Yeast culture and yeast cell wall components are effective products that have been fed to cattle for years and have been shown to exhibit a variety of beneficial properties affecting animal performance and health. There are many yeast products on the market, so understanding the different modes of action of yeast components can help you better understand how each product will impact health and performance of your animals. First, let’s take a look at each individual component and then explore their use in beef cattle production. Yeast culture stimulates digestive microflora which positively affects dry matter intake, rumen pH and nutrient digestibility. In the rumen, yeast culture enhances th
The winter chill is finally here in the Northeast U.S. and it is time for producers to keep an eye out for winter dysentery in their herds. From now until Spring, we’ll all be doing our best to make sure the herds we work with don’t fall prey to an outbreak of this menacing disease. Winter dysentery is characterized by a sudden onset of diarrhea that can be green to black in color and may contain fresh blood. Many cows don’t drop in DMI when they are about to break with dysentery, so we often don’t know there is a problem until the symptoms of diarrhea, dehydration, and sometimes respiratory issues, present themselves. While winter dysentery is often not fatal, it does cause high morbidity i