A recent issue of All About Feed Digital Magazine had an interesting article on the seven factors that influence intake and digestibility in cattle.

As a brief summary, the list includes the following:

1. Overfeeding is a No No! Cattle are adversely affected by overfeeding. They often show symptoms of bloat, indigestion, and acute distention or impaction of the stomach.
2. Underfeeding....no living being likes to be hungry. A long-continued deficiency of vitamins and minerals usually leads to the development of the so-called nutritional diseases. This can cause irreparable damage and must be avoided.
3. Feed processing. It was found that grinding of citrus pulp by Wiley mill significantly increased iron, zinc, copper, sodium, and manganese in the form of finely pulverised metals. These may be better utilized than the same elements inherently present in the feed.
4. Feeding frequency. When feeding animals 5-6 times per day, there will be a stable pH in the rumen at levels ranging for about 5.5 to 5.8.
5. Environmental factors. Feed intake is affected heat stress, rain, noise and high altitude.
6. Animal factors. Age, pregnancy, and level of exercise are all factors for intake.
7. Diseases. A study was conducted to quantify feed intake decreases. and associated milk production losses related to health disorders in dairy cows

For the full article :

Traders from Fornazor International have arrived in Italy for the the Cremona Fiere Dairy Show. The International Dairy Cattle Show features a display of innovative equipment, technologies and services as well as numerous conferences and seminars.

Fornazor just returned from a very successful show at the World Dairy Expo (WDE) in Wisconsin. Our USA produced alfalfa bales and pellets, corn gluten meal and soybean meal, cottonseed, DDGS, Amino Plus and our menu of other agricultural commodities generated lots of interest.