As part of our ongoing commitment to producing safe, quality feed products for our producers, Viafield has now obtained HACCP compliance for all three of our mills - Elgin, Rudd and Maynard.

HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) is a systematic, preventive approach to food safety that has long been recognized internationally as a tool for adapting traditional inspection methods to a modern, science-based, food safety system. 

 Getting your cattle Ready for warm Weather

As the weather heats up, flies become a problem

Now is the time to plan your fly control. Flies bite, spread disease, and cause discomfort and stress, impacting the health and performance of your herd. Four types of flies threaten your cows. A house fly spreads disease just through contact. The face fly spreads disease when it feeds on eye fluids and moves from animal to animal. The stable fly and the horn fly have the most painful bite. ClariFly® is an EPA registered feed additive intended to control all four. ClariFly® is available in a complete dairy animal feeding program from Viafield – from milk replacer to starter, grower, heifer, lactation and transition feed — but you need to act now to protect your herd. ClariFly should be started 30 days before the spring fly season, which typically starts in mid- to late-April in Iowa.

For beef cattle, Viafield offers RangeLand® tubs and Wind and Rain® minerals with Altosid® insect growth regulator to prevent fly development. Begin feeding Altosid 30 days before fly emergence and continue feeding until 30 days after the first frost.

Seasonal feeding - the ideal approach to calf nutrition

In cooler temperatures, calves require more dietary energy and Viafield recommends feeding ColdFront™ calf milk replacer. In warm weather conditions, calves' energy requirements are reduced. Cow's Match® WarmFront® calf milk replacer is formulated with a unique combination of carbohydrates that is correctly balanced for when temperatures moderate. It provides the most optimal protein-to-energy ratio milk replacer when cold stress is no longer a factor. Transitioning to WarmFront® calf milk replacer results in greater feed efficiency and bottom line potential. If you're on a calf feeding program that includes Cow's Match, you'll automatically be switched from ColdFront to WarmFront.

Feeding through heat stress

As we approach another summer, it's time to review what we know about feeding cows under heat stress. The first, best choice is to minimize heat stress is by cooling the cows. If you have heat stress, maintaining dry matter intake (DMI) and a healthy rumen environment is key to maintaining milk production and butterfat yields and  minimizing lost reproductive performance. Increasing the dietary cation-anoinic difference (DCAD balance) using potassium (K) and sodium (Na) has been shown to increase milk yield, butterfat, and milk protein. Viafield uses DCAD Plus potassium carbonate for a more positive DCAD that is less reactive in the TMR than other forms of potassium carbonate, so it does not heat the TMR.

First Crop Hay & Haylage

Although spring has been a long time coming this year, it's not that long until you harvest first crop hay and haylage. To make sure you retain the nutrients until you feed them to your cows, I’d encourage you to consider using NutriSave A on alfalfa haylage.  NS A’s specially selected strains of live bacteria immediately begin to produce lactic acid and also hit three of the five major spoilage organisms in alfalfa. The result is more stable silage, more nutrients, and less spoilage.

Feeding for 30^TM Program - How close are you to raising 30 pigs per sow per year? Are your pigs reaching their full potential? Viafield has joined Land O'Lakes Purina Feed in its ongoing
commitment to animal nutrition with an industry-wide initiative to offer collaborative insights and management information to swine producers striving to achieve the industry goal of 30 pigs per sow per year. Researchers behind the program explain that meeting the benchmark of 30 pigs per sow per year has economic and herd health benefits. Sow nutrition is highlighted as a priority to meet the industry goal while maintaining longevity within herds.

The Feeding for 30 initiative provides useful insights and tips producers can use to support rebreeding rates, colostrums quality, birth weights and lactation performance for optimal pre-weaning pig growth and lifetime potential.