Keeping Feed Prices Down

Malad FFA Alumni and Supporters would like to thank the community and businesses for their support during the past year. We had another amazing year!

We started this year with our first annual Auction in October. The support was tremendous. With the funds raised, we were able to help members and provide scholarships during the school year.

We had several FFA members attend the national FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. While there, our youth were able to attend the Opening Session. They participated in the National Days of Service by decorating blessing boxes for underprivileged in Indianapolis. They attended the National FFA Expo and were able to see several agricultural career opportunities.

The Malad FFA Alumni & Supporters provided four scholarships for FFA members to attend the Idaho FFA State Leadership Convention. Our recipients were Kristal Ford, Ryelur Jensen, Makayla Marshall, and Sheridan Brown. While at Convention, members attended sessions, tours, service projects, and the Convention itself.

We also provided Senior scholarships to Kristal Ford and Justin Wittman. These two FFA members have worked hard during their years in the FFA. They have grown their supervised agricultural experience, as well as spent service hours giving back to our community. We wish them the best as they further their education.

We’d like to thank Mrs. Stephanie Whipple and Mr. Troy Bird for their year(s) of teaching and supporting the FFA members. We wish them the best in their new endeavors. We’d like to welcome Mrs. Lexie Evans as the new FFA Advisor. WE look Forward to working with her and the FFA members this coming year.

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting the Malad FFA Alumni & Supporters Auction on Monday, October 3. We are so grateful for the support we received last year and the opportunities we had to give back to our youth. We hope you will join us at this year’s auction.

Membership for our 2022-2023 year is open. Our local membership is $10 per person. The local dues help us pay State and National dues. If you would like to become a member of the Malad FFA Alumni & Supporters Chapter, contact Darin Daniels.

For more information, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Darin Daniels—President (208.251.8440; danclan65@gmail.com)

Kooper Daniels— VP (208.821.0517; kooperd3@gmail.com)

Smantha Henderson—Sec/Treas (208.766.3051; daniels. sam16@gmail.com)

Justin Wittman and Kristal Ford receive scholarships from the FFA Alumni and Supporters

Keeping Feed Affordable in uncertain times

By Allison Eliason

Feed prices are still holding high after a long year of costly feeding. What may have seemed, or many had hoped, to be a short term rise in feed costs may actually be becoming the new normal. One can only hope that the current trends fall to make raising livestock a little more affordable.

The drought situation of 2021 produced a perfect storm to set off the rocketing hay prices. The lower than normal hay yields due to less moisture, coupled with lower grazing forages on the range, made for high demands on a low supply of hay. Economics teaches us that when there is a low supply and a high demand, prices will jump, and jump they did.

It wasn’t unheard of for ranchers and feeders to be paying anywhere from $250-$300 a ton for good quality hay that, just the year before, was averaging $100 less. Many had hoped they could simply wait out the high hay prices, but they are now beginning to wonder just what they will have to pay to ensure they have the feed they need for the upcoming year.

With little relief to the drought, the 2022 hay situation doesn’t look much brighter than the last year. Concerned about irrigation availability, many farmers turned under their hay fields to plant more drought tolerant crops like wheat, leaving 2022 with fewer hay acres altogether. In some areas, a longer, cooler spring led to later and lower yields to their first crop cuttings. Many cattle operations found themselves feeding their herds later into the spring than they normally do as they waited for the grass to come along for the upcoming grazing season, further depleting the low inventory.

Now in the midst of the 2022 hay season, we see the unfortunate truth that the low hay inventory trend is expected to continue throughout the year and in turn, high hay prices will continue to hold.

Along with elevated hay prices, feeders and ranchers have also been seeing a new high in corn prices over the last decade. The rising prices can be attributed to several things including supply chain disruptions, higher production and transportation costs, an increasing variety of corn uses and the continued conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

This year’s corn production has been anything but ideal to help alleviate those rising prices. With such a wet spring, many farmers were weeks behind getting in their fields for planting. With hotter than normal temperatures over the summer, some are concerned that the high heat will be enough to depress pollen production which in turn will reduce the kernel set and ultimately result in lower corn yields. All factors that will continue to raise corn prices.

As high feed prices remain high, cattle producers and feeders are quickly beginning to look for alternative feed products to keep their budgets in check. Different varieties of byproducts such as cull potatoes, beet pulp, wheat mids, and distiller grains have proven to be great alternatives to provide quality calories and proteins at a lower cost. With the right concentrates, nearly any sort of food wastes can be added to the final mix to provide those calories the cattle need. Stories of creative feed resources include things like bakery waste, potato chip scraps and fruit byproducts prove just such a point.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find available quality waste and byproducts for alternative feeds as most establishments have contracts in place. For operations and feed yards looking for new sources, it can be challenging to any sort of available products. Many ranchers and feeders are finding that even if they are able to find available contracts and byproducts, much of it is still quite costly. Across the board, ag producers in every sector are having higher input costs which means their products, in turn, will be higher.

With no magic ration or byproduct, the best way to keep feeding affordable is for cattle producers and feedlots to establish the most efficient feeding practices as possible to make the greatest gains with the least amount of feed and lowest costs as possible.

The first step to making cattle feed more affordable is to have clear goals of what you are trying to accomplish with your feeding program. Cattle in various stages of production have different nutritional needs. Lactating cows have very different needs than that of a grower calf which is very different from a calf on a finishing ration. But the same rule applies- knowing what you need will help you maximize the use of your feed.

As a part of that, it is hard to improve what isn’t measured. Measuring and carefully monitoring feed rations and feeding practices will highlight what areas have room for improvement and should be addressed.

Next, work to reduce any amount of feed waste as possible. Using feeders and bunks will help to keep feed off the ground or away from those areas that cattle will trop down or lay on. If using feeders and bunks aren’t feasible, move feeding grounds often to reduce the amount of hay being wasted. In the winter months, feed on frozen ground or push out snow to keep mud in feeding areas to a minimum.

Minimizing feed shrink or loss, whether it is due to improper storage, inconsistent feed nutrients, pests or inaccurate feed deliveries, is also important in reducing waste and making feed costs more efficient.

When it comes time to feeding hay, forage testing can help ranchers and feeders know what percentage of nutrients it will provide. Most cattle need to consume approximately 3 lbs of protein a day, something that is easily attainable and often over shot. Over feeding protein can be one of the most expensive feeding mistakes one can make as excess protein will simply pass through cattle without being used. It will also cause other nutrients to pass through more quickly, reducing the animals nutrient absorption and overall efficiency.

Hay with a protein content of 10-12% will provide cattle the amount of protein they need in the amount of fiber that will leave them feeling satisfied with sufficient energy to be productive. Hay with greater protein content can be mixed with other fibrous fillers like grass or grain hay, straw, corn silage or haylage to extend its efficiency. On the other hand, hay with lower protein content can be supplemented with a variety of products like molasses protein or cake pellets to ensure cattle are meeting their nutrient needs.

Additional vitamin and mineral supplements can also ensure that cattle are meeting their nutritional needs and, consequently, to be as efficient and productive as possible with the feeds they are consuming. They can also help them from overeating other forages and feeds because they aren’t being driven to eat more to satisfy those nutrients they are lacking in.

Extending the grazing season to stave off feeding is another useful step to extend those costly feeds. Grazing the aftermath of seasonal harvests or fall planted grain crops can be a win-win where producers keep from feeding just yet and farmers get a little extra income and crop management from the cattle. Planting grazing crops such as earless corn or sorghum similarly is a good way to extend the grazing season by producing a significantly higher amount of forages per acre that can be grazed even in the winter months.

Aside from having highly efficient feeding practices, keeping cattle in a state where they can do more with less feed will significantly help reduce costs. Maintaining good health by reducing stress, a consistent vaccination program and pest control in cattle will always improve feed efficiency. Growth stimulant implants have proven to be effective in helping calves put on muscle more quickly during their grower phase without drastically increasing their feed needs. While some of these practices have additional costs that might seem counterproductive in a time where you are trying to minimize expenses, their returns in cattle efficiency and overall production more than make up for their costs.

For those with cowcalf operations, good herd management practices can significantly help improve feed efficiency in a herd. With limited feed and forages, any cattle that prove to be inefficient with feed, that is cattle that require large amounts of feed that don’t produce a profitable calf, should be culled. Weaning earlier in the season can help reduce feed needs as lactating cows require more energy to produce. Sorting heavier, higher conditioned cattle away from lower conditioned cattle can also help meet the individual nutrient needs more accurately.

Keeping cattle feed costs low seems like an impossible feat for cattle producers and feeders alike. Regardless of what sort of feed plan, expenses continue to soar making raising livestock a risky business. While finding creative feed alternatives and substitutes has proven useful in the past, such practices don’t quite seem to make the impact that they used to. All that is left is for those in the cattle business to become more sustainable and efficient with the feeds that they have, as costly as they are.

Having clear goals for one’s feed program will help operations use whatever means available in the most efficient way. Reducing feed waste, balancing feed rations to maximize nutrient use and extending grazing seasons will help ranchers and feeders to extend the use of their steep feed. Keeping cattle healthy and comfortable will prime them to remain more productive and efficient to maximize the use of the feeds they consume. Proactively managing herd numbers and groups can also help to more efficiently use feeds and forages.

It’s been said that you, “can’t starve a profit out of a cow” and since cattle require a little feeding here and there, finding the most efficient means to turn pounds of feed into pounds of beef, will make your operations successful even in the most challenging of times.

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