OYEN, Alta. – Planning this winter’s feed rations involves more than
sticking a round bale in a feeder, say Alberta Agriculture beef
specialists.
“This year we need energy, and grain is going to provide energy,” said
beef specialist Don Milligan at a producers’ meeting in Oyen.
“This is also the year of the diet.”
Hard-nosed decisions will be required, including carefully weighed
rations, heavy culling of less productive cows and early weaning.
To extend precious hay supplies, cut back forages from 2.5 percent of
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the cow’s body weight to half a percent of body weight. This means a
1,400 pound cow could receive about eight pounds of hay a day.
Cows are not going to feel full but the rumen shrinks in a week to 10
days and they will take less feed.
“If you feed them to be full, it is going to cost you a lot of money,”
said Milligan.
“Nobody is in a position to feed 100 percent forages this year.”
Producers must calculate costs of hay, protein and supplements to
determine the cheapest way to carry cows over the winter.
For example, hay landed at Red Deer is $160 per tonne, which means it
costs eight cents a lb. to feed a cow. Barley is about $4 a bushel and
corn is slightly cheaper. It may be more economical to feed more grain.
Winter feed supplies must be lined up now.
Alternative feeds such as vegetables, beet pulp and potatoes depend on
local supplies.
Feed companies stock supplements, but orders must be placed now.
Products such as wheat bran are already sold out to December.
Don’t cheat on minerals. They may have to be mixed in feed supplies
because cows might not go to a block of salt often enough. Cattle need
selenium, copper and zinc to maintain health.
Culling decisions may come down to calculating cow depreciation.
“A cow is worth $1,300 as a bred animal,” said beef forage specialist
Christoph Weder.
“If that cow comes back open in the fall, she is only worth 55 cents a
lb.”
Winter feed costs may be as high as $600 per animal, so it is important
to fatten up cows now.
“Fat has two and a half times the caloric value of barley in terms of
energy,” Weder said.”It is the biggest factor in rebreeding and it will
allow you a lot of flexibility in winter feeding.”
There will be a shortage of bedding this winter, so cows may be lying
in snow.
Cows in better condition can tolerate those conditions better than thin
ones.
Producers must calculate the cost of a unit of protein and the type of
protein being consumed.
Too much undegradable protein is excreted in the manure and urine.
Erasmus Okine, a beef nutritionist with the University of Alberta, said
this takes too much energy from the cow.
Lactating cows require about 10-12 percent crude protein in the diet.
Pregnant cows and wintering bulls need about nine percent.
Okine suggested adding molasses, urea or protein supplements to
low-quality forage with less than seven percent protein.
Urea must be monitored carefully because rumen microbes cannot handle
high levels. It should not exceed more than one to 1.5 percent of total
dry matter intake.
“These young calves can’t handle high amounts of urea,” he said.
Producers should also remember that forage intake decreases when grain
intake increases.
Weder advises weaning now.
It costs less to get cows through the winter if they are not lactating.
Recovery time will be longer, making rebreeding and calving easier next
spring. Colostrum production for next year’s calf will also be
improved.
If cows have been weakened and go into the winter in poor condition,
their next calves will also suffer. They need to receive grain now to
fatten them because putting extra condition onto cows in Ð20 C weather
will not work.
Lactating cows cannot gain fat for winter and keeping calves on cows
for weight gain is a misnomer.
Calves depend less on milk for weight gain as they get older. Their
growth genetics are independent of milk production.
Milk production peaks at about 60-70 days and declines after that. The
calf only gets about seven percent of its dry matter needs from the
milk, with the rest of its nutritional requirements coming from grazing.
If possible, wean on grass because calves know where to find feed. They
can be weaned in pens with a trainer animal that shows them where feed
and water are located.
Calves weaned at 120 days have a more developed rumen and can handle
forages and grain provided in creep feeders. The creep feeder should
contain high protein feed such as peas or prepared calf pellets.
However, the calf may still return to the cow for milk so it is better
to wean them entirely to save the mother.
