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Dealing with Drought - Challenges to Your Cattle
Drought is certainly not the problem this year, this info from 2006 may still be helpful in the future. You as a cattleman must also remember that we are dealing with pastures that are already stressed from the past 5 years of difficult conditions. Managing to help your pastures survive is going to involve reducing grazing pressure. This may come from reduced stocking rates or a shortened grazing period, or both. The important part is that you do something rather than let the pasture grasses continue to deteriorate. Remember these grasses are ALREADY damaged.
The difficulty is in the details...just how can you reduce grazing pressure? There are several ways to reduce stocking rates—fewer pairs on the same acres, shorter turnout time, rotational grazing, supplementing animals while on grass and early weaning are some of your options. This letter will explore ideas and products that we at Ingram Feed & Seed have seen used. We will start with the most likely actions and work from there.
1. Early weaning of calves is the most common method of removing animals from the range. Once calves are weaned they can be keep in a dry lot or other range area and drastically lower the amount of energy that the brood cow will need.
If you are considering an early weaning program it is very beneficial to get the calves started on creep feeds AS SOON AS POSSIBLE in the spring. Calves which are used to eating dry feeds will start on feed faster and make your life easier. An additional benefit is that the calves will use somewhat less grass while they are still on the cow with creep feed available. Creep feeding alone will not stretch your grass nearly as much as early weaning however.
When weaning calves that have been creep fed we would ideally start them on Impact Starter Complete (ISC) in the self feeder. This product is very palatable and nutrient dense with intake limiters to keep the calves from over eating. ISC can be fed as the sole complete ration for the first 28 days and it will give outstanding performance if it used for the full period. Notice we said complete ration, ISC has roughage in it so no hay is needed. It is also medicated to help prevent health challenges.
Calves can be background fed with Purina® Beef Grower and corn WITHOUT additional hay. I know that sounds far fetched but I have personally used these products and I know that they do work. These products do contain some roughage and they also work by changing the eating habits of the calves so that they consume many small meals daily. This prevents acidosis and allows us to cut hay out of the ration. This could be a very important time to save hay for your cow herd. We can also background with Purina® Accu-Ration and corn mixes fed WITH hay.
You will notice that either way will eliminate daily feeding chores as the calves will be on self feeders. These programs are a great way to keep you calves and put on pounds and dollars without requiring much labor or time from the producer. Hay and or silage can be fed daily if that is your desire. The labor savings will be less but the self feeders will still allow all animals to perform to their full potential.
2. Supplementing cattle while on grass is actually common in some areas. Producers that use the practice believe that the improved cow condition actually decreases their year round supplement cost. If you absolutely cannot early-wean and do not reduce numbers—this is your only option to stretch grass capacity. Supplemental feeds can include grains, hays, protein and energy supplements, or byproduct feeds. When looking at costs of these alternatives you need to look at the cost of delivery to the cows as well as the cost of the various feeds.
Grain can be supplementary fed to beef cows on range. There is an inverse relationship between the amount of grain fed and forage digestion however. This means you need to replace the energy that the animal is no longer getting from forage as well as the amount of energy you wanted to add in the first place. To be effective grain feeding on range would require daily feeding, twice a day would be even better but then delivery costs would also double.
Producers could also use Purina® Accu-Ration and corn fed in a self feeder on range conditions. The ratio will usually be quite high in corn, 60-80% corn and 40-20% Accu-Ration. Targeted intakes would be in the 15-20# range depending on cattle size, condition, and grass available. Self feeding eliminates daily delivery costs for the producer. As always, the best way to prevent high intakes would be to start early before cows are in too low of Body Condition Scores (BCS).
Purina® Sup-R-Lix liquid supplement can also be used on range. This is actually the most popular product for short pasture conditions. The product is fed through lick wheel feeders so it is available 24/7. We use Open Trough Sup-R-Lix 24 which is high in fat for added energy. Sup-R-Lix is also the lowest moisture product on the market so you are getting more feed per ton than with other liquids. I would expect consumptions to range from 1 to 6#/hd/day. If we find animals that are eating more than this we would be better to feed an Accu-Ration/corn mix to deliver more energy. I would caution producers to forget about trying to keep cows in condition by “limiting” consumption of a liquid to 1#/hd/day. With the short range conditions we are not just trying to improve digestion, but we are trying to add energy to the diet. Feeding a mixed product to hold consumption to 1# might make you feel good about “doing something” but it will not stretch your carrying capacity as well as feeding some energy.
Purina® Pur-Lyx tubs can also be used to supplement protein to cattle on range. Consumption will likely run from .75 to 2.5#/hd/day. The biggest concern for this option is assuring that the cattle are really getting enough added energy to maintain BCS. The tubs would be most beneficial early while there is still some forage out there. Purina® Sup-R-Block tubs would allow for greater consumptions and deliver more energy, however we could use Sup-R-Lix for a lower cost.
3. Dry-lot feeding of cattle is also an option, though obviously not one we like to use. Cattle can be limit-fed a higher energy ration or fed hay if it is available. Costs can be better controlled with a limit-fed program but the cattle will always be “hungry” because they are eating fewer pounds of feed. Several studies have been done on this matter and basically they show we can keep a cow with 10-15# corn and 1.5 – 2.75# supplement per day with 2-4# rough hay/head/day. More hay will help ease the cattle’s hunger but will also drive up cost. Basically, you need to be sure to have good fences if you are to attempt this option, cattle on this program WILL NOT FEEL CONTENT. They will be looking for a way out to “greener pastures.” Cost of dry-lotting is always a concern but if we compare to pasture prices with reduced stocking capacity it may be a closer comparison than you think.
4. Alternative crop grazing such as summer annual forages, oats, or even corn can also be considered. In dry land situations we are obviously limited by the amount of moisture available. Irrigated acres can be used to carry quite a few cattle if they are not already in some other crop. June is plenty early enough to plant summer annual forage crops. Sorghum-Sudan Hybrids and Hybrid Pearl Millet are the only summer annual forages that are safe to graze. For the most part they need to reach 30-36” height before grazing. Do NOT graze hybrid sweet sorghums like Canex or open pollinated crops like Sumac or Rox Orange. They contain prussic acid and can quickly kill grazing livestock.
Rotational grazing of these crops will provide the most grazing IF we get moisture for regrowth. Poly wire can be used with tread in posts to allow animals some new forage at periodic intervals. Staggered plantings can be used to help keep help keep the animals in forages that are ready to graze and not too mature.
Rotational grazing of existing pastures at this point in time will likely provide only little relief to the pasture unless we begin to receive timely rainfall. Rotating could provide the benefit of forcing animals to eat more of the “leftover” grass in some situations. The question is just how many pastures in this area have any “leftover” in them. Furthermore if you force animals to eat all of this growth you will likely be doing extensive damage to the already weakened grasses. Rotational grazing works well to extend pastures when we have forage in the pastures and we are getting regrowth. Without adequate forage for intake, rotating pastures simply moves some too hungry cows to damage a larger area.
Equipment considerations - As of the writing (5/30/2006), we have a few creep feeders left available for rent; first asked for, first served. Rental fee is $2/day when panels are being used. We will sell feeders for our cost which is currently $1900 for an 8’ x 150 bushel Patriot feeder. Remember that we can feed several different products through these so if you own one it could potentially be used 8-10 months per year. We have about 12 lick wheel feeders available for feeding Sup-R-Lix.
We want to help our producers survive this drought challenge. Please let us know of any other ideas or needs that you have. Thanks for reading!
Purina IM Technology
Ingram Feed & Seed has been established with Purina Mills since 1992. Intake Modifying Technology (IM Tech) products from Purina Mills are our specialty. No other animal feed manufacturer comes close to the results that Purina is getting with IM Tech products. These products allow cattle to consume only what they need to maintain Body Condition Scores (BCS) in a desirable range. All cattle are given a fair chance to consume feed because IM Tech products are self fed and self limited. IM Tech products are available in liquids, meals, pellets, block, or tubs. No matter how you choose to deliver the nutrition, we probably have an IM Tech product to fit the situation. Ingram Feed & Seed has self feeders and lick wheel feeders available for sale or rent if needed. Delivery is available for all feed types. If you are located in Franklin, Harlan, Webster, or Kearney counties in Nebraska, or Smith or Phillip counties in Kansas, you are within the service area of Ingram Feed & Seed.
Sup-R-Block
Sup-R-Block products contain intake modifiers which target animal body condition, not necessarily specific intake levels. This is an important part of all IM products from Purina Mills: animals can consume what they need to maintain ideal body condition scores, but not so much as to over-supplement. The energy status of the animal and the intake modifiers drive this control.
Sup-R-Block products are available in several formulations in 50# blocks, 200# blocks, and 200# tubs and tub refills.
Accu-Ration
Accu-Ration from Purina Mills is a high energy 32% protein meal with intake modifiers built in. Salt is not used as a limiter in Accu-Ration. We can use Accu-Ration blended with grain in various ratios to obtain desired performance from the cattle.
Accu-Ration straight can be used as a brood cow or bull supplement in a self feeder. Up to 40% corn might be added to cow rations to add condition to cattle if needed. With a self feeder, all cattle get the opportunity to consume supplemental nutrition. Boss cows no longer dominate all other animals intakes.
Accu-Ration can also be used for creep feeding and growing calves. Calves will need to be started on a pelleted creep feed before introduction to Accu-Creep mixes. Once calves are eating creep feed, we can use a mix of 20% Accu-Ration and 80% corn to make a very affordable, high energy creep feed. Intakes on this mix will stay at 1% calf weight through the creep feeding period. This controlled intake keeps feed efficiency very high on Accu-Creep with typical conversions of five lbs. feed per pound of extra calf weight. After calves are weaned, Accu-Ration mixes can be self fed with hay or other forage as a backgrounding ration. These mixes can be tailored to the desired rate of gain for your calves.
Accu-Ration mixes also provide an excellent means of developing bulls and replacement heifers. All animals in a group are afforded the opportunity to consume feed and thus all perform to their maximum genetic potential. Labor requirements and daily start-up costs are also reduced.
Sup-R-Lix
Sup-R-Lix is a homogenized, high energy liquid supplement with added fat. Sup-R-Lix has higher energy levels and is lower in moisture than competitive liquids. Sup-R-Lix is economical too, with a per ton cost less than half that of many barrels and tubs. We feed Sup-R-Lix with lick wheel feeders for maximum product quality and weather protection.
Self-Fed Complete Rations
Impact products take Accu-Ration one step farther by providing a total ration in a self feeder. Impact Back Grounder and corn can be used for a total ration on growing calves. Impact Finisher is an excellent way to finish calves from 850# and up. You don’t need to start a tractor every day to finish cattle with Impact, and again all animals perform to their full genetic potential. You have built the genetics, why not take advantage of them yourself?