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BUILDING VALUE NEW TECHNOLOGY The Midwest Cattleman · February 24, 2022 · P27
continued from page 20 continued from page 23
MORE REASONS brings a lot of nutrition to
the U.S., and tight feed sup- breeds and directly compare continued from page 16 the table too.
plies, Harrell says Hereford those EPDs. With red clover you get
cattle are proving their profit IGS offers a Feeder Profit its ability to produce high all of these benefits plus free
potential through efficiency. Calculator based on the multi- yields and high animal per- nitrogen from the rhizobia
“From birth to slaugh- breed evaluation results. The formance. Red clover has bacteria embedded in root
ter, Herefords, in my opin- Feeder Profit Calculator is an some qualities that in some nodules. Don’t forget that
ion, really excel in the whole innovative marketing tool for ways make it superior to al- red (and white) clover can be
production system. Not just commercial producers to pre- falfa. Before you burn me at readily introduced into tall
the final product, not just dict feedlot performance for the stake for this bit of forage fescue pastures by overseed-
from birth to weaning, not feeder cattle. heresy, hear me out. Both of ing now. This establishment
just from weaning to a nine- “Commercial producers are these legumes are highly di- method is commonly known
weight, but all along every key partners in the evaluation gestible, but alfalfa as it ma- as frost seeding because the
phase they can generate in- especially for carcass traits. tures tends to accumulate freezing and thawing of win-
come,” he says. Since retained ownership cat- more lignin associated with ter creates enough seed-soil
Bedwell says these factors tle are owned by commercial plant fiber than red clover. contact that clover will ger-
keep Hereford breeders sus- producers, we are more likely Lignin in mature forages re- minate in late spring.
tainable. to get carcass data. This is huge duces the digestibility of the More than ever, red clover
“There’s not a greater for our evaluation because we fiber. Lower lignin values in needs to be part of your strat-
up-cycler than the beef cow. are trying to incorporate more red clover give it an energy egy for managing toxic tall
She’s a ruminant female that carcass phenotypes to increase advantage. Also, when I ran fescue.
can take low-quality forage the reliability and breadth of the mobile forage testing lab Happy foraging.
and make high-quality beef animals described through our at the University of Missou- OSU
protein. She does it year-in, carcass evaluation,” Culbertson ri, red clover always tested
year-out, 365 days a year. said. lower in fiber than compara-
For more information about
Hereford breeders are great this year’s Symposium and the ble alfalfa bales. Comparing
stewards of that,” he says. Beef Improvement Federation, red clover to alfalfa may be
“We’re going to continue that including additional presenta- like comparing Porsche to
story because it’s a great one tions and award winners, visit Ferrari since both are high
to tell.” BIFSymposium.com. performance entities. Just
Hereford.org Drovers remember that red clover