Farm Progress

Cattle producers should invest $20 in a forage test to save on feed costs.

Mindy Ward, Editor, Missouri Ruralist

December 22, 2016

2 Min Read
SAVING MONEY: A forage test could be the key to saving money on cattle feed costs this winter. All it takes is an investment of $20.

Whether you have four bred heifers or 400 head of cows, the place to start on ration checking is with a $20 forage test, according to University of Missouri Extension livestock specialist Eldon Cole. "It just could save you a big supplement expense."

Cole says cattle producers are looking for ways to cut costs. He says they can start by taking stock in what nutrients they have in the hay barn. Knowing the energy value of the hay farmers are feeding affects the amount of supplement needed to get cows through the cold winter.

Putting it to the test
A cattle producer with four Angus heifers contacted Cole about supplementing hay this winter.

"The request from the owner of the four heifers included three forage tests that he had obtained," he says in a news release. "The three tests probably cost a total of $60."

The tests revealed an energy value, or total digestible nutrients (TDN), of 56%, 55% and 53%. The crude protein levels were 16%, 15% and 7.7%. Cole says the better percentages were from the cattleman's alfalfa hay, while the other was from a grass-clover mix.

The producer offers his heifers cattle cubes. According to the label, the cubes offer 20% crude protein, Cole says. The feed store reported the TDN level at 70%. However, TDN is not a required piece of information on feed labels. For comparison purposes, corn, corn gluten feed, dried distillers grains and soybean hulls have TDN values of 88%, 80%, 92% and 74%, respectively, on a dried basis.

"I checked the nutrient requirements for heifers like this producer reported having," Cole says. "I figured the BCS [body condition score] at a 6 since their weight was around 1,000 pounds. Their required daily dry matter intake is 20 pounds, or about 22 pounds as fed. In the last one-third of pregnancy, they require 56% TDN and about 9% crude protein."

Understanding feeding
According to Cole, at these numbers, 11 pounds each of this producer's alfalfa and grass-clover mix should suffice until nearer calving and in early lactation. At that time, the daily intake should go up to 26 pounds of dry matter from the hay. Even if this producer only fed the alfalfa hay at that time, the TDN intake is marginal, and the crude protein is more than adequate, according to Cole.

"The cubes, fed at the rate of 2 pounds per day, should help nearer calving and in the early lactation phase," he says. "I stressed to the owner that weather was a big player in nutrient needs."

One of the best safety nets to have during December and January is stockpiled fescue. Providing it is not snow- or ice-covered, cattle can pick around and find forage that could even match the energy and protein values of the alfalfa hay.

 

About the Author(s)

Mindy Ward

Editor, Missouri Ruralist

Mindy resides on a small farm just outside of Holstein, Mo, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis.

After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism, she worked briefly at a public relations firm in Kansas City. Her husband’s career led the couple north to Minnesota.

There, she reported on large-scale production of corn, soybeans, sugar beets, and dairy, as well as, biofuels for The Land. After 10 years, the couple returned to Missouri and she began covering agriculture in the Show-Me State.

“In all my 15 years of writing about agriculture, I have found some of the most progressive thinkers are farmers,” she says. “They are constantly searching for ways to do more with less, improve their land and leave their legacy to the next generation.”

Mindy and her husband, Stacy, together with their daughters, Elisa and Cassidy, operate Showtime Farms in southern Warren County. The family spends a great deal of time caring for and showing Dorset, Oxford and crossbred sheep.

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