MANAGEMENT MATTERS
Boost Next Fall’s Income Now Be sure cows fit environment, forage base Story By Lisa Henderson for Cattlemen’s News
T
he most expensive component of maintaining a cowherd is winter-feeding, and harvested hay or harvesting, storing and feeding harvested hay are a large portion of those costs.
pregnant cow in the third trimester. When feeding the same hay to a cow in early lactation — within 3 months post-calving — it would take 5 pounds of supplemental feed to meet the cow’s requirements.”
Stored feeds such as hay normally cost producers three to five times as much as grazing a summer pasture or stockpiled feed in a paddock, when cost is calculated, according to beef industry experts. And, winterfeeding can become even more expensive when the hay available to be fed is poor-quality.
Beef nutritionists say cows can be under nourished even though they are eating all they can eat. Feeding the correct quantity of hay is important, but feeding the correct quality of the hay during each production stage is the key. Poor quality forage does not pass through the rumen as quickly as high quality forage, so the cow is full but still lacks the nutrients she needs to maintain productivity.
“Poor cow nutrition can be economically crippling to your operation,” said Dan Thomson, D.V.M., Kansas State University. “A cow’s energy status is important to her remaining productive. Protein, minerals and vitamins are all important, but if a cow is starving, the right mineral balance is not going to help. Energy is the first priority.” A cow goes through many physiological changes during a year, and the winter and early spring feeding period is one of the most critical times in her life to provide adequate nutrition because of her needs at calving time. Producers are encouraged to maintain their cow’s dietary needs if strong, healthy calves are to be produced and also to get cows rebred in a timely manner to maintain calving intervals. University of Arkansas Extension Beef Specialist Paul Beck says cattlemen should supplement cows when the forage nutritive quality does not meet their needs. That low nutritive quality might be due to low crude protein and digestibility because of forage maturity, or high nutrient requirements of the animal, such as early-lactation cows or growing calves that require more nutrients. “The level of supplementation required changes with cow nutrient requirements,” Beck said. “An average quality hay with 10 percent crude protein and 54 percent total digestible nutrients would require no supplementation when fed to a dry www.joplinstockyards.com
at least sorting cows based on stage of production increases efficiency,” he said. “Hay should be tested, which allows producers to fit the hay quality with the livestock nutrient requirements; lactating cows and growing calves should be fed the best quality hay, and dry pregnant cows and bulls can be fed the lower quality hay.” Heading into winter, Thomson said a useful measure for your cow herd is body condition scoring. “Cows headed into winter in poor condition means their chances of rebreeding next spring are dramatically reduced,” he said. “That’s because it is difficult and expensive to add condition to cows during the winter, and thin cows
next spring will have difficulty producing enough milk to adequately care for new calves and re-breed.” Adding condition to cows can’t be done overnight. “Realistically, adding a pound a day to a bred cow over the winter will require some extra energy, a cost that may prove worthwhile if she weans a big, healthy calf next fall,” Thomson said. “Supplementation with by-products, distillers grains, gluten feed and other fibrous by-product feeds are an excellent energy source.” Failing to provide adequate nutrition and energy to your cows, Thomson said, will have a negative impact on immune status, neonatal calf scours and colostrum quality, all factors that will reduce your income next fall.
“We often use the figures 2.5 to 3 percent of a cow’s body weight as the amount of dry matter (DM) a beef animal needs per day,” Thomson said. “So, a 1,300-pound cow would require approximately 33-39 pounds of dry matter each day, which amounts to between 37 and 43 pounds of hay that is 90 percent dry matter.” Extension specialists encourage producers to have a laboratory forage analysis conducted to determine the nutrient quality of their hay. Armed with that information, producers can make determinations about supplements. “Supplement type depends on what is deficient and the feeding management of the producer,” Beck said. “In many cases, self-fed block type supplements are perfectly adequate, but often they do not provide high enough supplement levels to meet the cow’s deficiency. That is why I usually suggest handfeeding supplements when producers are able to.” Beyond supplementation, Beck suggests producers examine how their operation fits within their environment and their forage base. “Because a cow’s requirements are so different based on stage of production, I suggest producers use a defined calving season that fits the forage base of the ranch, if not that, then DECEMBER 2016
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