With profit margins tight in the beef industry, producers can’t afford to take a wait-and-see attitude with this fall’s calves, according to a North Dakota State University expert.
“Current conditions demand that we do whatever we can to increase the potential for profit,” said Chip Poland of the NDSU extension service.
“For producers who are looking at feeding calves after weaning, that means setting some goals in advance and formulating diets and feeding plans to accomplish those goals.”
That’s especially critical for producers who plan to background their calves this fall and winter, Poland said.
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Often, calves are backgrounded for 75 to 100 days before being sold to feeders. Many producers are considering backgrounding calves this year because feed grain and beef prices are low. Producers hope to use the cheap grain to add pounds to calves while the beef market recovers, Poland said.
“For that strategy to work, producers must choose a target date for marketing and a target weight for their calves and formulate diets so calves meet those objectives,” he said.
“Calves need to gain at their genetic potential. The faster the rate of gain, the greater our profit potential.”
Calves must make the transition from nursing and grazing to high quality forages and grain supplements as rapidly as possible.
That transition can be fraught with problems. Adding too much concentrate too quickly can cause calves to stop eating or upset the delicate balance of microbes in the rumen. That could cause bloat, acidosis or reduced performance from stress.
“It’s a bit of a balancing act,” Poland said.
Still, pushing calves onto high concentrate diets must be done sooner rather than later.
“Studies show that profit potential rapidly disappears during the first 28 days of the backgrounding period,” Poland said.
“If we’re looking at 100 days or less for backgrounding, we don’t have the luxury of taking more than 30 days to move those calves onto a high concentrate diet.”
Poland advises starting calves on high quality hay for the first five to seven days. After that, concentrates can be top-dressed on the hay. Increase concentrate and reduce forage in separate steps every three days while monitoring calves for health concerns.
He said it’s not uncommon for producers to feed calves a maintenance diet for a couple of weeks after weaning while they decide whether to sell them or background them.
“Unfortunately, the feed bill from that period can take a big bite out of backgrounding profits.”
Producers might choose to feed calves throughout the winter for other reasons, such as to prepare cattle for grass next spring, for a short preconditioning period just after weaning, or to raise replacement heifers. In each case, clear objectives and feeding strategies to meet those objectives are keys to maximizing profit.
Producers who precondition calves typically feed them for a month or less to prepare them for a feedlot. Feeding good quality hay and minimizing stress after weaning are key.
“We don’t want weight loss and we want to encourage gain, but putting on weight isn’t our primary objective. We simply want good healthy calves that are ready to go into the feedlot,” he said.
Health is also the primary goal for calves fed throughout the winter to be turned out onto pasture next spring. “The key with those calves is to minimize cost,” Poland said. Use lower quality forage with some supplement to keep feed costs low.
“We’re not looking for weight gain, we just want them healthy and ready to gain when they hit the grass in the spring.”
For replacement heifers, producers need to look to next year’s breeding season, he said.
“If you’re planning to breed them in April or May, choose a feeding program that will get them to breeding weight by then. The idea is to go slow and get them there with minimum expense.”
