Many Factors Affect Performance

By: Dan Hoying, Agrarian Solutions - Regional Sales Representative 

There are many factors that affect performance in production animals(dairy-beef). Overcrowding, nutrition and environment all factor into the performance of these animals. Many times changes by management can alleviate or lessen the stress put on cattle. When management doesn’t fix toxin-feed change stress because of low price, cow performance is compromised.

Nutrition is the area I want to concentrate on with this article. Everyone knows that cattle like their meals to be the same boring, consistent meal every day. We also know as hard as some producers try, changes in rations are inevitable. We see rations change because of variations in truck loads of different commodities(distillery by products, protein variations, vegetable by products, corn,  stored feeds,etc…). Producers and their nutritionist are constantly looking for the cheapest ingredients available and sometimes this causes changes in rations.  Producers also change ration ingredients with new forages(hay, corn silage) periodically. Add mycotoxins to this equation as well. There can be different toxins/levels in every change.  Any change in a cow’s diet means they will need 7-10 days to grow the proper rumen microbes to properly digest these feedstuff changes. Add in overcrowding, mycotoxins and weather stress and you have poor performance seen in growth, animal health, milk production and reproduction.

Biocycle Plus can help.  Select BioCycle Plus is a complete product that combines the benefits of Select BioCycle and Select DTX and is recommended when there is a combination of breeding, production and herd health problems stemming from mycotoxins and changes to the ration.  Many producers/nutritionists try to mimic the “Biocycle Plus effect” with less expensive products. When these less expensive products fail, nutritionists will increase the rate or add an additional product(s) , which ends up costing more than Biocycle Plus and in many cases, cows are still performing poorly. The BioCycle line is more effective than other DFMs due to the presence of L-form bacteria. Biocycle Plus contains all 3 of Agrarian’s proprietary L-forms. The L-form bacteria found in the BioCycle line are unequaled among DFM products. Stripped of their cell walls, they are much more active than their less-developed relatives. Because they are dormant until consumed, L-form bacteria have an excellent shelf life and survive when mixed with high mineral feed ingredients; allowing them to reach the lower digestive system unharmed. 

Many producers are currently using Select DTX, one of the key ingredients in Biocycle Plus.  Sometimes with additional stress from weather, feed changes and overcrowding, DTX fed cattle need the additional ingredients in Biocycle Plus to lessen the effects from these stresses. Switching to Biocycle Plus for a month or two will help and then many times producers can switch back to DTX.

Many producers know they will be changing rations and understand and see the benefits of feeding Biocycle Plus while others need their Select Sires Representative to educate them! Visit with them about the costs related to drops in production and reproduction and how Biocycle Plus can be a very cost effective option to alleviate these problems.

Promotion

Select BioCycle Plus is on promotion from September 1st - October 30th. Buy 5, Get 1 Free. Ask your local Select Sires representative for details!