3 minute read
Feeding Facts
WHEN FORAGES ARE LIMITED
MANAGING DURING THE WINTER MONTHS
BY JIMMY PARKER
Hopefully as we approach the heart of winter, the late summer and fall weather has your pastures overgrown and your hay barns full. This means your livestock is in good body condition and winter will be easy. We know that will not be the case in many places across the country and hay will likely be in short supply nationally if not locally and there will be a higher than normal percentage of livestock that are a bit thin going into winter.
If you are in one of those unfortunate spots that did not get enough rain, or if you made the management decision not
to apply as much of the record-high fertilizer as you usually would have and forages are a bit limited, how do you manage around that through the winter?
There are options, maybe not great options given that supplemental feed looks to be as expensive as ever. One of the options that has proven to be effective in many parts of the country is to sell cattle. At least cut back to a point that you have enough forage to carry the animals that you have to springtime. Given that many producers across the West have already done this and breeding cattle look to be in short supply for the next couple of years, this looks like a questionable option at best and one that might prove particularly costly when you look to rebuild your herd next spring or summer.
There are other options like using feed and tubs to stretch what forage you actually have. Most horses and ruminants need at least one percent of their body weight in forage every day. So, a thousand-pound cow needs at least ten pounds of hay or grass every day at a bare minimum even if her nutritional needs are being met with feed. More forage is better if it is available and keep in mind that if you severely limit the forages for most livestock, they will test fences and get good at visiting other people around the neighborhood.
Obviously in most cases good quality forage would be preferred and will help mitigate additional feed costs somewhat but some years, and this year in particular, buying feed or tubs may make more sense than buying hay. The forages provided can be poor quality grass or hay as long as the supplemental feeds that are offered are good enough to meet the animals' nutritional needs.
If forages are decent in quality and quantity, things like Stimu-lyx tubs will help your animals get more out of the grass or hay available and are usually a reasonably economical way to provide some help. If the animals are thin and need some extra help then options like the Purina High Fat tub might be a better fit since animals eat a bit more of that product and would get extra calories which will likely be needed as the weather turns colder.
If forage is severely limited and you have a way to limit your animals' consumption to one or two percent of body weight then conventional feed will almost certainly be needed to get your livestock through the winter. One to two percent of the animals' body weight could be needed to meet your animals' nutritional requirements. There is no doubt that such a program will be costly, but it can be effective and make sense for short periods after times of drought which may be the case this year. Depending on what class of livestock you are dealing with, the feeds that are recommended could change. Medium protein supplements with a higher energy content would likely be the better options. Co-op Brood Cow or CPC Developer would be good options for textured feeds. Stocker 13 or 14% Allstock would be good pelleted options if a pellet is required for some reason.
Keep in mind that any time feeding changes are made, they should be made gradually and that becomes even more important during times of restricted forage availability. During times of particularly cold weather, additional feed or forage may be needed and feeding your highest quality fodder during times of severe weather would be advisable. There are ways to get around hay and forage shortages. They are typically fairly expensive and should be studied on a case by case basis for economic viability before you decide the best course of action.
