Whether you’re feeding dairy cattle or laying hens, we’ve got the feed products you’re looking for
United Cooperative is surrounded by some of the most productive dairy and beef counties in the state. But that’s not all we feed around here: there are also pigs, chickens, horses, sheep and goats as well as lots of family pets. With seven feed mills, plus partnerships with Purina and Quality Liquid Feeds (QLF), we offer plenty of options for every animal, from milk replacer to finishing feeds. We offer professional nutrition consulting services at each of our nine feed locations, and we also work with independent dairy nutritionists to provide concentrates, premixes and complete feeds for virtually any operation. With the addition of state-of-the-art mills in Shawano and Wilton, we have also introduced a new calf feeding program that is quickly winning over calves and producers alike. To learn more about our commercial livestock, hobby or companion animal feed and nutrition services, please visit the location nearest you (see location map below), or call our main office in Beaver Dam: 800-924-2991.
Starters
Coaxing the best performance out of each animal under your care requires more than just meeting their nutritional requirements. Our feed specialists are also trained to help with other aspects of livestock production, including benchmarking calf performance, identifying existing and potential health issues, and looking at environmental influences such as ventilation and hygiene. We like to say that we can help dairy producers from the time a calf is born, to when the cow leaves the dairy. To learn more, please contact one of our feed specialists, or call 800-924-2991.
How does the Scheduled Delivery System (SDS) work?
How does it help you?
Spring is in the air and the fields are starting to fill with green. The words in the back of everyone’s mind are: first crop. Time to get the equipment out, cleaned off, tuned-up and ready to roll. Whether you are doing balealge, haylage, or dry hay, knowing what quality you are aiming for will help guide you on what temperature to harvest at.
It is no secret that feed costs have skyrocketed in the past year. Grain and commodity products have seen market prices rise. Corn has increased by over $2.35/Bu in six months. Soy products have risen by over $150/ton since October of last year. Fats are up 50%, mineral products up 30%, and on it goes. Costs of handling, delivering, and processing feed products also add to increased feed supplement costs.
The past few weeks has given us a glimpse of spring in some areas of the state. As refreshing as it might be to see the snow begin to disappear, it means we are greatly stressing our alfalfa and winter wheat fields. Once things thaw out enough to get a shovel in the ground is a perfect time to go out and assess your fields for any damage that has occurred over the winter.
Winter is here and the weather is reflecting this seasonal change. How do our bovine friends fare in the changing weather? Two topics of great importance to consider include: ventilation and teat health.
With winter moving in, this is the time of the year to check how your calves are adjusting to the cold. Calves that are raised in hutches get all the fresh air they want if they are properly bedded. During winter, most calf barns leave their curtains raised and rely on fans and tubes for air exchanges. Is your current system getting an adequate four air exchanges per hour?