I had the pleasure of sitting down with Adam Harris of Harris Farms Feed & Seed in Galesburg, KS to talk about his perspective as a QLF liquid feed dealer and end user. Adam started this business venture a little over a year ago but had been feeding Quality Liquid Feeds to his cows previously, so he has first-hand knowledge of both sides of the coin if you will. As Adam and I dove into the advantages that he sees on his cattle and his customer’s cattle, several insights were lining up on both.
As a dealer, Adam personally goes out on a new customer “first fill” and will assess the cattle, and pasture, and determine where the best place for the feeder. Adam said, “The first fill is critical
especially when it comes to feeder placement. I want to make sure that the feed will be accessible to the cattle, but not so close to other common areas like where they feed hay, mineral etc. that the cattle will just congregate and not have to go out and graze.” Adam also believes that this is a good opportunity to assess the producer’s pasture and give recommendations on what he has seen work for other ranchers in his area to maximize that acreage to ensure better/more grass. “My background on the seed/agronomy side helps in this regard, but simple practices like rotational grazing and not overstocking a pasture will make a huge difference in the performance of the cattle and help guys not have to dip into their hay piles sooner than they had anticipated.”
When Adam and I started discussing the increased performance and the key points that he and his customers are seeing from feeding QLF, we narrowed it down to 3 major points. The first would be reducing the amount of open cows that he has in a year while also having a shorter calving window. “Personally, before I was supplementing my cows with QLF, there were years that I would have 10% of my cowherd open, since I’ve been feeding QLF the past couple of years we’ve gotten that number down to 3-4% with the majority of the cows calving in a 45-day window.” Having a smaller calving window with more calves born in that period allows Adam to put together a more uniform group that has the opportunity to sell better when he takes those calves to market.
The second key point would be the consistency of the cattle’s intakes. “I’ve fed other liquid feed products in the past, and several of my customers were feeding supplements from other liquid feed companies before QLF and we all see the same thing. The intakes of the cattle are by far the best with QLF.” This leads us into our 3rd key insight that ties it all together and that is cost per head a day. Adam closed by saying, “Because of the consistent intakes, speaking for myself and most of my customers, we’re supplementing these cows for on average 40-60 cents a head a day. There isn’t a more cost-effective way out there that I’ve found that can compete with that, and when you add the free choice aspect combined with the added performance I see from my cows and the calves that they are raising, QLF pays for itself and then some.”
Quality Liquid Feed’s free choice supplements make a major impact on a cowherd’s performance and in return the rancher’s pocketbook. No matter the situation or application, the increased digestibility in forage combined with our rich source of carbohydrates from cane molasses has proved it’s worth time and time again. For guys who are looking to maximize their cowherds while also keeping costs down, our free-choice liquid feed supplements are their answer!