Management
of Cows with Limited Forage Availability
Chris Richards, Dave Lalman, and Glenn Selk
Cull Poorer
Producing Cows
Many producers are currently being
faced with limited forage availability due to drought and/or fire. One of the
first management tools that should be evaluated for cow/calf producers is to
cull poorer producing cows and capture their value at a time in the cattle
cycle when the prices for cows and culled replacement heifers are fair and
allow for some capital investment to be used when cattle prices are
considerably lower and forage supplies are more plentiful.
Below is a suggested order of culling in the face of
diminishing forage supplies.
Culling order
1. Open
(non-pregnant) old cows
2. Open replacement heifers
3. Old cows with unsound mouth, eyes,
feet and legs
4. Open cows of any age
5. Thin cows over 7 years of
age (BCS < 4)
6. Very
late bred 2 year olds
The first two items on the list
are automatic culls in any forage year. Old open cows are not worth
keeping through a low-forage, expensive feeding period. Replacement
heifers that were properly developed and mated to a fertile bull or in a well
organized AI program should be pregnant. If they are not bred, there is a
likelihood that they are reproductively unsound and should be removed from the
herd while still young enough to go to the feedlot and grade choice with an A
maturity carcass. The more difficult decisions come when the producer is short
enough in forage and feed supplies that he/she feels the need to cull cows that
have been palpated and found pregnant. That order of culling starts with line 5
on our culling order. This is necessary only when grass and feed supplies
are very short. The thin older cows are going to require additional feed
resources to have a high probability of being productive the following year and
the late bred 2 year olds are least likely to have long-term productivity in
your herd.
Feeding Options
Once poorer producing cows have
been removed, you have several options to meet the nutritional demands of your
cows. These include moving them to alternate grazing locations, obtaining hay,
feeding a complete diet, or limit feeding an energy supplement to extend hay or
pasture resources. Decisions should be based on the additional labor
requirement, management skills, feed storage capacity, and the availability of
feed bunks, feed delivery equipment and a well drained dry lot or sacrifice
pasture. Grazing forages has always been and will continue to be the most
economical and practical way to maintain beef cows. However, in unique
situations limit feeding may be an economical alternative to purchasing
expensive hay. The cost effectiveness of limit feeding will depend on each
producer's price of alternative forage, the price of grain or byproduct energy
sources and the price of the protein supplement needed for the hay or limit
feeding program.
Moving to alternate grazing
locations or obtaining hay to feed free choice will require the least daily
labor input. Feeding complete diets or limit fed hay and energy concentrate
will require more facilities and daily labor. Depending on the price of
grain, nutrients to maintain cattle may be cheaper to purchase through
concentrate feeds rather than roughage.
Obtain Sufficient Hay
For cows in late gestation or
early lactation, 27 lbs per day of hay that is at least 59% TDN and 9% protein is
needed to meet the demands of average milk producing 1200 lb cows in mid
lactation.
Feeding a Complete Diet
|
Table 1. Complete diet for maintaining cows |
|
|
Ingredients |
Composition, % As-fed |
|
Cracked corn |
10.00 |
|
Corn gluten feed |
28.75 |
|
Cottonseed hulls |
20.00 |
|
Soybean hulls |
20.00 |
|
Corn distillers grains |
20.00 |
|
Limestone, 38% |
1.25 |
|
Calculated Nutrient Concentration |
%, As-fed |
|
NEm, Mcal/cwt |
75.0 |
|
TDN, % |
66.1 |
|
Crude protein, % |
14.6 |
|
Calcium, % |
0.74 |
|
Phosphorus, % |
0.42 |
If hay in sufficient quantity or quality is not
available, you can consider limit feeding hay that is available with a concentrate
diet. If no hay is available or limiting hay consumption is not feasible (see
below), Table 1 represents a complete diet that can be limit fed. This diet
should be fed with a good quality free choice mineral that contains an ionophore.
Table 2 provides calculated feeding rates for late gestation and lactating
cows in good body condition. Feeding this diet free choice will result in
cows becoming heavy conditioned and result in higher cost than feeding good
quality hay.
|
Table 2. Guidelines for limit fed complete ration
(Table 1) for cows in average body condition |
|
|
State of |
|
|
Gestation |
Lb, As-fed |
|
1100 lb |
16.8 |
|
1200 lb |
17.6 |
|
1300 lb |
18.4 |
|
Lactation
(average milk) |
Lb, As-fed |
|
1100 lb |
20.5 |
|
1200 lb |
21.5 |
|
1300 lb |
22.4 |
Limited Forage Available - Limit feed
concentrate mix
|
Table 3. Guidelines for limit fed corn
rations for cows in average body condition |
|||||
|
State of |
Whole corn |
38 to 44% protein supplement |
Long stemmed grass hay |
Limestone |
|
|
Gestation |
Lb, As-fed |
||||
|
1100 lb |
8.3 |
2.0 |
5.5 |
0.2 |
|
|
1200 lb |
9.0 |
2.0 |
6.0 |
0.2 |
|
|
1300 lb |
9.8 |
2.0 |
6.5 |
0.2 |
|
|
Lactation (average milk) |
Lb, As-fed |
||||
|
1100 lb |
11.0 |
3.0 |
5.5 |
0.2 |
|
|
1200 lb |
12.0 |
3.0 |
6.0 |
0.2 |
|
|
1300 lb |
13.0 |
3.0 |
6.5 |
0.2 |
|
Table 3 includes guidelines for rations based
on corn grain, supplement and minimal amounts of long stemmed hay. Several
|
Table 4. Protein supplement for use in
limit fed corn diets |
|||
|
Ingredient |
%, As-fed |
||
|
Soybean meal, 47% |
59.00 |
29.50 |
--- |
|
Cottonseed meal |
--- |
29.50 |
--- |
|
Linseed meal |
--- |
--- |
81.06 |
|
Wheat middlings |
22.96 |
22.96 |
0.9 |
|
Limestone, 38% |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
|
Cane molasses |
3.8 |
3.8 |
3.8 |
|
Salt |
2.5 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
|
Urea |
2.3 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
|
Dicalcium phosphate |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
|
Potassium chloride |
1.0 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
|
Copper sulfate |
0.04 |
0.04 |
0.04 |
|
Selenium 600 |
0.15 |
0.15 |
0.15 |
|
Zinc oxide |
0.02 |
0.02 |
0.02 |
|
Vitamin A, 30,000 units per gram |
0.15 |
0.15 |
0.15 |
|
Rumensin 80Ža |
0.08 |
0.08 |
0.08 |
|
aTo provide 60 mg Rumensin per pound of
supplement. |
|||
Table 5 represents a complete supplement mixture that is designed for use in limiting feeding situations. It is similar to several 14% crude protein mixes that are available through local feed manufactures. On an as-fed basis, it is calculated to contain 13% protein, 70% TDN, 0.60% Ca and 0.55% P. Table 6 provides suggested feeding rates for these types of supplements along with 0.5% body weight of hay. If producers are not set up to handle bulk grain or other commodities or do not have the equipment and/or feed bunks necessary to feed grain, this mix can be made into 3/8 or 3/4 inch cubes for feeding on the ground. Because of the high level of corn and soybean hulls, the pellets or cubes will be somewhat soft. Consequently, handling, auguring etc. should be minimized to reduce the amount of fines. As an alternative, many feed manufacturers already have available 20% cubes that will work well for this purpose.
|
Table 5. Complete supplement composition, % As-fed |
|
|
Ingredient |
Wheat middlings/soybean hulls |
|
Cottonseed meal |
2.86 |
|
Wheat middlings |
38.1 |
|
Soybean hulls |
28.6 |
|
Cracked corn |
24.2 |
|
Cane molasses |
4.73 |
|
Limestone, 38% |
0.952 |
|
Salt |
0.476 |
|
Rumensin 80 |
0.024 |
|
Vitamin A, 30,000 units per gram |
0.029 |
|
Copper sulfate |
0.005 |
|
Selenium 600 |
0.029 |
|
Zinc oxide |
0.0001 |
|
Table 6. Guidelines for limit fed a
complete supplement for cows in average body condition |
||
|
State of |
Wheat
middlings/soybean hull supplement |
Long
stemmed grass hay |
|
Gestation |
Lb, As-fed |
|
|
1100 lb |
14.5 |
5.5 |
|
1200 lb |
15.0 |
6.0 |
|
1300 lb |
15.5 |
6.5 |
|
Lactation
(average milk) |
Lb, As-fed |
|
|
1100 lb |
18.0 |
5.5 |
|
1200 lb |
18.7 |
6.0 |
|
1300 lb |
19.5 |
6.5 |
Limit Feeding Hay
The most certain way
to make sure that your cows are receiving adequate hay in limit feeing
situations is to limit feed the hay daily along with the concentrate. This
could be practical if you have square bales, a hay grinder, or are able to
unroll bales for your cows. If that is not possible, you may be able to limit
feed hay by controlling access to round bales. For this method you will need
facilities in which you maintain the cows and hay separately and have
sufficient bales available for all cows to eat at one time. It may be difficult
to get cows away from the bales, so it is recommended that you place the bales
in one pen and then feed concentrate in bunks in additional pens or pasture. If
cubes are being fed on pasture, bunks would not be required. There are two
strategies for time limit feeding hay with concentrate diets, daily or every
other day. Daily, cows should be allowed
access to they hay for approximately 45 minutes. If allowing access to hay
every other day while limit feeding concentrates, cows should be allowed
approximately 4 hours of access to the hay. It is NOT recommended that you feed
hay less frequently than every other day. Hay should always be fed before the concentrate
to ensure adequate hay intake. Feeding the concentrate after the hay may also be
helpful in getting the cows to leave the hay. Limit feeding hay may result in
cows acting hungry for the first couple of weeks.
Limit Energy Concentrate Feeding Management Tips
Limit feeding energy concentrate diets to breeding females will require greater skill and discipline on the part of the herd manager. Acidosis, bloat, founder, etc. are always a risk when energy concentrate diets are fed to ruminants. These risks can be minimized by the following management practices:
1. When starting the concentrate feeding program gradually increase the amount of grain fed and reduce the amount of hay fed over a 2-week period.
2. Provide plenty of feeding space to accommodate uniform consumption. A minimum of 30 inches of linear bunk space per cow should be used, more for horned cows.
3. Whole shelled corn is safer to feed compared to finely processed grain. If the grain must be processed, it should be coarsely rolled or cracked.
4. Long stemmed hay should be fed at a minimum DM level of 0.25% and up to 0.5% of body weight for cows receiving whole shelled corn. If cracked or rolled corn is used, provide a minimum of 0.5% body weight hay DM, but do not exceed 0.75%. Feeding less hay reduces the cost, but increases the need for greater management intensity. As the cows and the manager adjust to the program, the amount of hay fed can be gradually reduced to the minimum value suggested above.
5. Feeding an ionophore will help prevent acidosis and bloat as well as reduce the amount of feed needed by 7 to 10 percent.
6. Feed cattle at the same time every day. Altering the time of feeding, especially in limit feeding programs, greatly increases the risk of digestive upset. An ideal feeding situation would be one where corn, hay and supplement could be placed in the bunk ahead of time. At the appropriate time of day, the cattle would be given access to the feed by simply opening the lot gate. An alternative would be to feed the hay before the grain and supplement.
7. Remember that the idea is to supply a ration in a very small package that is highly concentrated in energy. Consequently, the total pounds consumed per day will be less than the cattle are accustomed to. The cattle will likely act hungry for the first few days. They will also have a gaunt appearance, compared to cattle receiving free choice hay or pasture. Resist the temptation to feed more because they act or look hungry. Otherwise the advantages of decreased cost and/or decreased hay utilization will be negated.