Drought is expected to force many cattle producers to try alternative
feed this year.
Livestock nutrition specialists say the high cost and poor availability
of traditional feed grain have made lesser-used sources of energy and
roughage more competitive.
Corn
Corn gluten feed is starting to find its way onto the Prairies, said
Vern Racz, director of the Prairie Feed Resource Centre in Saskatoon.
“Corn is an excellent feed source,” he said. “The Americans know a lot
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about it and we can feed it very successfully here.”
Corn gluten feed is a byproduct of the corn sweetener industry and dry
pelleted versions contain 90 percent digestible material, similar to
canola with lower fat and protein levels. Corn gluten is low in
calcium, but high in phosphorus and sulfur.
Silage
Producers are silaging green or late canola, barley and wheat.
“If it can be silaged, we’ll see it in the feed bunks this year,” Racz
said.
Testing is important, however, because silage can be high in nitrates.
Supplements and testing
High quality pastures and forages contain reasonably high levels of
minerals and vitamins, which need to be replaced when feeding
alternative feed.
“Most producers will find they need to add vitamins A, D and E. Also
calcium and phosphorous, micronutrients including copper, manganese and
zinc,” Racz said.
Agronomists say the best way to provide the supplements is to buy
pelleted feeds that contain a balanced ration.
Canola
Canola meal is finding a home in cow-calf operations and feedlots this
year.
Green canola seed is cracked, rolled and often combined with
screenings, wheat and barley at 50 percent of the millings. It can be
successfully run through hammer mills using an 1/8 inch or smaller
screen.
Feed specialists say this provides excellent sources of energy and
protein.
Because it contains up to 35 percent fat and 20 percent protein, it
works well with cattle that are grazing dormant range or eating
poor-quality forages.
Ammoniated material
Coarse feed such as harvest chaff, straw and other poor-quality forage
can be extended by treating it with anhydrous ammonia.
“Flax straw can be a very good feed when it has been ammoniated,” Racz
said.
“It can be better than cereal straw. Most of it will be burned, but in
fact it is a good feed if treated properly.”
Chaff treated with ammonia removes weed seeds from the land and is easy
to handle.
“Stack it in the yard, while spraying in a little water and then skewer
the stack with ammonia,” he said. “A very successful way of making feed
that is highly competitive on price.”
Straw
Lentil and pea straw is high in protein and is often taken by free
choice with little processing.
Pea straw can have 8.5 percent protein, oat straw averages 4.8 percent
and barley straw averages 5.4 percent.
Coarse forages may be chopped for improved use, but impaction of the
stomach can occur because cattle stuff themselves with the low-quality
feed in an attempt to receive some nutrition.
The answer is to add a balance of energy and protein to the diet. One
way to do this is to feed 30 to 60 percent of the ration with oats or
barley and add five to 10 percent of the total weight in canola or
other oilseed meal.
Contaminated feed
Smut and ergot will be common in feed grain this season.
Dust can be an issue with smut, but poisoning isn’t a concern in most
western varieties. Ergot-contaminated feed can also be safely fed to
growing animals. The University of North Dakota recommends blending
ergot-contaminated feed if they form more than 0.1 percent of the total
ration.
Pregnant animals may abort if fed high levels of any toxin, so
contaminated feed should be avoided with these cattle.
Pelleted grain screenings
Pelleted grain screenings are one of the best ways to augment pasture
or poor forages.
Ground screenings generally contain 70 or more percent digestible
material, while whole grain seldom exceeds 40 percent.
As well, vitamins and minerals are often added at the feed mill, making
these more efficient than many other alternatives.
For 520 kilogram cows that have weaned and are three or months
pregnant, Saskatchewan Agriculture recommends that screening pellets be
fed early in the fall at 3.5 kilograms per day with 7.2 kg of cereal
straw and free choice salt. This should increase to 5.2 kg of pellets
in mid-winter as temperatures drop.
Feed changes
“What ever you do with the feed ration, change it slowly,” Racz said.
“The cattle need time to adapt their digestive system to it.”
