According to Gerard Roney, founder and managing director of Advantage Feeders in Australia, controlled creep feeding is a good way to develop a calf’s rumen, allowing for better uptake of energy and protein at an earlier age.

“We have a lot of control on how (the rumen) operates, and this is the most important thing we’ve got on our livestock farms,” Roney said at the Ag in Motion 2025 farm show near Langham, Sask., as part of a learning session presented by Huber Ag Equipment.

Follow all of our Ag in Motion coverage at the Western Producer.

Roney discussed how producers can help control the length of the papillae on the rumen wall, which pulls volatile fatty acids out of the rumen to be used as energy. Feeding starch lengthens the papillae, and the longer the papillae, the more energy the rumen can extract.

“It’s helpful to start at the beginning of the calf’s life,” said Roney, sharing an image of the undeveloped rumen wall of a six-week-old calf, which was smooth and without long papillae.

“All our calves are born with the sterile environment, so they don’t have any microbes in their gut to start with.”

He compared this to an image of the developed rumen wall of a calf of the same age, which had a greater surface area to allow for more energy uptake.

“The difference is this rumen had grain from the (start), so it’s really showing us we can get that rumen developed where they can eat pasture and digest it really quickly.”

While unrestricted creep feeding can lead to unnecessary feed expenses, he said, the idea behind controlled creep feeding is to allow for rumen development as early as possible before moderating for better feed conversion.

“What controlled creep feeding is, is providing that feed ad lib until that rumen starts to get going roughly that 100 days of age, so we feed them as much as we can early on,” said Roney.

“Once that intake starts going more than two pounds a day, for instance, we start using the feeding system to restrict intake.”

At this point in the calf’s life, pastures are usually providing more of the energy and protein they require.

“We’re just giving them a small supplementation, keeping that papillae long and getting really good growth rates.”

As an example, Roney compared an unrestricted creep feeding situation — where calves consumed 370 kilograms of creep feed per head prior to weaning — to a controlled creep feeding situation that reduced intake to about 120 kg per head.

“If feed is $0.40 per kg, it’s a $100 per calf saving,” he said.

“The younger we feed animals, the higher the feed conversion, so that’s really the best time to supplement an animal.”

Watch for more livestock-related coverage from Ag in Motion 2025 in Glacier FarmMedia publications in the coming weeks.

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Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada, a volunteer organization that provides assistance in the aftermath of disasters in Canada and the U.S., is organizing the latest iteration of Hay West to send hay to producers in Saskatchewan who have been hit hard by drought conditions.

MDS’s Hay West is not to be confused with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s previously announced plan for a Hay West program this year; however, the MDS Hay West program’s end zone is more or less the same.

“Canadian farmers keenly feel each other’s need and are quick to respond to one another. I don’t think any other industry has as much community spirit as farming,” says Lester Weber, secretary for MDS Canada’s Ontario unit.

MDS plans to ship 50 truckloads of donated hay west throughout the fall, with the first two truckloads arriving in Osler, Sask. last week. The organization is asking trucking companies in Ontario to donate or offer transportation at reduced rates.

“We will try and co-ordinate the donations with the demand in the West, but we are hoping possibly a few loads a week ongoing through this fall,” says Weber.

“The hay will be made available to family farms in Saskatchewan at a current competitive cost of 10 cents per pound for dairy grade and seven cents per pound for beef grade,” according to a MDS press release. “Funds collected by the sale of the hay will be used to offset any transportation costs.”

Initial feedback to this program has been promising, Weber reports. “We have already received calls from people willing to donate, and we have barely even got the word out,” he says.

“We anticipate a strong response, since some farmers here in Ontario were recipients of western farmers’ generosity back in 2012, when hay was shipped in from the West.”

The 2012 Hay East program was itself a response to a previous westbound drought relief effort in 2002.

Currently, MDS is working to source enough hay to meet its goal of 50 truckloads. “This is ongoing, and we are really only starting to get the word out,” says Weber.

Those interested in donating hay can call 519-584-4171 to learn more or bring it directly to Marhaven Agri Services in Alma, Ont. (7715 Wellington, Hwy. 8).

Donations towards transportation costs are also welcome and can be made through the MDS Canada website.

Saskatchewan farmers interested in receiving hay can learn more by calling 306-716-5909 or completing an application form, also available on the MDS Canada site.

— Piper Whelan is a field editor for Canadian Cattlemen.

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Due to extremely limited processing plant capacity, an uncompetitive market and disruptions to trade and market access, Ontario’s beef industry was losing an average of more than $2 million per week last year and into 2020. The effects of COVID-19 are expected to aggravate this situation, despite the recent upturn in retail demand.

“Even with the ballooning box beef prices at retail, the price feeders are receiving for their cattle have not kept pace, despite rebounding cattle prices in other competing jurisdictions, including those in Western Canada,” said Beef Farmers of Ontario president Rob Lipsett, a cow-calf producer at Annan, Ont.

Limited processing plant capacity in Eastern Canada is one of the major factors in the existing crisis. Utilization of packing plants in the region rose from 85 per cent in 2016 to 95 per cent in 2018, restricting processing capacity and competition in the marketplace. This issue intensified in December with the closure of Ryding-Regency, the province’s third-largest packing plant.

Why it matters: Because of Eastern Canada’s limited processing capacity, many producers are feeding cattle for longer than expected, raising input costs. They then face penalties for overweight animals once they are finally sent for processing. This has resulted in producers losing $180-$300 per head on average for the past year.

“The depths and prolonged nature of the market losses experienced by beef farmers in Ontario have not been seen since the BSE crisis of the 2000s,” says Lipsett.

The impact of COVID-19 is adding pressure to an already financially strained feeder sector. One example of this is a reduction in access to dried distillers grains (DDGs).

This, Lipsett notes, is “due to a decline in oil demand, which has resulted in decreased ethanol production and therefore a decrease in the amount of DDG by-product available.” It’s generally more expensive and difficult to source substitutions for this particular ration.

“Everything with respect to COVID-19 presents risks to the supply chain across the country,” Lipsett said. “With that said, industry is working closely with industry and government partners across the supply chain to ensure contingencies are put in place, and cattle and meat continue to flow.

“However, even by minimizing disruptions in the beef supply chain, Ontario feedlot producers continue to face serious profitability challenges in the wake of the prolonged losses.”

BFO is among the many agricultural associations that have asked federal and provincial governments to enhance business risk management programs immediately, as well as other measures to support beef producers. The association’s recommendations were sent to both the federal and Ontario provincial governments on March 20.

“What impacts COVID-19 will have in the short, medium and long term are unknown, which is why it’s vitally important for governments to enhance farm safety net programs to ensure farm viability can be ensured if the market impacts of COVID-19 get progressively worse,” Lipsett said.

The full list of BFO’s recommendations is available on the association’s COVID-19 Updates webpage. The list includes:

• Uncapping the provincial risk management program.
• Providing an AgriInvest stimulus, contributing a minimum of five per cent of allowable net sales without producer matching contributions, making withdrawals tax-free and increasing overall funds that can be accessed.
• Raising the AgriStability trigger to 85 per cent, removing the reference margin limit and making enhancements retroactive to 2019.
• Removing late participation penalties and allowing producers that have exited the programs to re-enroll.
• Creating a fed-cattle and cull-cattle set-aside program to help manage the supply of cattle.

In early March, BFO requested an Ontario Cattle Emergency Assistance Program from the federal government. This included “business risk management funding to address the shortfall in current programming,” according to a March 6 press release.

— Piper Whelan is a field editor for Canadian Cattlemen at Airdrie, Alta.

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