Grazing pastures that do not have ample rain will not be in a position to meet the dietary wants of the cow herd with out supplementation, say the specialists on the Kansas State College Beef Cattle Institute.
Talking on a current Cattle Chat podcast, Phillip Lancaster, beef cattle nutritionist; Brad White and Bob Larson, veterinarians; and Dustin Pendell, agricultural economist, provided choices for beef cattle producers to think about when managing their cattle in a time of drought.
Lancaster mentioned that is the yr when producers will seemingly want to start out feeding hay ahead of normal and may have to start out by feeding hay that has been sitting for a couple of years.
“Older hay doesn’t maintain the identical dietary worth as hay that has been reduce inside the yr as a result of microbes and climate break down the carbohydrates, protein and nutritional vitamins within the hay the longer it sits out,” he mentioned.
“There’s a worth in feeding older hay, however the high quality has declined and so producers must account for that within the total ration,” White mentioned.
To make sure of the nutrient worth, they mentioned testing the hay was vital.
One other administration technique is to restrict the time the cows have entry to the hay to forestall waste, mentioned Larson.
“By giving cows entry to the hay 6-8 hours a day after which shifting them out of the lot, they may get the identical diet as they might have with free selection entry however will waste much less of the hay as a result of they don’t seem to be tossing it round as a lot,” Larson mentioned.
The third technique the specialists mentioned was grazing crop residues.
“Crop residues could be a nice feed supply, however producers must keep in mind that they’ve the best dietary worth on the primary day the cattle are turned out and the standard decreases the extra time that passes,” Larson mentioned. “It is because the cows will eat the leaves and ears on the bottom first after which the stalks, which have much less nutrient worth.”
Larson additionally mentioned producers will want to verify the cattle grazing corn stalks and milo residue have ample fencing and entry to water.
Together with that, Pendell mentioned that producers must account for labor prices in these methods.
“With restrict feeding and turning cattle out on crop residues, there are further labor prices, and in some instances, fencing prices that should be budgeted for when deciding on if this technique for the operation,” Pendell mentioned.
Supply: Kansas State College Analysis and Extension, which is solely liable for the data offered, and wholly owns the data. Informa Enterprise Media and all its subsidiaries will not be accountable for any of the content material contained on this info asset.
