Last updated on March 4th, 2025 at 02:45 pm
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Graze Better with Riomax
With limited forage quality and quantity, this Nebraskan rancher relies on Riomax
Mike Henderson
Whitman, Nebraska
The Nebraska Sandhills come by their moniker honestly. In fact, when Mike Henderson’s great-great grandfather homesteaded in 1881 near the present-day town of Whitman, Nebraska, that was mostly what was there—sand and hills.
But the area also has sub-irrigated meadows where water from the Ogallala Aquifer comes to the surface. That provides year-round grazing. Water is plentiful, the forage is there, and the Hendersons have been making a living in the cattle business ever since.
“It’s pretty unique country,” Henderson says of the Sandhills. “We’re considered a high, arid, desert area,” about 3,500 feet above sea level. Henderson, his wife Tee Jay and their son Logan along with hired hands run around 1,000 cows. They manage around 15,000 acres on the home place and another 11,000 acres on a nearby place they call Petra.
While the trend in cow size is to get bigger and bigger, Henderson prefers to keep his Angus cows more moderate in size and weight, at around 1,200 to 1,250 pounds. “We like to have cows that better utilize our forage and have a more moderate frame. So we’re pretty particular about where we get our bulls, because we don’t just get them anywhere,” he says.
“In our area, we can run about 75 pairs on a section for a five-month grazing period in the summer,” he says. “And we have not strayed from that over the past many decades. And there are a lot of people who have had to adjust their stocking rates,” because their cows have become bigger over time, milk more and have a bigger appetite.
To keep cow size in check, Henderson looks for three main things beyond the bulls themselves. “It’s got to have good scrotal circumference because fertility is so important. I pay attention to how much milk EPD they have, because with our limited forage quality, if (the milk EPD) is too high, we start struggling with getting them to breed back and we don’t need to put ourselves through that.” The third thing he looks at is the $EN EPD, which indicates for Angus bulls how they convert feed to energy.
“We’re not going to buy the most expensive bull. We want something that’s a little more in the middle of their herd, which is a bit more indicative of what they have to offer,” he says. “And we get a little bit more consistency with the genetics, too,” since the bulls aren’t the genetic outliers that others want.
“For replacements, we want a well-doing calf that’s got some body to her,” he says. “She’s got some depth to her flank and her ribs. She’s got some width down her back and a good, feminine Angus head.”
Then he looks for heifers born early in the calving season. “I’d rather have the older calf. I know she’s going to mature a little sooner than a calf born three weeks later. And so, theoretically, she’s going to come into heat sooner.”
Building Capacity
“Even back in the 40s there was a lot of sand until they started getting more cattle in the country,” he says. “That’s when we started getting more forage and more usefulness out of the area.” Winter storms would drive cattle from farther north into Sandhills. “Then they’d come down in the spring and find them. The cattle could find protection and a little grass and water and be able to make it through.”
What was true then is true now. In fact, that is one of the many reasons that Henderson is proud that he’s the fourth generation and Logan is the fifth generation to run cattle on the same place. “There’s not a lot of places that have good, plentiful water. So that’s one resource we feel very fortunate to have.”
And, unusual for a semi-arid desert, sometimes they have too much. “A lot of the meadow bottoms where it’s sub-irrigated, when it’s really wet, we don’t go in very far. But when it’s dry and we can get deeper into that coarser grass, we a least have some fiber to feed the cows.”
Ditto for winter pasture. Given the limited forage quality, the native grasses are even more limited in nutrition when they dry out in the early fall.
The Riomax Cure
Henderson is going into his fourth year using the orange Riomax tubs for his supplement. “It was late that fall that year we started on it, we were short on help, and it was just my son, my wife and I, so we decided to save some labor and give it a try. We knew we didn’t have enough time or space to go out and cake every other day and it just seemed to make sense.”
To make matters worse, Henderson got hurt that spring, so Tee Jay and Logan took over the day-to-day management of calving and taking care of the cows and first calf heifers.
“We had several storms that spring and Tee Jay was aware the heifers had great udders, but there were calves getting sick. She and Logan would get them healed up and back on their mothers, but they would get sick again. They deduced the distillers cake we were feeding was putting microtoxins in the calves via the mother’s milk.”
That’s when they started looking for another supplement to feed in the winter, preferably one without any corn or corn byproducts. “Through an informational meeting at a seedstock provider we use, we were introduced to the Riomax tubs. Logan, Tee Jay and I liked the information on the tubs and the guaranteed consumption program they offer,” he says.
“It was the right product at the right time for us. And since starting on the Riomax tubs as a winter supplement, we have gone to using it year around.”
The Hendersons haven’t looked back.
“Even on winter pasture, they do well on that dry forage. They’re able to utilize it and still get the fiber and use it to create the energy they need.”
Then there’s the coarser forage in the dry sub-irrigated meadows. Prior to Riomax, the cows wouldn’t even eat it, he remembers. “The cows have been able to utilize (the coarse forage) so much better. With Riomax and the way it works, it makes them want more of that type of fiber and be able to use it.”
Beyond that, he’s seen other benefits. “It increased the conception rate on our cows 3% to 4%. And our yearling bred heifer weights coming off grass in August and September have increased around 50 pounds.”
What’s more, he says hair coats are better and shinier. “We know the manure is better and more like we want it and the calves are healthier.” Gut health and adequate nutrition are important, and Henderson says Riomax accomplishes both, even on rougher feed.
And Riomax is not just for the cows on the Henderson outfit. “We have also used it on our horses with great results,” he says.
Should he be asked by a neighbor why his cattle look so good, he’d point out the orange Riomax tubs. “I’d tell them they’ve done our cattle herd good. They’ve increased our production and our conception rates. They’ve helped us utilize the only crop we have, which is our grass, and cost-wise, with what the cows utilize and the consumption guarantee, they’re worth the money.”
In fact, Henderson says the Riomax tubs pay for themselves. “And we know our neighbors see that, too. They see how our cattle do on them and they see what we’re doing. And so, eventually, you hope they take the step and try them.”
Rick's secret to healthy, productive cattle
Article preview: Scours in calves
Scours is one of the most common causes of death in young calves. Even if you only have a couple of cases in your herd, it can take a hard hit on your bottom line. Besides the cost of medicine and your own time put in, scours can cost you weight gain on calves. When calves are sick early in life, it is much more challenging for them to perform to their full genetic potential as they grow and develop.
Scours is a form of diarrhea that is usually caused by a virus, bacteria, or microscopic parasites; what you probably refer to as coccidiosis, crypto, rotavirus, or another similar disease. Unfortunately, the pathogens in scours spread extremely easily, and can quickly contaminate water, the ground, and any nearby feed.
That means that even if only one calf gets scours it can spread, just by that calf walking around, consuming feed, and pooping. Then it only takes a few more calves to get scours, spread the pathogens a little further, and soon, contaminate the whole herd.
RANCHING AIN'T EASY.
FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU DO, YOU DESERVE
MORE IN RETURN.
15 - 30% FORAGE SAVINGS
3 - 10% INCREASE IN CONCEPTION RATES
10 - 40 LBS. INCREASE IN WEANING WEIGHTS
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