Midwest Forage, Education and Efficiency in Diversified Systems

Drewnowksi pasture walk Midwest FEEDS practicum

Join us for the Midwest FEEDS (Forage, Education, and Efficiency in Diversified Systems) Practicum, a hands-on, multi-session educational program designed to equip participants with essential skills for success in the cattle industry. This unique program leverages the competitive advantages of the Midwest, including access to perennial pastures, annual forages, cover crops, crop residues, and harvested feeds. 

Enroll In Midwest FEEDS Practicum

Practicum Overview

Health, Nutrition & Systems Thinking

February 27-28, 2025

Day 1

  • Decision-Making: Craft vision statements and long-term goals. 
  • Body Condition Scoring (BCS): Classroom and chute-side evaluation. Discuss timing and impacts on productivity. 
  • Cow Health & Processing: Physical exams, vaccinations, and quality control of animal health products. 

Day 2 

  • Nutrition & Forages: Evaluating the forage system: Strategizing timing of calving/breeding to make best use of forage resources. 
Health, Nutrition & Systems thinking

Forage Systems & Breeding

April 24-25, 2025

Day 3 

  • Annual Forages: Strategies to fill forage gaps. Field visit to see cereal rye grazing with cows and growing calves.  
  • Ration Formulation: Learn how to use ration formulation software. Hands-on examples of supplementation needs with various forage resources and breeding implications. 

Day 4 

  • Mineral Needs: Classroom discussions on key components and common mineral challenges. Learn how to evaluate mineral supplements.  
  • Breeding Strategies: Bull and cow management to ensure success. 
Forage systems strategies

Weaning, Culling & Winter Feeding

September 4-5, 2025

Day 7

  • Weaning Management: Early vs. late weaning, creep feeding, and backgrounding. Evaluation of the impacts on the system and economics.  
  • Pregnancy Checks: Chute-side demonstrations and herd health discussions. 
  • Culling Decisions: Case-based exercises using herd data. 

Day 8 

  • Heifer Development: Fundamentals of target weights and nutritional strategies. 
  • Winter Feeding Plans: Hands on activity: developing feeding plans for heifers. 

 

Weaning management

Facilities & Pasture management

June 19-20, 2025

Day 5 

  • Facility Design: Tour facilities at ENREEC and discuss operation-specific needs. 
  • Grazing Plans: Develop case-based plans for grazing resources. 

Day 6 

  • Fly Control: Identification, thresholds, and application of control measures. 
  • Pasture Management: Field sessions on grazing practices, weed ID, and herbicide use in smooth brome pasture. Explore economics and benefits of adding legumes to pastures. 

 

Pasture management

Stalk grazing, preparing for calving and wrap up

December 4-5, 2025

Day 9  

  • Nutritional needs after calving: Body condition scoring (BCS) and nutritional planning for cows post calving. Evaluate forage quality and supplementation needs using ration software. 
  • Corn residue grazing: Review best management practices and visit fields to evaluate residue availability.  
  • Preparing for calving: Hands-on calving workshop covering dystocia management, neonatal calf care, and colostrum care with life-sized calf models. 
  • Winter cow mineral and vitamin needs: participants will evaluate their program  

Day 10  

  • Decision making: Using records to identify areas for improvement. 
  • Reflection: discussion of key takeaways from the practicum  
  • Participant feedback: Collect feedback to assess the program’s value and identify areas for improvement. 
Cattle Grazing Cornstalks

Summer Grazing Management

Optional: July 24, 2025

  • Warm-season annuals: Discuss management of warm-season annual and carrying capacity.  Field visit: view pairs and growing calves grazing sudangrass with varying grazing management strategies. 
  • Virtual fence: Discuss benefits and costs of virtual fencing. View cows being managed with intensive rotational grazing using VF and compare to less intensive.  
virtual fencing split grazing gps
Skills You'll Develop: 
  • Decision-Making with Advanced Tools: Learn to use decision support tools to analyze nutritional management and seasonal mineral supplementation options. Use National Research Council (NRC) software to analyze diet samples, matching forage availability with animal requirements for optimized beef production. 
  • Forage and Grazing Strategy: Formulate effective grazing and pasture management plans, including weed control and fertility management, tailored to your operation’s resources and goals. 
  • Breeding, Calving, and Weaning Management: Explore best practices for breeding, calving, and weaning, along with cattle handling and facility design. 
  • Evaluating Cattle Performance: Master techniques to assess cow and calf performance in varied management systems, estimate cow condition scores, and determine nutritional needs throughout the reproductive cycle. 
 
Program Highlights: 
  • Hands-On Learning Across the Production Season: Experience combination of practical, in-field training and in-depth discussions that promote knowledge exchange among participants, instructors, and facilitators.       
  • Networking and Idea Exchange: Build camaraderie and share ideas with industry peers and experts in a supportive, interactive environment. 
  • High-Quality Resources: Receive software, notebooks, and a curated collection of University of Nebraska–Lincoln publications to support your learning journey. 

 

Cutting-Edge Research at UNL:

Witness innovative research in action at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center, where you’ll learn firsthand about integrating cropland for forage and cow/calf systems. 

Ready to elevate your expertise and drive success in your cattle operation? Enroll in Midwest FEEDS (Forage, Education, and Efficiency in Diversified Systems) Practicum today