Justin A Ramirez, M.S. - Livestock Nutritionist

10/24/2026

Your hay test already tells you how much your cattle will voluntarily eat. Maturity tells you why.

I was recently on a podcast with Cattle USA talking about assessing digestible fibers a forage report, and I want to share the part that gets the most "that makes sense, tell me more” reactions.

Here's something I see all the time out in the field, with not only cattle owners but horse owners as well.

Forage quality gets overestimated, and maturity is the main thing that gets overlooked. If it looks like good green hay, we assume it is good hay.

One of the easiest ways to spot maturity is stemmy forage. Stems are the fibrous, woody part of the plant that give it structure. As forage matures, fiber and lignin go up and digestibility goes down, which means less protein and energy in every pound your cattle eat.

When forage makes up the bulk of the diet, that gap shows up in body condition, and it's often the most overlooked piece of the whole diet, aside from water.

I had some feedback from the podcast with people asking for an example so let’s walk through that.

Let’s start with NDF on the forage report.

It tells you how much a cow can physically fit in her rumen:

120 ÷ NDF % = estimated daily dry matter intake as a % of body weight

Take a 1,200 lb cow:

• Hay at 50% NDF: 120 ÷ 50 = 2.4% of body weight, about 28.8 lb of dry matter
• Hay at 60% NDF: 120 ÷ 60 = 2.0%, about 24 lb of dry matter
• Hay at 70% NDF: 120 ÷ 70 = 1.7%, about 20.6 lb of dry matter

Same cow, same hay, and an 8 lb swing in what she can actually eat. And the more mature hay is also lower in energy per pound, so you lose twice: she eats less, and what she eats has less in it.

It won’t take long to notice a drop in weight, especially in the last trimester of pregnancy when not only energy requirements go up but also rumen capacity drops due to a growing calf in utero taking up space.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Use NDF on a dry matter basis, not as-fed. At roughly 90% dry matter, that 24 lb of dry matter is about 26.7 lb of hay as-fed.
• This is an estimate of what she can eat, not a promise. Lactation, palatability, and supplement all move the number.
• When her intake and energy fall short of her needs, that's when we look at what to supplement. Without the forage test, you're guessing.
When you guess, your results become inconsistent but still spend the same amount of dollars.

As we continue rolling through fall and get closer to winter, testing your forage will help you get a game plan for winter.

Testing your forage with a hay probe is the gold standard. Simply connect it to a drill like I have below and test a minimum of 10% of your inventory. If you have different batches, then make sure you test them individually.

Hope this helps you understand this a bit better.

God bless and Gig Em!

Update: Source for the math is pinned in the comments.

10/21/2026

If you’re not sure which form of supplementation route you need to go with your cattle program, give this podcast a listen.
On this episode, Lauren and I walk through different supplementation strategies that can be beneficial in your program and how to determine which route you need to go based on your current pasture conditions and body condition score.
Give this a listen and share with others if it helped you!

Feel free to reach out with any questions.

God bless and Gig ‘Em

Today on the Cattle USA Daily Podcast livestock nutritionist Justin...

10/05/2026

"I just want to make sure they're getting all they need" is something I hear constantly from both cattle producers and equine owners.

It's a little ironic, because the simplest habit I see skipped in the field is the exact thing that would actually answer that question: weighing what's going out against what the tag says should be going out.
Here's how to actually know when supplementing with a loose mineral, instead of guessing: weigh what you put out, track how many days it takes to disappear, and divide by the number of head with access to it.

No fancy equipment, just an $8 Amazon luggage scale and a bucket. It’ll help you figure out how much you’re feeding in grain and even in your hay.

In this example we’ll walk through a loose mineral program in a cattle program. The math: take the pounds you put out and multiply by 16 to get total ounces. Divide that by the number of days it lasted, then divide again by the number of head on it. That gives you ounces per head per day.
As a general target, mature cows should average somewhere around 3 to 4 ounces a day, calves closer to 1 to 2.

Check your own tag too, the designed intake rate varies by product, some are built for 2 ounces, some for 4 or more.

Running well under target? Consider adjusting mineral location or the product itself. Other supplements in the mix matter too, if there's a salt block out there alongside the mineral, cattle are hunting salt first. Same reason your kiddo goes for the candy bowl before dinner, given the choice, that's where they're headed. I know where our 3-year-old son is going!

We're looking for an average here, and the longer you track it, the more reliable the number gets.
Running well over target isn't automatically bad either. Could be an acclimation period, animals getting used to mineral being reliably available. Could be water, sodium content in your water affects how much mineral cattle end up consuming, high or low.

Takes five minutes, costs nothing extra, and tells you something real instead of assuming the program's working just because there's a feeder out there. Just because they don’t eat it, doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t need it.

Getting this right doesn't just save money, it shows up in reproduction and herd health too.

Hope this helps learn a little more on this topic. If it helped you, please share to help one of your friends!

God bless and Gig Em!

10/02/2026

Matching your supplementation strategy to what your environment can contribute to the diet nutritionally is key to having success in your operation.

Shout out to JoJo and Jacob for a great visit today, looking at females across several different environments, each on a different form of supplementation matched to what that specific pasture could actually provide.

Different grasses, both native and improved pasture, in different conditions, different females in different stages of production, but the same underlying goal every time: supporting the cow and the calf's developmental needs together, not just cow performance.

That's really the point worth making, since I tend to see this as something that gets easily overlooked in the field. There's no cookie-cutter supplement program that works everywhere, every time, and stays the most cost-effective option regardless of environment, especially in a market where drought across the country is already driving commodity and fuel costs up and putting real pressure on input costs.

Here's the part that doesn't get talked about enough: muscle fiber number in cattle is locked in by roughly two-thirds of the way through gestation and doesn't change after that. But late gestation is still shaping fiber size and the intramuscular adipocytes, the actual fat cell sites that become marbling later in life. Marbling is the fat in a steak that gives you that juicy flavor in every bite of beef.

Restrict too hard here and you can reduce both. Overfeed energy, an easy trap when thinner grass makes you want to feed heavy across the board, and you mostly just drive birth weight up without getting that same benefit.

That's why the plan has to change partway through pregnancy, and why it has to change differently depending on what the environment is actually giving you to start with. Matters even more if you're running a replacement female program or selling farm-to-table, where marbling and muscle quality aren't just numbers on a report, they're the product.

Hope this helps you understand this topic a bit better!
God Bless and Gig Em

09/26/2026

I had the privilege of being asked to join the Cattle USA TV Podcast again. This time we covered some of the topics that can make or break a beef cattle artificial insemination program.

If your pregnancy rates aren't where you want them, it's worth evaluating your herd from a nutritionist's perspective. We got into how body condition score, water quality, and heat stress all tie directly into conception, including how something as small as a fraction of a degree of heat stress can measurably cut your pregnancy rate.

Give it a watch and see where your own program might be sitting.

God Bless and Gig ‘Em!

Justin Ramirez, M.S., livestock nutritionist, is back on Cattle USA...

09/19/2026

Are You Feeding What You Think You’re Feeding?

I was recently working with a horse trainer to get his feeding program dialed in, and we ran into something I see more often than you might think.

The feeding program sounded good on paper, but we were missing a few variables: hay analysis and weight.

Once we actually ran the numbers on a dry matter basis, it told a different story.

On the cattle side, we live on a dry matter basis when we’re determining how much to feed, but on the equine side, this is not typically used.

This means we factor out the weight of water or moisture that contributes to the overall weight.

In other words, if we feed 10 pounds of hay and there’s 10–15% moisture, we’re actually feeding 8.5–9 pounds of dry matter.

When we ran our numbers, it became apparent that forage was being underfed, and the grain was picking up more of the slack than it really should have been.

Side note: this is where I hear “X Feed” isn’t very good, when in reality, their forage program may be needing some work.

We didn’t just decide to feed more. We rebalanced the diet.

The alfalfa went from 1% to 1.5% of body weight, while the grass hay came down from 1% to 0.5%.

Once we put the numbers side by side, it clicked pretty quickly that our grass hay was more mature than expected and therefore offered less nutrients to the diet.

And this isn’t just a horse nutrition issue.

I see the same thing on the cattle side.

It’s easy to look at a number like 2% of body weight and think, I’m feeding plenty.

But the question is:

2% of body weight on what basis?

Dry matter or as-fed?

A 1,000-pound animal at 2% of body weight is 20 pounds of dry matter.

But if you’re weighing 20 pounds of hay as-fed, you’re not actually delivering 20 pounds of dry matter. Some of that weight is water.

That difference can add up quickly.

And when you’re trying to manage weight gain, body condition, performance or production, those pounds matter.

Sometimes we start looking for another supplement or another ingredient when the first thing we really need to do is make sure the math is right.

Are your numbers dry matter, or as-fed?

The math isn’t complicated, but it sure can be when you don’t know what basis you’re working from.

Just remember, the more water or moisture something contains, the more diluted the nutrients are on an as-fed basis. That means the feeding rate may need to go up to deliver the nutrients the animal actually needs.

Think about it this way.

When you eat a bulky salad, you can feel full because you’ve consumed a lot of volume. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you consumed everything your body needed nutritionally.

The same concept applies to our horses and cattle.

When you run the numbers in your feeding program, it can help guide you toward where the actual opportunity is.

Sometimes it’s not about adding more.

Sometimes it’s about getting the math right first.
If this post helped you, please share so it can help someone else!

God Bless and Gig ’Em

09/09/2026

Topline is more than just adding protein.

I had a great conversation today with my friend who is a horse trainer about topline in horses and some of the factors that contribute to developing and maintaining muscle.

One thing that stood out to me is how often topline becomes a conversation about finding one missing ingredient that can be the tweak needed for improvement. More protein. A specific amino acid. A new additive.

But developing topline is usually a much bigger picture.

Protein and amino acids are certainly important. For example, lysine is one of the essential amino acids considered first limiting in equine diets.

An approximately 1,100 lb horse may require around 27 grams of lysine per day at maintenance, while requirements can increase to over 40 grams per day with very heavy work and muscle composition.

But protein alone is not the answer.

The horse also needs enough total energy to support maintenance, “exercise”, and performance. Vitamins and minerals contribute to normal muscle function and metabolism. Vitamin E, for example, plays an important role as an antioxidant in protecting muscle cells from oxidative damage.

Then there is the digestive system. Horses rely heavily on microbial fermentation in the hindgut to convert fiber into volatile fatty acids that provide a significant energy source.
Enzymatic digestion also helps the horse utilize nutrients such as starch, fat, and protein. If the digestive tract is loaded with inflammation from stress, a decline in fermentable energy can be a contributing factor.

And we cannot forget forage.

The same feeding program can look consistent on paper while the nutrition changes underneath it. Hay quality can fluctuate between cuttings, fields, growing conditions, and storage. That means the amount of protein, energy, and other nutrients being supplied can change as well. If the grass is more mature “stemmy” it can contribute significantly less nutrients which you visually see topline as the first to drop. Maturity also contributes to bulk fill and lower flank appearance.

Finally, nutrition provides the building blocks, but exercise provides the stimulus for muscle development.

So when someone asks what supplement they need to improve topline, I think we should first ask ourselves a few questions to guide our thought process:

Is the horse getting enough calories?

Is the protein and amino acid supply adequate?

What is the forage contributing?

Are vitamins and minerals balanced?

Is digestion and gut health being considered?

And is the horse receiving the appropriate exercise to develop muscle?

Topline is not built from one ingredient. It is the result of nutrition, digestion, exercise, and management all working together.

Sometimes the answer is not adding something to the diet. Sometimes the answer is identifying what is currently limiting the horse.

What are your thoughts on topline and how you’ve addressed it before?

God Bless and Gig ‘Em!

09/05/2026

Howdy! 👋 I’ve noticed a lot of new faces around here lately, so figured it was time to reintroduce myself.

I’m Justin A. Ramirez, livestock and equine nutritionist based out of Seguin, Tx where my wife and I along with our two kids run our cattle business and ride our horses when we can.
I grew up on a cow-calf and performance horse operation, and growing up I always thought I wanted to be a veterinarian. Over time I realized my passion for caring for animals didn’t have to lead down that one path. There are so many ways to work with animals outside of veterinary medicine, and for me that turned into animal nutrition.

After finishing under grad at Texas A&M University Kingsville in Animal Science Pre-Vet, my senior seminar helped me realize I wanted to pursue nutrition. My continued passion eventually turned into a Master of Science degree in Animal Science with an emphasis in Ruminant Nutrition and minor in Equine Nutrition from Texas A&M University. My thesis research was studying the effects of residual feed intake on performance traits in Santa Gertrudis females from the King Ranch.

While I was in grad school, I taught Intro to Animal Science Labs and Feeds and Feeding Labs, and that’s where I found out I had a real passion for teaching. I love helping people connect the dots and understand the why behind the nutrition, not just the what.

I’m also a certified Artificial Insemination Technician, and I’ve been practicing that for the last 16 years alongside my nutrition work. It sure gives a unique perspective on the importance nutrition plays into getting females bred.

I believe this is God’s purpose for me, to be an open, honest, and transparent resource for others to learn nutrition. That’s really what this page is about. I like doing write ups on hot topics in the industry, clearing up misconceptions, and helping cattle ranchers, business owners, and equine owners take their programs to their fullest genetic potential through nutrition.

Glad to have you here! Drop a comment and let me know what part of the industry you’re in, I’d love to know who’s reading.

If you’d like a hot topic of yours covered, drop it in the comments and you’ll get a shout out soon for it!!

Thanks and Gig ‘Em!🐄🐴

Photo Credit: Katie Rossow Rossow Photography

09/03/2026

I had the honor of being asked to join Lauren on Cattle USA Media to discuss cattle nutrition decisions and how those affect fetal programming in cow/calf, farm to table and seed stock operations. Give this one a listen and leave your thoughts or questions below in the comments!

Be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast and keep an eye out for more as I’ll be featured to speak regularly!

Thanks and gig ‘em! 👍🏼

Nutrition plays a much bigger role in cattle production than simply...

09/02/2026

406: Fetal Programming: The Nutrition Decisions That Shape Your Calf’s Future with Justin Ramirez, CattleUSA Daily Podcast

Nutrition plays a much bigger role in cattle production than simply...