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How to Calculate Hay Needs for Beef Cattle during the Winter One option would be to take advantage of pasture gain for the season (June through October) and sell the animals as yearlings. Where does the missing feed go? The same management practices apply for early grazing as well as for hay. If cows are . Experimentally, forage from fescue produced by applying 300 pounds of nitrogen per acre, collected in January, has caused symptoms similar to fescue foot. A ridge of high pressure that has brought some unseasonably cool and dry conditions for the first half of the week will exit the state by Thursday, allowing rain drops to return to the forecast for the end of the week. Interest in grazing alfalfa is growing, in spite of the higher level of management it requires. Contributors include members of the OSU Beef Team and beef cattle specialists and economists from across the U.S. Weekly Livestock Comments for January 25, 2019, The Weaning Process, and Assuring Quality, Considerations for Preconditioning Calves this Fall, Field Days to Examine Crop and Livestock Integration Barriers and Benefits, Uncertainty and Variability but not in Cattle. Cutting Height in Forages: How Low Can You Go? Price per bale. When hay rings are used, you need to consider the space available around the feeder. Provided by: Dr. Susan Kerr As a rule of thumb, as an animal matures and its weight increases, its DMI as a percent of body weight decreases. Then the next day he unrolls another one in a different location. The Fora platform includes forum software by XenForo. In 2018, Whitley County ranked 8 th among Indiana counties in alfalfa hay production. Behavioral data showed that cows using the cradle feeder had more than twice as many displacements from the feeder and came to the feeder more than 3 times as often as with any other feeder. Midsummer is the best time to plant "fall-seeded" alfalfa because it allows sufficient time for seedlings to germinate and sufficient root reserves to develop before the first frosts. Hay costs between $0.02 and $0.07 per pound of dry matter; usually more than double the cost for the same amount of nutrients from pasture. Make each grazing area of a size so that cattle will clean it up in 3 or 4 weeks. If fescue produces up to its potential, 60 to 70 percent of its total production usually will occur by July 1. But as mentioned remember a Jersey eats a lot less than a Holstein. There is also less tendency for cows to throw their head and toss hay in the process with this feeder design. If they contain cherry trees, you risk losing livestock to cyanide poisoning. Knowing the amount of housing and bunk space required, a barn layout could be designed. Spring growth of fescue is more competitive than fall growth. For weeks, AgriLife Extension agents have reported $80-plus bales in extremely dry areas of the state. The fescue grown with red clover should not be allowed to grow so tall as to smother the clover. Summary: Some hay will be lost or wasted. # of cows per round bale? - Cattle, Cow & Ranching Community Feeding Hay to Your Texas Longhorn Cattle - Star Creek Ranch Give fescue a rest in late summer when cattle perform inadequately on it and let the growth accumulate for use in the fall and winter. The choice of ration depends on the feeds that you have available. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. As an example, a 30-cow herd would consume one 900-pound round bale per day. Image courtesy of Pedro Carvalho, Penn State. If space per animal is limited, then consider decreasing animal numbers or making barn renovations to increase space. To maximize growth performance, make sure there is adequate pen and bunk space for growing and finishing cattle. Cattle function in a social order. However, it is possible to distribute small square bales in daily amounts throughout a pasture without too much hay being trampled or wasted. Again, comparing the low and high values, this would have been enough hay saved from every 8 cows to have been able to feed 1 more cow. Good forage management can be achieved by harvesting forages at their optimum stage of maturity for highest nutrient content. But among the various feeder designs, there are differences in wastage allowed. Thank you, your email will be added to the mailing list once you click on the link in the confirmation email. Res. This is especially true if the cattle are limited to 4 or 5 weeks supply of bales or accumulated fescue at a time. Grinding hay: Grinding or chopping hay reduces waste and sorting. The more aggressive cows will eat first and consume the more desirable hay. 1974. These spacing considerations should be afforded even to refurbished barns used for cattle. The other side should be 70 ft (17,500 ft2 / 250 ft = 70 ft). J. Anim. More dominant animals will get to eat first, for example. Overcrowding can have negative effects on animal performance and efficiency. Once calves have recovered from weaning or shipping stress (2-4 weeks), they are ready to be placed in a backgrounding program. Large round bale feeder design affects hay utilization and beef cow behavior. Normally we plan 2-3 per cow between the months of Nov-Mar for our Dexter's, but last years drought put a wrench in that plan. Corn silage will usually have to initially be offered in small amounts and increased as intake increases over a week to 10 days. That's why your primary goal in making a round bale is keeping the Efficiently feeding hay to cattle | UMN Extension How Many Round Bales per Acre Can Be Produced? - Keeping Pet A study at Michigan State University compared feed wastage among different types of round bale feeders. Plan A on the soil test report suggests higher plow down applications of phosphorus and potassium than plan B if the soil tests are extremely low in these elements. If cattle are overcrowded, this hierarchy may impact growth performance, because the lower the animal is in the social order, the less likely that animal will get access to the bunk and grow as well as the more dominant animals. NAP coverage is available through your local USDA Farm Service Agency office. Costs and returns are often difficult to estimate in budget preparation because they are numerous and variable. Figure 1 Losses can run as high as 50 percent if hay is not fed properly. Feeders were placed on concrete pads to facilitate collecting wasted hay. I see a lot of it going to waste around here. In general, a standard 40 lb. As we approach the peak of summer with hot, dry weather, we need to adjust our grazing strategies to maintain pasture longevity. Limiting cattle to 8-12 hours of access to the round bale feeder in a 24-hour window can reduce waste to only 10%. Livestock trample and waste 25 to 45 percent of the hay when it is fed with no restrictions. How Much Hay Will A Cow Consume? Estimate Your Winter Feed Needs Large Round Bale Feeders Compared - Virginia Tech If cows are restricted to a smaller area, they usually will require about 30 to 35 pounds of hay and accumulated growth per day. Usually the second crop or cutting is used for seed. But how much does the average bale weigh? Before selecting a backgrounding program, be sure you have a good marketing plan. How Much Hay Will a Cow Consume in a Day? - Panhandle Agriculture Cutting takes place after heading but before seed formation. Fescue has more resistance to low temperatures than orchardgrass, bromegrass, timothy or reed canarygrass. An optimal backgrounding plan will induce up to 800 pounds of weight gain in your beef calves. Feeding twice a week or once a week requires less time and labour, but you need enough round bale feeders to hold the required total amount of feed. Seedings should not be made later than Aug. 31 in extreme northern Missouri, Sept. 15 in central Missouri and Sept. 30 in southern Missouri. Quite frankly, we regularly do, and thus supplemental protein is often another expensive cost. These files cover more than ten years of newsletters posted on our old website Estimating a Value for Corn Stover | Ag Decision Maker Poison hemlock resumes its growth early in the spring. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Bales are spaced on 20-foot centers. Reference: Buskirk, D.D., A.J. The weight of a bale will vary considerably depending on the type of baler used and the dryness of the stover. Ah, OK. Some pastures have a history of repeated fescue foot outbreaks, but in general the outbreaks will not continue. Using our earlier example of a 30-cow herd, we would need one 900-pound bale per day. :doh: :help: This year is going as planned so far. We can overcome poor hay with protein supplements. To maximize growth performance, producers should ensure the pen and bunk space are adequate. Feeding 2 pounds of a 32 percent supplement fortified with vitamin A and phosphorus along with the roughage should provide sufficient energy and protein for yearling cattle to gain 0.5-0.75 pound per day. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Several tall fescue varieties are suitable for Missouri. Using our earlier example of a 30-cow herd, we would need one 900-pound bale per day. They are best for handling and feeding. How valuable is peanut hay? | Farm Progress Red clover has the potential to yield 4 to 5 tons of good quality forage, but normally only lasts two to three years. JavaScript is disabled. Birdsfoot trefoil can persist for many years if properly managed. Its crucial that you bale the hay before bad weather arrives. Under these conditions, maintaining a legume with the fescue improves animal performance and increases the level of forage production during the summer period. Hay was put into feeders when cows would likely run out the next day. A fescue-ladino clover mixture will furnish better-quality feed than tall fescue alone. However, cases have occurred on fields that were continuously pastured. Yet its weight and quality are still unknown. Remove the first fescue and red clover growth early in the grazing season. How many round bales per steer per winter? | Homesteading Forum (through April/May 2009), and are provided for historical purposes only. There's little or no cow-calf profit in the 'real world' - Agweek Symptoms usually appear five to 15 days after turning into a new pasture. Specifics of their experimental methods were: Results of hay waste and intake are in table 1. These gains are accomplished as economically as possible by making maximum use of forages such as hay and silage in addition to pasture feeding. The budgets were developed for options A-D and should help ensure that you include all costs and receipts in your calculations. So placing 10 bales in a paddock would supply about ten days worth of feed for a 30-cow herd, five days of feed for a 60-cow herd, and so on. I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting harder and harder for me to find one, Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. Both weights were independently verified on two separate certified scales. But it can be overgrazed to the point that vigor as well as production is reduced. Calculating winter hay needs for livestock | OSU Extension Service We might assume it is from this year. In addition, some cattle operations will finish the cows on additional grain concentrate. All yield and animal performance data suggest that there is little difference between different varieties under good growing conditions. Most of the later growth occurs in August and September. PDF Forage Growers Guide to Round Baling - WPMU DEV TABLE 1: Dry matter intake as percent of body weight of livestock species. Small Square bales: Small square bales should be fed in bunks or racks whenever possible to minimize trampling and soiling losses. They observed that cows with slant bar feeding spaces were encouraged to keep their heads inside the feeder, thus less tendency to pull hay from the feeder. The 24 pounds is based on 100% dry matter . How Late Can Cool-Season Perennial Forages Be Planted? Spring growth may also be harvested as hay. Fescue (like most grasses) has limited response to rock phosphate. Apply the nitrogen in late summer and graze the fescue very close during the early part of the growing season. There are many different species and varieties of forage crops, each with its own growing requirements. A liberal supply of processed phosphorus helps to promote root development and plant establishment. This may be accomplished by consulting your insurance agent or broker. A 1200-pound cow that eats 2.5% of her body weight will eat 30 pounds of hay per day. Ration 5, which is a full-feed or corn silage ration, is not recommended because calves will probably be carrying too much flesh to make good use of pasture the following spring. 30 pounds) and still maintain lespedeza in a fescue-lespedeza mixture under strict management practices. In addition, the heavy sod nearly eliminates mud and is resistant to trampling during wet weather. Stephen Boyles, OSU Extension Beef Specialist. Feeding round bales doubles that, for a total of 75 pounds per day per cow.