Corn and distillers grains can be used to help replace hay when it is in short supply.

Lowering winter beef cow feed costs

There are opportunities to decrease the highest expense on beef farms

Katie Wood, assistant professor in ruminant nutrition and physiology at the University of Guelph recently offered five tips to lower winter feeding costs in beef herds. Speaking at the Ontario Beef Symposium at the University of Guelph on Jan. 18, Wood outlined the key steps: Test feed; Optimize alternative feeds; Know the herd’s body condition […] Read more

Opportunities exist to increase profits at the feed bunk

Opportunities exist to increase profits at the feed bunk

Feed bunk costs can vary by 10 per cent based on gross revenue

The cost of feed for lactating and dry cows ranges by approximately 10 per cent of gross milk revenue. This provides opportunity for dairy farmers to increase profitability at the feed bunk. “The balance we found was a range of 25 to 35 per cent of gross milk revenue being used to feed our lactating […] Read more


High feed prices are pushing Canadian cattle out of the United States market.
 Photo: Thinkstock

Cattle feeding getting expensive in Manitoba

MarketsFarm – With a looming feed shortage, it has been getting more costly to feed cattle, said Mike Nernberg, marketing representative for Winnipeg Livestock Sales. Nernberg estimated it has been costing about C$4.00 per day to feed an individual animal, which adds up given the amount a feedlot is feeding and for the length of […] Read more

The Danuser MegaMixer handles grain and a lot more, including gravel and bedding.

Feeding with a bucket takes on a new meaning

Adding a hydraulic auger to a front end loader bucket design was a start, adding variable rates and gates completed it

Operators of small cattle farms and growers who need to mix soil for smaller vegetable beds may be interested in the some of the updates Danuser made to its material handling bucket. The Mega Mixer was designed to scoop, mix and dispense material ranging from livestock feed to concrete. Mike Willis of Danuser said the […] Read more



Mike Conlin runs a 5,000 head feedlot at Lucan, Ont., with his sons, Peter and Tom, and his parents, Tony and Mary.

Family rooted to farm for more than a century

Three generations feed 5,000 head, mostly Black Angus, in an operation that is Ontario Corn Fed Beef certified

When a family has worked the same land for more than 100 years, they develop an appreciation for past and future generations. The Conlin farm at Lucan, near London, is owned and operated by Mike and Jen Conlin and their children, along with parents, Tony and Mary Conlin, who are retiring. “I don’t think succession […] Read more