A major upgrade to the CowBytes software program is ready to roll out the gate.
Beef and forage specialists from Saskatchewan and Alberta co-operated on a project to improve the popular cattle nutrition and ration balancing program.
Alberta beef and forage specialist Barry Yaremcio said information on nutrition has been dramatically increased, and step-by-step directions have been added.
“I like to call it CowBytes for dummies,” he said.
As well, the program now has a comment section with information based on forage specialists’ experiences. For example, the program notes that feed containing kochia can limit cows’ calcium absorption, so supplement may be required.
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There are also tips relating to feeding dried distillers grain, which wasn’t widely used when the last version of CowBytes was released.
Also included is a yardage calculator that allows producers to enter facility, equipment and operating costs, along with the number of cattle and days on feed to determine yardage costs per head per day. This is useful if producers are overwintering someone else’s cattle on a custom basis.
The new software is fully compatible with the old program.
It will be released once the provincial government gives approval. It can be bought through the Alberta Agriculture website.
