Cattle Health. Cattle Nutrition Archives

Building Immunity When It Matters Most

Posted on July 9, 2026 by Cattle- Web-Manager-2

Building Immunity When It Matters Most

By Jessica Graham

After birth, weaning is one of the most stressful events in a calf’s life. Separation from the cow, dietary changes, transportation, commingling with unfamiliar cattle, and environmental stressors all challenge a calf’s immune system. Unfortunately, this stress often coincides with the period when calves become most susceptible to respiratory disease and other health problems.

For this reason, developing a vaccination program before weaning reduce illness, improve performance, and increase the value of calves. While every operation should develop a herd-specific health plan, and consider which vaccines would benefit their operation the best.

The Core Vaccines Every Producer Should Consider

Veterinarians generally recommend three key vaccine categories for calves entering the weaning period. The first is a modified-live 5-way respiratory vaccine designed to protect against several of the most common viral pathogens involved in Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD). These vaccines typically provide protection against Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVD) Types I and II, Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR), Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV), and Parainfluenza-3 (PI3). As you know, BRD hits quickly and takes its toll fast. These viruses represent some of the most significant health threats calves face during and after weaning. Vaccinating calves before weaning gives their immune systems time to develop protection before stress levels rise.

Another staple in a calf vaccination program is a 7-way or 8-way clostridial vaccine, commonly referred to as a blackleg vaccine. Clostridial bacteria are naturally present in the environment and can cause sudden, often fatal diseases such as blackleg, malignant edema, and enterotoxemia. Unlike some respiratory vaccines that can be affected by maternal antibodies, clostridial vaccines tend to work very effectively in young calves because they protect against toxins produced by the bacteria. Many veterinarians consider these vaccines among the most valuable and cost-effective tools available for preventing catastrophic losses. If you vaccinate in the beginning, it’s a lot cheaper of an investment thank losing a calf, especially in this market.

In addition to viral protection, many producers choose to vaccinate against bacterial pneumonia pathogens. Bacterial infections are often responsible for the severe lung damage and fatalities associated with pneumonia. Including bacterial pneumonia vaccines in a preconditioning program can provide another layer of protection, especially in herds with a history of respiratory disease challenges. They can cost you on growth potential and performance.

Timing Matters

One of the most important factors in a successful vaccination program is timing. Veterinarians generally recommend administering primary vaccinations or booster doses approximately three to four weeks before weaning. This schedule allows calves to develop a strong immune response before they experience the stress associated with separation from their dams.

When calves are vaccinated on the day of weaning, elevated cortisol levels caused by stress can suppress immune function and reduce vaccine effectiveness. By vaccinating ahead of time, producers allow calves to build immunity while they are still nursing and experiencing relatively low levels of stress. This simple management decision can make a significant difference in overall calf health and vaccine performance.

Some cattlemen are incorporating substances into their calf management programs to help reduce stress during challenging events such as weaning, transportation, vaccination, castration, and dehorning. These products mimic naturally occurring compounds produced by cows and are designed to help calves remain calmer during periods of transition. Research has shown that reducing stress may support improved feed intake, weight gain, health outcomes, and overall performance. While these products are not vaccines and do not provide disease protection, they can serve as a useful complement to reduce stress and help cattle cope with weaning and handling.

Understanding Maternal Antibodies

Newborn calves rely heavily on antibodies obtained through colostrum during the first few hours of life. This passive immunity provides critical early protection against disease but can also interfere with the calf’s response to certain vaccines. As maternal antibody levels decline over time, calves become more capable of developing their own immune responses.

The timing of this transition varies among calves depending on factors such as colostrum quality, intake, and absorption. Researchers generally find that calves begin responding more consistently to vaccines by approximately three months of age. Some viruses, particularly BRSV, are known for experiencing significant interference from maternal antibodies, which is one reason vaccination programs often need to be tailored to individual farms and operations.

Modified-Live Versus Killed Vaccines

Producers face the decision of whether to use modified-live or killed vaccines in their calf health programs. Modified-live vaccines contain weakened organisms that stimulate an immune response similar to natural infection without causing disease in healthy animals. Because the vaccine organisms replicate within the animal, they typically generate a stronger and longer-lasting immune response. Modified-live products often provide quicker protection, require fewer booster doses, and can be more economical than killed vaccines.

However, modified-live vaccines are not for every situation. Producers should use caution as some modified-live IBR vaccines have occasionally been associated with abortion events in susceptible cows. This is where consulting your vet makes a big difference. Veterinary guidance is especially important when selecting products.

Killed vaccines offer an excellent safety profile because they cannot replicate or cause disease. These products can be particularly useful in situations where modified-live vaccines may pose concerns. The tradeoff is that killed vaccines generally require a booster vaccination two to three weeks after the initial dose to achieve optimal protection. For operations that cannot reliably administer boosters, modified-live products may offer greater flexibility.

The Value of Intranasal Vaccines

Intranasal vaccines have become increasingly popular for respiratory disease prevention, especially in herds with a history of pneumonia problems in young calves. Unlike injectable products, intranasal vaccines work with the local immunity within the respiratory tract, which is the body’s first line of defense against many respiratory pathogens.

An additional advantage is their ability to bypass maternal antibody interference. Products such as Bovilis Nasalgen 3 can provide rapid protection against respiratory viruses and are especially useful when calves are at risk for conditions such as summer pneumonia associated with BRSV. While intranasal vaccines can be highly effective, they are generally most beneficial when incorporated into a comprehensive vaccination strategy rather than used as a stand-alone solution.

Preconditioning Pays

Vaccination represents only one part of a successful preconditioning program. Producers who invest in comprehensive calf preparation often realize substantial returns through improved health and stronger sale prices.

Beyond sale-day premiums, healthier calves typically require fewer treatments, experience lower death loss, maintain better feed efficiency, and achieve stronger overall performance throughout the production cycle. These benefits often provide returns that extend well beyond the initial investment in vaccination and management.

Build a Herd-Specific Plan

No vaccination program is universally perfect. Disease challenges, calving environments, management practices, and marketing goals vary considerably from one operation to another. The most successful programs are those that address the diseases most likely to affect a particular herd while ensuring calves are protected before stressful events occur.

Working closely with a veterinarian can help producers develop a vaccination strategy tailored to their specific needs. By combining respiratory protection, clostridial vaccination, bacterial pneumonia prevention when appropriate, and proper timing, producers can help calves navigate the weaning period successfully while positioning them for long-term health and productivity.

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Non-Bloating Legumes

Posted on June 17, 2026July 15, 2026 by Cattle- Web-Manager-2

Non-Bloating Legumes

By Heather Smith Thomas

Why Producers Are Looking Beyond Alfalfa

Legumes play an important role in cattle nutrition because they typically provide more protein and other essential nutrients than many grasses. Alfalfa has long been one of the most popular forage legumes for livestock, but it comes with one major drawback—it can cause bloat, particularly under grazing conditions. Depending on the situation, the risk can be significant.

For decades, researchers have searched for ways to reduce that risk. Some have focused on developing alfalfa varieties that are safer to graze, while others have studied alternative legumes that naturally reduce the likelihood of bloat. Those efforts continue today, with promising results.

Few people have spent more time working toward that goal than Dr. Donald Miller. During his career as a plant breeder, Miller developed or co-developed 100 alfalfa varieties and six red clover varieties.

Miller grew up on a Texas farm before earning his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees at New Mexico State University.

“I worked for alfalfa breeders while I was in graduate school,” Miller says. “After finishing college in 1984, I moved to Idaho as an alfalfa breeder for the western United States.”

He led alfalfa breeding and research programs in Nampa, Idaho, and Kingsburg, California. During that time, the company changed names several times—from AgriPro North American Plant Breeders, owned by Shell Oil, to Cal West and eventually Alforex, where Miller served as director of product development for Corteva’s alfalfa division.

Throughout his career, Miller has worked to improve forage quality while helping producers manage the challenges that come with grazing legumes.

Managing Alfalfa to Reduce Bloat

Although many producers avoid grazing alfalfa because of bloat concerns, Miller says the crop can be grazed successfully with proper management.

“Cattle producers can graze alfalfa, but they have to know how to do it,” he says.

One of his breeding programs focused on grazing-tolerant alfalfa in cooperation with the University of Georgia. In the Southeast, frequent rainfall makes hay production difficult, so producers often rely on grazing instead of harvesting hay.

Researchers found that grazing management is just as important as plant genetics.

The University of Kentucky recently published a grazing guide that outlines management practices for reducing bloat risk. Miller says he also learned valuable lessons while studying grazing systems in Argentina, where producers routinely graze pure stands of alfalfa.

“When cattle first enter a pasture, they eat the leaves before moving to the stems,” Miller explains. “That sudden change in diet can trigger bloat.”

One practice proved especially effective.

“If producers move the fence every day so cattle receive a consistent diet, it helps prevent problems,” he says.

While researchers have not developed a truly non-bloating alfalfa, they have learned how to reduce the risk through proper grazing management.

“We know how to manage cattle to lower the risk,” Miller says. “In Argentina they successfully graze alfalfa on a large scale.”

His breeding work also produced grazing-tolerant varieties capable of withstanding hoof damage and crown rot, helping plants survive repeated grazing pressure.

Miller has also worked with drought-tolerant alfalfa developed at New Mexico State University.

“If you irrigate the first two cuttings and then lose water during midsummer, these varieties simply go dormant,” he says. “They may look dead, but they can survive for several months without irrigation and begin growing again once water returns.”

Sainfoin: A Proven Non-Bloating Alternative

In addition to alfalfa, Miller has spent years studying sainfoin, one of the best-known non-bloating legumes.

“When I was at New Mexico State University, we released a new sainfoin variety,” he says.

Sainfoin produces large stems, abundant blooms and attractive purple flowers, making it one of the most visually striking forage legumes. More importantly, it provides excellent forage without creating the same bloat risk associated with alfalfa.

The crop does have limitations.

“Sainfoin is susceptible to crown rot,” Miller says. “When livestock step directly on the crowns during grazing, they can damage the plants.”

Researchers discovered that planting sainfoin on raised beds helps reduce that problem. Cattle naturally walk in the furrows instead of directly on the plants, minimizing crown damage. Raised beds also improve drainage, reducing disease pressure in wet soils.

Sainfoin can outperform alfalfa during the first cutting, although production slows during midsummer. Even so, it remains a valuable forage option in states such as Montana and Wyoming, as well as parts of Canada.

“It is a good non-bloating legume,” Miller says. “And when it’s blooming, the fields are alive with bees.”

The flowers attract large numbers of pollinators and also produce high-quality honey.

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Track Reserve Herd Days for Better Grazing

Posted on June 17, 2026August 11, 2026 by Cattle- Web-Manager-2

Track Reserve Herd Days for Better Grazing

Knowing how to estimate forage inventories and actively manage grazing accordingly cuts down on hay feeding and protects both livestock and soil health.

If your grass totally stopped growing on a given day, how many more days could you sustain your herd on the forage you have standing in the pasture?

Hugh Aljoe refers to this calculation as ‘reserve herd days.’ The director of ranches, outreach and partnerships at Noble Research Institute says this is a valuable tally to track for anyone ranching on the drought-prone Plains, or for those who are simply trying to project dormant forage inventories into the winter.

“No matter where we are in the growing season, we’re tracking our reserve herd days,” Aljoe says. “No matter what the weather throws at us, we know whether or not we’ll have enough forage to get us through the winter. We always have a plan.”

That confidence in the face of drought conditions is the culmination of nearly 30 years of practice at the Noble Ranches. He points to two of his early mentors at Noble – R.L. Dalrymple and Charlie Griffith – who were masters at implementing and teaching the reserve herd day concept.

“They showed me this fuller picture, this idea of managing proactively, knowing all year long what you need to do to get to the next spring,” Aljoe says. “Then I really started to understand the value of our forage production throughout the year, that you can never have too much grass, and how to manage that production really effectively.”

Start by Crunching Your Numbers

The goals in Aljoe’s mind are clear: “I don’t want to have to pay for hay. I don’t want to have to produce hay. I want to graze as long as I can, because on the ranch, it’s typically easier and cheaper to take the cattle to the forage than it is to take the forage to the cattle.”

Supplemental feed is the largest direct cost in most ranch businesses. If one of your regenerative goals is to kick the hay habit, Aljoe says, a good place to start is by tracking reserve herd days. Following this principle requires three fairly simple figures: days, demand and supply.

DAYS: Keep a count of the number of days until your spring forage flush, then add 30 more. If it sounds simple, it is. But counting it out will keep you honest about your needs. Each environment will be different, Aljoe says, but he shares Noble’s strategy for southern Oklahoma’s seasonal norm as an example.

“At Noble, we want to be 30 days into spring before we’re ready to be grazing fresh grass,” he says. “Spring growth will be growing amidst last season’s growth during those 30 days of grazing the overwintered forage, so transition to the high-quality diet is gradual. By the time they finish with the overwintered forage, the rest of the pastures have had time to recover fully and are ready to be grazed.”

So, he counts backward from May 1, averaging 30 days per month, arriving at 180 necessary reserve herd days to get from Nov. 1, when native plants typically freeze or go dormant.

In order to have those 180 days reserved on Nov. 1, he knows that between May 1 and June 30, they better grow enough grass to provide somewhere between 240 to 270 grazing days’ worth of forage.

“So, I have to go from 30 reserve herd days on April 1 to accumulating 240 to 270 reserve herd days in early July,” Aljoe says. That puts a heavy expectation on the growth that occurs in that critical window. Monitoring the growth and regrowth that occurs in that window offers the key to the year-round grazing plan.

In a good rotational grazing program where there is a dozen or more pastures that the cattle are grazing through, one can estimate the number of days the cow herd could graze while maintaining the desired residual for each pasture. Total those days up and that is the number of your reserve herd days. Very simple if you are really into rotational grazing. However, most producers are not but the concept can still be applied by estimating forage demand and supply.

DEMAND: Aljoe suggests keeping the calculation of your livestock’s forage needs as simple as possible. Regardless of where she is in her cycle, a mature cow will need to eat 2.6-3% of her body weight in dry matter each day, so calculate conservatively at 3% to meet her at her greatest needs. For a 1,200-pound mature cow, that equals about 36 pounds of dry matter per day.

Be honest about the size of the cows you’re carrying, he cautions. The Southern Plains Experimental Range station in Harper County, Oklahoma, notes that over the past 60 years, mature cow size has increased an average of 7 pounds per year, with the average cow now weighing in at 1,350 pounds.

“The fact is, a lot of people’s cows are heavier than they think they are,” Aljoe says. “We might still have that 1,200-pound figure stuck in our heads, but they may well be bigger than that.” He suggests looking at your sale records from cull cows in recent years, tossing out the culls that ended up at the sale barn for poor condition, and average those who would offer a true representation of the herd.

For a 100-head herd of 1,350-pound cows, you’re looking at a demand of 40.5 pounds per cow per day, or 4,050 pounds of dry matter per day for the herd. (1,350 pound-cow x 0.03 = 40.5 pounds per day x 100 head = 4,050 pounds per day per 100-head herd).

SUPPLY: Your forage inventory calculation – the supply – can be as precise and complex as you desire. Get a grazing stick out or ask your local extension agent or rangeland conservationist to help conduct some clip-and-weigh inventories, if you want to check your numbers or fine-tune these figures.

But, Aljoe says, many ranchers can depend on their historical knowledge and trusted intuition to make these decisions, especially if they have been haying that ground in years past. The simplest way to calculate your inventory is to look at that pasture and think, ‘If I were to bale this today, what would I get from it?’

If you estimate you would harvest 2.5 bales per acre on that quarter section, and each round bale would weight 1,000 pounds, you have about 400,000 pounds of standing forage. (2.5 potential bales x 160 acres x 1,000 pounds = 400,000 pounds)

You don’t want to graze it to the ground, so make sure to run that total standing forage figure through the appropriate grazing utilization percentage. This is a quick estimate of how much of the forage you actually want to take in order to leave an appropriate amount of residue. For native pastures in the growing season, a safe estimate would be a 25% grazing efficiency, which would equal 100,000 pounds of grazeable forage inventory in the previous example.

This means your 100-head herd of 1,350-pound cows that needs a total of 4,050 pounds of dry matter per day has just shy of 25 reserve herd days standing in that pasture. (100,000 pounds grazeable forage inventory / 4,050 pounds of dry matter demand = 24.69 reserve herd days).

Success Starts in the Spring

A critical piece in all of these equations is using adaptive grazing to manage your residue and regrowth rate, Aljoe says, which changes throughout the year with rainfall and the season.

“We usually think about residue mainly going into the dormant season as ground cover,” Aljoe says. “But we really need to be thinking about it just as much in the active growing season. The residue you leave after a grazing event will determine how much and how rapidly that forage is going to recover.”

In peak growing season, the general rule of thumb has been ‘take half, leave half,’ but Aljoe says that requires more context.

“We’re supposed to be taking half of the leaf blade, not half the height of the entire plant. That’s a big, big difference.”

The portion of the leaves left after a grazing event during the active growing season are the powerhouse of the plant, fueling photosynthesis and regrowth. A grass like big bluestem boasts leaf structures 12 inches tall or more, but the bottom 4-to-6 inches of the plant is all leaf sheath on which the leaf blade grows. Taking half the plant would rob it of the leaves needed for rapid recovery.

If the goal is to accumulate 240-plus reserve herd days in that May-1-to-June-30 peak growing window, the approach must be to maximize regrowth rate while you graze.

“In our environment, I want to make a rapid rotation through all our pastures in peak growing season at least once, sometimes twice. If I’m really on top of it, we might get three grazing passes in some of those pastures during the growing season,” Aljoe says. Those peak season grazing events happen in quick succession on the Noble Ranches. The key is to “top graze” early in the spring with rapid moves and allow pastures to fully recover before re-grazing.

Aljoe says that compared to a continuous graze or simple rotation with a few pastures, he knows he can accumulate 30% to 40% more grazing days in the peak growing season if he is moving cattle on a daily basis. “I know not everyone wants to do that but stop and think about it: 30% to 40% more grazing days compared to even weekly moves. That’s huge!”

Think of it in terms of mowing your lawn – if you cut it high, you’re likely to need to re-cut more rapidly. If you shave it down close to the ground, it will take weeks to recover. The same is true in the pasture. The light, quick, ‘top-graze’ encourages re-growth, stacking on new grazing days behind each grazing event.

Monitor Forward for Most Accurate Assessments

This is where the idea of ‘monitoring forward’ comes into play, Aljoe says. After livestock move out of a paddock, the Noble team is monitoring regrowth rates.

“I want to make sure my grazing events two or three weeks ago had the outcome we intended, that the plants are fully recovering,” he says. “Then I can adjust my utilization rate accordingly.”

As recovery rates slow as the peak growing season tapers, Aljoe looks to shift from that super-light 25% utilization rate to a 50% or more utilization rate on dormant grasses. During the dormant season, we can graze most of the leaf blade material, but we must manage to keep plenty of after-graze material to cover the soil and protect the plant during winter dormancy.

“We’re varying our utilization rate depending on how fast and how rapidly our plants are growing, or if they’re growing at all. So, in the dormant season, utilization on the leaf area can be a bit more severe than we would allow during the growing season, because we’re not expecting that plant to recover until next spring.”

The key is to regularly monitor necessary reserve herd days against the actual forage inventory. The Noble team re-evaluates every two weeks. Especially during a drought, they check their bi-weekly inventories against key dates.

“I know that on June 1, I need to have about 140 grazing days already accumulated. If I’m only at 100, and it doesn’t look like we’re getting much more rain, I better start thinking about strategies to cut my demand,” Aljoe says. “If I hit July 1 and don’t have my 250 days accumulated, I know it’s time to start making decisions.”

Nothing feels like an emergency when you have a flexible plan in place, based on the current reality. That’s the kind of proactive management instilled by those early mentors, Aljoe says. Their decades of shared commitment to the principles have paid off as the native range has improved in forage production substantially.

NRCS soil surveys indicate some of the more productive soil types on Noble’s Coffey Ranch – where Aljoe started his career – should produce roughly 6,500 pounds of forage per acre in a favorable year.

“We go out there now, and we’re clipping and weighing forage production and measuring our grazing days, and we’re getting 8,000 to 9,000 pounds, in a drought year,” Aljoe says. While they keep a 30-day supply of hay on hand in case of extreme weather, the Coffey Ranch hasn’t fed hay for the past three years, even with drought conditions.

“It does take time,” he says, looking back to the almost 40 years of focused management that got them here on Coffey Ranch. He knows there’s still room for more improvement, too. It’s in the hard times, managed well, where they make the biggest leaps.

“When you have this kind of view across your pastures, you just don’t feel the same kind of pressure in the hard times,” Aljoe says. That doesn’t mean he takes the hard times lightly; he just knows the land is more resilient. “You know that what rains you do get are going to be effective; nothing runs off. You take good care of it, and the lands respond well.”

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