Join the University of Wyoming Extension for a workshop to learn more about meeting the nutritional needs of range beef cattle Tuesday-Wednesday, Feb. 5-6, at the Campbell County Library Pioneer Room, 2101 South 4J Road, Gillette.

The workshop was created to help cattle ranchers improve their understanding of rangeland pastures as a source for feed energy and how to optimize supplement feed costs to help maximize profitability, said Blaine Horn, a UW Extension rangeland educator for northeast Wyoming.

“This workshop is to help ranchers appreciate how the land can be the only source of feed energy for their cowherd,” said Horn.

The workshop is limited to 20 participants. This is a highly interactive workshop and includes discussions of the topics and opportunities for questions and answers, said Horn. The workshop includes hands-on activities and exercises to stimulate learning and understanding the material.

Workshops are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. both days. Tuesday includes postpartum interval (PPI) and length of breeding season, body condition, day length at calving, and nutrition before and after calving effects on the PPI, energy and the net energy maintenance systems; energy components in feed and forages; dry matter intake; energy content of northeast Wyoming rangeland forage in relation to beef cow production needs; cow body weight gain or loss and how a rancher can minimize winter feeding costs.

           Workshops the following day include protein components; degradable intake protein and its relationship to net energy maintenance; non-protein nitrogen; cow protein needs for the production year; protein content of northeast Wyoming rangeland forage; methods to assess protein and energy content of forages and feeds; ration balancing; macro- and micro-minerals; mineral content of northeast Wyoming rangeland forage; supplement sources and cost comparison.

A past participant attributed the workshop to helping lower supplement costs by only giving cows what they needed, according to Horn.

Participants will receive a three-ring binder with the presented information, tables to help assess nutrient needs of cows and a spreadsheet to help at-home calculations.

To register, contact the Johnson County extension office at 307-684-7522. Attendees must register by Jan. 31. The registration fee is $50 for the first person and $25 for each additional person from the ranch. The registration fee includes break refreshments, lunches and other workshop costs.

For more information contact Horn at 307-684-7522.