After a dozen years of experimentation, Dean Gamache may have found the most economical way to feed cattle on his farm.
Gamache, who runs a cow-calf operation near Ste. Rose du Lac, Man., has learned that grazing cattle on corn in the winter costs nearly 40 percent less than feeding bales of alfalfa.
“We thought that it (corn grazing) would be way too expensive and that would never pencil out as far as the cost of keeping a cow for a day,” said Gamache, who farms with his father-in-law, Tony Guillas.
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“We ended up finding out that it was by far, consistently, a cheaper way to keep the cows through the winter.”
Gamache found this out through working with Rodger Sheldon, a grazing and pasture specialist with Manitoba Agriculture.
Since 2001, when Gamache first tried corn grazing, Sheldon kept track of all winter feeding costs on Gamache’s farm.
That included machinery costs, fertilizer, weed control and manure removal.
After sorting through the data, Sheldon determined that between 2001 and 2006, the average cost to feed a 1,000 lb. cow was 68 cents per day.
That’s significantly less than the cost of feeding bales in a conventional system, which is estimated at $1.11 per day per 1,000 lb. cow.
Sheldon explained the $1.11 figure is based on Manitoba Agriculture data that assumes cows eat 2.5 percent of body weight per day in dry matter in the winter.
That works out to 28.75 lb. per day for a 1,000 lb. cow, given 15 percent waste.
“Based on 2008 MAFRI costs of production for alfalfa, it costs $65.37 per tonne to produce that feed. It works out to 3.28 cents per pound at 15 percent moisture. So that would equal 3.86 cents per pound of dry matter,” he said.
Multiply 3.86 cents by 28.75 lb. per day and it equates to $1.11 per day for a 1,000 lb. cow.
The results from the corn grazing study haven’t been published, but according to Gamache, the data gathered may be the most comprehensive study of winter corn grazing in the country.
“It’s far from a university study, but it’s an actual boots on the ground real life scenario,” said Gamache, who runs a mixed herd of Red Angus and Simmentals and also backgrounds calves on his farm.
His corn grazing site is 60 acres and close to his farm, so one of the most significant savings in this type of system is not starting up a tractor for feeding. He maintains three-acre paddocks within the field, which encourages the cattle to graze on the stalks once they’re done with the cobs.
After his cows get through the corn, Gamache hauls bales onto the corn stubble and separates the site into four 15-acre paddocks for bale grazing. He puts out enough hay to feed the cattle for three to five days in each paddock.
“One day we’ll spend four to six hours feeding hay. And we may be good for up to 21 days without having to start up a tractor (again) and feed our cows,” he said.
“It’s amazing the amount of time that you free up. The money you save is probably number one, I suppose. But a very close number two is time management.”
Nor does Gamache apply fertilizer to grow his corn crop.
“The last couple of years we haven’t had to add any fertilizer whatsoever to the corn because of the hay we’re bringing to it,” he said.
“We might feed 600 bales of hay out there over the winter. We’re importing a lot of nutrients from elsewhere on the farm.”
Gamache’s successful experiment has prompted other cattle producers to try their hand at corn grazing, Sheldon said.
“We’re getting more and more (corn grazers). I’ve gotten a lot of calls from Western Manitoba this fall from new guys that are corn grazing for the first time.”
Sheldon tells first timers the key to corn grazing is to get the cows to clean up the stalks after they’ve eaten the cobs. One way to do that is to provide some alfalfa prior to moving them onto the corn, so they have food in their belly and don’t gorge on the cobs.
Also, it’s important that producers watch their cattle.
“And like any extending grazing situation… not all cattle are going to adapt to the system… Older cows or bred heifers are not always going to compete in a grazing situation like that.”
Sheldon said cows learn to adapt to the corn grazing system and as long as the animals have shelter, winter weather is not a huge concern.
“I’ve only known one producer in the past 10 years that ended up not being able to graze his corn from excess snow.”
