Skip to main content

Beef Nutrition

All Beef Nutrition Content
White beef heifer.

Developing Heifers to Fit Your Production Environment

The long-term sustainability and profitability of the cow-calf industry depend on retaining females that fit both the production goals and environmental constraints of an operation.

A large, yellow automatic cattle waterer installed in a feedlot.

Water: The Unappreciated Nutrient

Water intake is strongly linked to feed intake, so any factors that cause cattle to drink less will lead to reduced feed intake and consequently reduced performance.

A field of flowering alfalfa.

Testing Forages for Nitrates

Free nitrate testing is available at various locations across the state. Nitrate testing strips are used to provide a semi-quantitative value of nitrate levels in forages. It allows producers to make decisions based on the presence or absence of nitrates and appropriate timing for cutting.

Three brown yearlings eating from a feeding trough.

Animal Science Research and Extension Report

Research report from Animal Science Department covering a variety of areas in livestock production.

Beef cattle with calves on a dry rangeland.

Managing the Cow Herd Through Drought

Drought remains one of the most persistent and difficult challenges facing cattle producers. Managing a cow herd under drought conditions requires balancing short-term survival with long-term productivity.

Cattle grazing a high-diversity, native pasture.

Connecting Nutrition and Conservation: The Importance of CPS 592

Conservation Practice Standard (CPS) 592 is a practical feed management framework that helps producers move toward greater profitability, accountability, and sustainability without sacrificing performance.

A livestock producer stands beside a concrete feed bunk at sunset, holding a tablet and reviewing feeding data. Several beef cattle with ear tags are eating a mixed ration from the trough. In the background, a feedlot mixer truck with a visible mixing tank and discharge auger delivers feed into the bunk, creating light feed dust in the air. The image represents modern feed management combining animal care and digital decision-making in a commercial feedlot.

Feed Management in a High-Data Livestock Industry

Livestock feeding systems are generating more data than ever before. In modern feed management, success depends less on how much data is collected and more on how effectively that data is translated into biologically sound decisions.

A male producer observing cattle in a feedlot.

Animal Nutrition Program’s Feed Management Committee: Feed to Gain Calculator - Fat Inclusion

Adding fat to cattle diets is a common strategy to increase dietary energy density. Learn how to make informed feed decisions using a feed-to-gain breakeven calculator developed by the National Animal Nutrition Program Feed Management Committee.

Illustration of a rancher making a management decision that triggers a chain of dominoes representing different technologies such as wearable livestock sensors, genetics, satellites, drones, modeling, and data analytics. The falling dominos symbolize how management actions create effects that unfold over time, often with delayed and unintended consequences. Zeros and ones in the background represent the increasing amount of data modern ranchers must interpret when making decisions.

From One Decision to Many Outcomes: Why feed management decisions ripple through beef production systems

Feed management is the starting point of a system that rewards informed decisions and magnifies uninformed ones. Producers who use feed informed nutrition models are often able to reduce waste, increase gains, and decrease costs.

Cow with calf in winter pasture.

Matching Winter Forage Supply to Herd Needs

Most operations feed hay based on convenience rather than cow requirements. Feeding the same hay to all cattle throughout the winter may be simple and efficient, but it often leads to overspending, or underfeeding.