News Animal Health
Cow-calf producers: How often do you test your feed?

A research team from Saskatchewan wants to know how often livestock producers in western Canada test their animals’ feed – if at all.

The project is led by Kathy Larson, professional research associate with the University of Saskatchewan college of agriculture and bio resources and department of agricultural and resource economics. It is funded by the Beef Cattle Research Council and Saskatchewan’s Agricultural Development Fund.

The feed testing survey, which is available online, was launched Dec. 1. It will close when it has amassed 500 responses, which Larson tells The Trough the team hopes to have achieved by the end of February.

In addition to the feed testing survey, Larson’s team also recently launched a survey on swath grazing in mid-January. The survey has a target of 600 respondents, which Larson expects could take until the end of March to achieve.

Both of the surveys are for cow-calf producers in Canada from British Columbia to Manitoba. Larson says producers do not have to be adopters of either feed testing or swathgrazing to complete the surveys; the team wants perspectives from both adopters and non-adopters of each practice.

In addition to the feed testing survey I am collaborating on a survey about swathgrazing, which may also interest your readers.