NUTRITION

A. Cow Herd Nutrition

With yearly cow feed cost accounting for 56.7% of the variation in profitability of cow herds, having a true nutrition program should be an absolute. Too many herds do not have an accurate inventory of feedstuffs available for winter feeding, nor do they have analysis for those feedstuffs. In a study in Nebraska, researchers showed that “forage testing and allocation of feeds for best use allowed producers to save an average of $25 per cow in feed supplements without jeopardizing performance or herd health.” With many computer ration programs available, formulating cost-effective yet simple rations is an absolute for herd health and profitability. We use Iowa State’s BRaNDS computer program and like it quite well. There are some ‘adjustments’ we make when formulating rations for calves under 650# as the program calls for more protein than necessary.

I get questions almost every day on how to use corn gluten, distillers grains or soyhulls in backgrounding, feedlot and cow-calf rations. These products can be a wonderful, cost-effective source of protein, energy and phosphorus for all beef rations.

B. Purchased feed consultation

Many herds purchase unnecessary supplemental feeds. The use of protein blocks and energy tubs are almost never cost-effective. If you are buying a ‘convenience food’ like a protein tub for your cows to save labor and you know the cost is three times the cost of another source on a protein basis, that is one thing. If you are unaware of the true cost or are buying them ‘just in case’ then you have an opportunity to save significant money.

C. Mineral program

Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) data shows no correlation between dollars spent on cow mineral and total herd profit. My experience is that those producers spending the most on minerals are wasting a lot of money. There may be an economic benefit to using chelated minerals or some other very expensive mineral, but I have not seen the research. For most producers a very standard mineral mix is quite adequate. Your herd health veterinarian, nutritionist or Extension educator would be a good source of information on this subject.

My best story on spending too much on minerals was a herd that was advised to feed a companies most expensive protein/mineral tub year a round to ALL the cattle on his farm. We did some quick calculations and found the owner was spending $67/head/year just for the tubs. When we told him that a more reasonable cost was about $20/cow/year and less than half that for the feedlot cattle, he became visibly upset and said he was going to fire his feed supplier. With one recommendation we saved this owner $6580.

D. Tying it all together with a few examples

I had a client that switched from feeding free choice hay during the winter to corn gluten, limestone, Rumensin and limited hay. We saved him over $10,000 on his winter feed bill for his 140 cow herd. The next year hay prices increased tremendously and he baled cornstalks and used these for roughage with the same gluten (or wet distillers grain with solubles), limestone, Rumensin mix and should save over $20,000.

Numerous clients had dedicated hay fields (multiple cuttings) and I recommended only taking first cutting and then using temporary fence to graze these fields later in the spring/summer. This greatly decreased the cost of production for the year by decreasing fuel and labor and increased the number of days the cows grazed by using the excess forage to stockpile to graze after a herd freeze. I have numerous owners that used to start feeding hay in October and now feed no hay until January.