Livestock animals, like humans, require a balanced diet that includes all of the necessary nutrients, fluids, minerals, and vitamins. Proper nutrition provides your animals with the energy they need to grow, develop, and reproduce and the immunity they need to fight infections. All of these benefits contribute to more profitable and sustainable agriculture.
Let’s dig deeper into the significance of animal nutrition in livestock production.
Boost yields
In general, proper nutrition promotes livestock health, which leads to increased productivity. Cattle that are well-fed will produce more milk. However, consumer preferences for food product quality have shifted dramatically over the last decade or so. There is an increasing demand for farm produce grown using sustainable methods. The livestock industry is under particular pressure to adopt humane farming practices. Animals on a humane farm should not be subjected to harmful substances or conditions to improve their production.
A well-balanced diet not only increases yields but also improves the quality of livestock or milk production. You don’t need to cut corners or use unethical methods to increase farm output as long as your animals are properly fed.
Improve breeding
Numerous studies have discovered a direct relationship between nutrition and animal reproductive performance. Feeding patterns, ration quality and quantity, and, most importantly, feed’s nutritional value all significantly impact an animal’s reproductive health.
Calcium, zinc, magnesium, selenium, and manganese deficiencies can reduce cow fertility by increasing the risk of placental retention and disrupting the balance of gestation and parturition hormones. In severe cases, poor nutrition may result in poor fetal development, stunted growth after birth, and high calf mortality rates.
Male reproductive vitality is also affected by nutrition. Therefore, special diets are required for animals raised for reproduction.
Improves animal temperament
Everyone understands how it feels to be hungry and have nothing appealing to eat. Lack of access to the food your body requires leads to grumpy attitudes and discontent. You might snap at people for no apparent reason. Animals exhibit the same behaviour.
Animals’ temperaments deteriorate when they are not fed a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Every animal will require slightly different nutrition. For example, cows require carbohydrates to produce milk without using body fat as an energy source.
If you ignore their nutritional needs, your livestock will notice a physical difference, affecting their overall temperament.
Prevent malnutrition, diseases, and deficiencies
Hundreds of nutritional-related illnesses affect livestock animals. Most of these illnesses are caused by malnutrition or a lack of minerals and vitamins. Deficiencies and malnutrition significantly impact animal growth, development, and production; extreme cases can result in irreversible health conditions, disorders, or even death.
Modern farming techniques have actually made nutrition-related diseases more prevalent. Because most animals are fed concentrates designed to maximise yield, they may be deficient in certain minerals and vitamins.
So, add high-value supplements to your livestock feeds, such as B12 supplements and salt-based additives containing various micro and macro minerals.
Proper nutrition helps the planet.
Purchasing feed from mass production companies is simple. They make the food so that it is inexpensive to buy in bulk, but this is not good for your animals or the environment. Because corn is easy to grow in various environments, most feed corporations base their products on it.
It’s one of the ways livestock feed harms the environment because corn doesn’t require crop rotation and thrives on chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Investigating what your livestock requires in their diet can help you narrow down the best foods for them and steer you away from companies that don’t care how unsustainable they are.
Your farmland benefits
Animals thrive when farmers meet their nutritional needs, but so will your property. For example, consider the diet of a cow. On average, they graze for 11 hours per day, depleting the grass in your fields. Rotating their pastures can restore the nutrition depleted in well-eaten grasses and participate in regenerative farming, a sustainable approach to small farm maintenance.
When you tailor nutrition to the livestock you raise, you have all-natural, nutrient-dense feed sources. You’ll avoid buying mass-produced food frequently made with chemicals to make a quick profit. This simple choice reduces the number of chemicals left to decay in the soil on your property, preventing harmful chemical runoff that harms the environment. It’s one of the ways farms unknowingly pollute the environment, but you can stop it by focusing on the nutrition your animals require.
Conclusion
Overestimating the importance of proper nutrition in livestock production is somehow impossible. However, food affects the overall health and yield performance of livestock and milk production. Keep in mind that animals are extremely sensitive to what they eat and how they eat it. So, make sure to give your livestock animals every essential nutrient in the proper amount at the right time.
As highlighted in the article, proper nutrition is crucial for livestock health, productivity, and sustainability. That is why Navneet’s Compounded Cattle Feed is an excellent choice for livestock farmers who want to ensure their animals receive a balanced and nutritious diet.
Our feed is palatable and urea-free, ensuring that animals will consume it with pleasure, and it won’t harm their health. The steam-cooking process guarantees that the feed is safe, hygienic, and free from harmful bacteria, improving animal immunity and overall health. The high-quality packaging protects the feed from moisture and other contaminants, ensuring that it remains fresh and safe for consumption.
We have an independent R&D division that continuously develops and improves our feed products, ensuring that they meet the evolving needs of farmers and their livestock. Our feed is guaranteed to be free from Aflatoxin, a harmful toxin that can cause liver damage in animals.
By using our feed, farmers can increase their net profitability through improved yields and high-quality milk production. Our fully automatic plant ensures that there is no cross-contamination, and our feed is a rich source of nutrients for growing, adult, mature, milch, and pregnant animals.
In conclusion, Navneet’s Compounded Cattle Feed is an excellent choice for farmers who want to provide their animals with a balanced and nutritious diet, ensuring optimal health, productivity, and sustainability.
