hit, it was a heartbreaking spring for livestock producers. I was receiving phone calls of late term abortions and lost calves and cows due to poor nutrition. Before these historic floods, Nebraska and surrounding states were already enduring unusually low temperatures and heavy snow fall. Producers were struggling with guidelines...Read More

This year’s Swine Day at Kansas State University, like previous years, was a tidal wave of information.  So, here are some of the highlights I found to be most interesting.  Dr. Joel DeRouchey gave two interesting research summaries one on the effects of Bacillius probiotics fed to sows and the second on iron injection supplementation...Read More

With Halloween being over, you might start to wonder what happens to all the pumpkins left in the field that weren’t chosen to be carved into Jack o’ Lanterns or set out as a fall decoration. As it turns out pumpkins are great to supplement a livestock diet! They are also cost-effective as they become...Read More

Phewy! Smell that? From an early age, we are often told the old phrase “That’s the smell of money!” Although this phrase is often used to indicate cattle profits, the manure in those pens also holds a wealth of resources that can help enrich and strengthen your soil. Once used routinely in integrated farming systems,...Read More

The other day I received a phone call from a dairyman who said he was attempting to “Feed from the waste stream” and he sent in two samples.   The first sample was mixed juice pressings, which consisted of a random assortment of spinach, cucumbers, ginger, carrots, apples and more, and the second sample was citrus...Read More

A couple of weeks ago I attended Swine Day for the second year in a row.  This event is a great way to remain informed on the latest in swine nutrition research. I would recommend attending for anyone involved in the swine industry.  It is also very interesting to see what the researchers are doing...Read More