Livestock advisor Michael Wilkes dives into smart, cost-effective strategies for managing dry feed during tough seasons.

About this episode

Michael Wilkes discusses strategies for managing dry feed during tough seasons to enhance livestock performance and reduce costs.

Armed with a PhD in ruminant nutrition and physiology from the University of Adelaide’s Roseworthy College, and with experience in senior research roles at the University and the Thomas Elder Institute, Michael launched his own livestock nutrition consultancy in Naracoorte three years ago. In this episode Michael unpacks learnings from the Dry Feed to Dollars project as part of SA Drought Hub's Decision Making for Drought. He dives into smart, cost-effective strategies for managing dry feed during tough seasons, showing how targeted protein, mineral, and nitrogen supplementation can unlock more value from poor-quality pasture. Listen in for practical rules of thumb to boost feed utilisation, protect animal performance, reduce feed costs, turn dry feed into dollars and build more resilient livestock systems.

People in this episode

Host: MacKillop Farm Management Group

Guest: Michael Wilkes

Topics covered

• livestock management
• drought strategies
• feed utilization
• nutrition consultancy
• cost-effective feeding

Keywords

• livestock nutrition
• dry feed
• drought management
• feed costs
• pasture supplementation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Adelaide, Thomas Elder Institute, SA Drought Hub

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