This year at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, attendees had access to a variety of special sessions that highlighted some of the global opportunities currently breaking new ground in different sectors of agriculture production. Dan Dhuyvetter, Director of Marketing, Research and Development, and Nutrition Services for block supplement manufacturer Ridley Block Operations spoke during the special session on the beef industry, highlighting a number of ways that his company’s supplement blocks can be utilized as a tool to produce better beef.

Dhuyvetter highlighted some of the conventional uses of block supplements, which are primarily utilized in pasture systems for cow-calf operations, and also brought light to several new ways the products can be utilized to improve production and cow condition.

“The blocks can also be used to move cattle towards underutilized areas of pastures. What our research has found is that if you move the supplements into those underutilized areas, the cattle will seek those areas out, which can help the overall quality of the entire grazing system as well,” said Dhuyvetter in an interview after his talk during the conference.

Dhuyvetter stressed that the right supplementation can be an extremely cost effective way to help producers thrive in a volatile farming economy, and made sure to give some of the advice he provides customers looking into block supplementation on their operation.

“Producers really need to look at the primary factors that are currently limiting their production and then focus their supplementation efforts on those times of the year when its most important, the critical times when it’s paramount that nutrient requirements are being met and cow condition is being maintained.” he said. “We realize that forage is the largest contributor to a cow’s diet, and most producers have already made big investments in their forages and hay fields, so they want to ensure that providing just minimal supplementation to maximize the use of the forage is to their benefit, because it’s limiting how much they’re spending and putting out for additional resources.”

Listen to Jamie’s full interview with Dan here:
Interview with Dan Dhuyvetter, Ridley Block Operations

View and download photos from the event here: 2016 ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference Photo Album