Justin A Ramirez, M.S. - Livestock Nutritionist

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...

08/13/2026

Did I Do My Job?

Every time I breed a female via artificial insemination, I think about everything that had to go right before I ever picked up the AI gun.

When I put my AI technician hat on, usually by the time a female gets in front of you, a lot of the work has already been done.

You’re hoping she’s been managed correctly, her nutritional needs have been met, she’s in adequate body condition, healthy, cycling and that everything leading up to breeding has been handled the way it should.

Then it’s my turn to do my job.

At that point, my job is to handle the semen correctly, take my time through the reproductive tract and deposit the semen in the uterine body with as minimal stress as possible.

What I think is easy to forget is that getting a female bred doesn’t come down to what happens in those few minutes at the chute, although it can certainly undo a lot of hard work. So make sure you trust your AI technician!!

It may be the nutrition decisions that were made months ago. Her body condition going into breeding. Her health program. Mineral intake. Heat detection. Timing after standing heat. Semen quality and handling. And finally, the technician doing their job correctly.

Keep in mind, research has shown just how much body condition can influence reproductive performance. In one dataset, cows at a BCS 4 had a 58% pregnancy rate compared to 85% for cows at a BCS 5. That’s a pretty significant difference for one body condition score.

There are a lot of opportunities along the way for something to go right or wrong.

By the time I have the AI gun in my hand, I can’t fix poor body condition from three months ago or make up for management not putting out mineral or watching standing heat. I can only make sure I do my part and don’t become the weak link in the chain.

And even if we do everything right, biology still gets the final say.

I think that’s one of the things I enjoy most about reproduction and nutrition. They constantly remind you that livestock production is a system built on teamwork.

My wife Kristy and I work together watching heats in our herd to make sure we’re on time, not too early and definitely not too late. Very rarely is success or failure tied back to one single thing.

Do the little things right, stay consistent and give your females the best opportunity to do what we’re asking them to do.

God Bless and Gig ‘Em

08/07/2026

Reflecting back one key takeaway, I really enjoyed Dr. Jason Banta’s practical session at the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course discussing whether excess minerals could actually be hurting cattle performance.

It reminded me of something I see all too often in the field, not only with cattle, but on the equine side as well.

When we’re trying to do everything we can for our horse and cattle, it can be easy to take somewhat of a “shotgun approach” to nutrition “to make sure they get everything they need.”
A tub goes out. Then another a salt block, a sulfur block, a mineral block, then liquids gets added. Maybe an injectable product is used. The feed contains additional trace minerals. Before long, we may have several different sources supplying some of the same nutrients because it may give us a false sense of security. “It makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing,” is something I commonly hear.

The intention is good. But more of a nutrient doesn’t necessarily mean more performance.

I think about it like my son asking me for a popsicle, then another. Just because he wanted a red one instead of that John Deere green one he already ate doesn’t automatically mean he needs one.

As his dadda, it’s my job to understand the difference between what “he wants” and what “he actually needs.” Now he asks if there’s protein in candy because he knows what I’m looking for!

Equine and ruminant nutrition aren’t all that different. Our job isn’t simply to keep adding things because they might help. Our job is to understand what the animal is already receiving, what the animal actually requires, and then determine if there is a nutritional gap that needs to be filled. That’s when we’re both economic and efficient.

Minerals are especially important because they don’t operate independently of one another. Supplying nutrients well beyond an animal’s requirements can create antagonisms that affect the availability or utilization of other nutrients. And sometimes, we may simply be spending money on something the animal doesn’t need.

This is one of my favorite parts! Mostly because I love helping programs and businesses gain confidence by making those adjustments early on. Teamwork makes the dream work.

That’s why I believe we have to evaluate the entire nutritional program instead of looking at each product individually. What is the forage supplying? What’s already in the feed? What’s in the mineral? What other supplements or products are being used? And ultimately, what does the animal actually require?…. Oh wait, what about the number one nutrient they need, water?

Sometimes improving a nutrition program isn’t about figuring out what else we can add.

Sometimes it’s figuring out what we don’t need.

Another great session and another reminder of why continuing education is so important in this industry! You’re never too old to stop learning.

God bless and Gig ‘Em!