Twenty-eighteen brought a mixed bag of weather. Depending upon the location, cattle producers across North Dakota experienced either wet or dry conditions. Karl Hoppe, a livestock specialist at the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center, says those conditions resulted in feed quality issues and questions from producers. “There were ergot issues in the central part of the state. In drier areas, nitrate levels were a concern,” says Hoppe. “Also, with a low soybean market, many producers are asking questions about feeding them to cows.” Before and during calving, producers are ramping up cow feed rations. Speaking at the Lake Region Extension Roundup in Devils Lake, Hoppe encouraged producers to test feed for nutritional content and quality issues.
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