ISU Extension to Agriculture and Natural Resources

Solving Winter Beef Cow Feeding Problems

Russ Bredahl, beef forage field specialist
Roger Brummett, livestock field specialist, rbrum@iastate.edu

Situation
The long period of hot, dry weather that extended through the summer and into the fall of 2003 severely reduced the tonnage of hay produced in southwest Iowa. Faced with a short supply of winter feed for beef cattle, many farmers harvested corn residues and other low quality feeds. Such feeds alone would not supply the nutrients needed by spring-calving cows during late gestation and early lactation. Cow/calf producers needed information on how to stretch limited supplies of hay and supplement poor quality feedstuffs.

Response
Forage testing campaigns were initiated in Adair, Decatur, Fremont, Page, Taylor and Union counties. Follow-up meetings were held in Fremont, Page, Taylor and Union counties to help participants interpret their test results and use the results to formulate rations for their herds.

The new Beef Ration and Nutrition Decisions Software (BRANDS) was used to formulate rations using the forage test results. The software was also used to demonstrate ways of stretching limited hay supplies by feeding groups of cattle with different nutritional requirements separately and by substituting silage, by-products, or grain for hay.

Impact

10 producers from seven counties sampled 19 lots of forage.
10 producers learned how to take representative forage samples.
22 producers attended a follow-up meeting.
22 producers completed an inventory of their available stored feed.
22 producers participated in case studies to determine supplementation strategies when faced with low quality forages.
22 producers learned how cow body conditions affect feed requirements, feed costs and subsequent reproductive performance. A cow with a Body Condition Score (BCS) of 6 is expected to rebreed approximately 18 days sooner than one with a BCS of 4. This could result in 30 pounds more weaning weight, worth $25-$30 per calf.
At the time of this writing, 1 participant had purchased BRANDS software for his own use, and more participants are expected to purchase it in the future.
One producer learned he could save $240 per month by feeding mature and young cows in separate groups, and by feeding each group according to its needs.

Page last updated: July 8, 2006
Page maintained by Linda Schultz, lschultz@iastate.edu