18 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN June/July 2025 BAD HOT COWS MAKE . . . BECAUSE CALVES CAN’T NURSE IN A POND. MAMAS Cattle are susceptible to heat stress at temperatures above 70° Fahrenheit. HEAT Technology is now incorporated into all of the VitaFerm® mineral lines, to support overall health when temperatures rise. ® LEARN MORE OR FIND YOUR DEALER | VITAFERM.COM Talking to local Extension agents or mineral reps is a great way to find a trace mineral or supplement that will have the most beneficial impact on your cattle. “Sometimes you’ll see molybdenum levels come up in the grass a little bit during a drought; molybdenum is an antagonism to other minerals,” Schuetze explains. “If you start getting more antagonisms, more aluminum and iron in your grass, you need to make sure you feed them an extremely high-quality trace mineral pack. We recommend feeding a good, chelated mineral.” Sufficient forage and energy provide a strong foundation for cattle, and a quality mineral program helps to maximize the benefits of the feed. “I cannot emphasize enough the importance of minerals and free choice minerals, but at the end of the day, those minerals don’t do us very much good if we truly are protein or energy-deficient,” says Jeff Heldt, beef technical lead at Selko USA. “Producers need to figure out their budget and then really prioritize some kind of energy supplements. That could be hay, distillers grains, beet pulp, etc. I would price those supplements or feedstuff on a per unit of energy basis.” For more information on cattle nutrition during a drought and implementing minerals into your program, visit with your local UNL Extension agent. ~NC~ NUTRITION DURING DROUGHT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 With much of Nebraska seeing fewer than 30 inches of annual precipitation in the last few years, the possibility of grasshopper outbreaks has increased. Grasshoppers can consume up to 50 percent of their body weight in forage daily. Look at it this way, if you have an acre with 2.7 grasshoppers per square yard, that equals 12,971 grasshoppers. If you GRASSHOPPER WATCH have an acre with 69.7 grasshoppers per square yard, it equals the forage consumption of one cow per day. Typically, in rangeland, economic thresholds for grasshopper densities vary from 8 to 40 grasshoppers per square yard. A helpful method for monitoring grasshopper density is to count the number of grasshoppers using the square foot method. Sample sites should be 50 to 75 feet apart, with a total of 18 sample sites. Total the number of grasshoppers and divide by 2 – this number will be the number of grasshoppers per square yard. To request technical assistance to evaluate the need for rangeland grasshopper control, reach out to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service at (402) 434-2438.
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