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Water and hay are hot topics this fall in much of the U.S. this year.  We have had historic drought conditions along with record number of days with temperatures above 100 degrees.  Water is the most important daily requirement when temperatures are this hot.  Several herds have been moved across state lines just because the ranch was out of water.  So it was great last night to visit with a west central Missouri rancher who was not worried about his water supply.  He not only had water, it was a spring-fed water supply.  He had made the investment in a storage tank so he could pipe clean cool spring water to watering tanks for his cows.  He also had quite a bit of timber in his pastures for shade.  He was having an average year for the performance for his herd.

However, his performance is much better than the average for this year.  His “better” water supply and “better” shade was and is worth quite a bit this year (and every year).  He has a normal calf crop to market at much “better” prices and will have a normal calf crop next year to market at “better” yet prices.  What else is he doing better?

He has several acres of alfalfa and improved grass for hay production.  He has culled a few head but will have enough hay to get to next spring.  He will not buy hay because his “poor” hay is “better” than the high-priced hay that is locally available.  He didn’t think his spoiled cows would eat “purchased” hay.  He will have to reseed some alfalfa next spring but is looking at this as an opportunity to improve his fescue pastures.  He is considering a New Zealand fescue variety with finer leaves that is better than his current fescue.

We didn’t talk about his genetics or his marketing plan.  But, I imagine it is better than an average plan.  We did, however, visit about fetal programing and which CRYSTALYX^® product would be best for his feed program and calving season.  He has a choice of several different feed suppliers but feels a CRYSTALYX^® low moisture block is the best product available.

He feels the choices in the CRYSTALYX^® product line are better than any other feed company’s.  He feels he can closely match his feed resources with a CRYSTALYX^® product to better match his cattle’s requirements. 

This producer is one of the “better” ones.  His management plan uses better water, shade, feed and feed supplements.  He is “better” than most at asking good questions.  He does not want a cheap product; he wants a “better” product than will allow his animals to perform much “better” than average.  His bottom line is likely much better than average this year and probably every year.

Many of us remember when chicken nuggets were first introduced.  The poultry industry needed a way to market the parts of the chicken that were in less demand.  Kids and adults didn’t care that there was not a part of the chicken called a “nugget”.  Just disguise chicken pieces/parts with breading, have a dipping sauce and great volumes sold at value-added prices.  It was a marketing triumph!

We have had a similar situation in the beef industry for decades.  The animal feed industry is expected to use the pieces/parts of the food/feed industry. The food/feed industry gets all the value it can and then sees if the beef industry can extract the last bit of value before the compost pit or landfill.  The system works well.  Cattle get reasonably priced feed and the processing industry gets an income stream.  The food/feed processing industry has learned how to market their pieces/parts by labeling them byproducts/co-products.  To their credit, they have sponsored millions of dollars of research to establish feeding values.

Corn can be fed whole, rolled, ground, flaked or as fermented high moisture corn.  Now we have a grain processing industry dedicated to extracting all the energy economically possible from corn for ethanol.  The beef industry feeds the co-products at competitive prices (we hope).  Some co-products are wet distillers grains, dried distillers grains (DDGs), dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), modified distillers grains (mDDGs) and distillers solubles.  The names and analysis change depending upon the processing plant and the methods used.  DDGs are not the same from plant to plant or day to day.

These co-products change from processing plant to processing plant depending upon the grain source and the post fermentation processes.  Some plants are extracting some/most of the fat from the DDGs.  This lowers the energy value a great deal.  Some plants are trying to remove the corn fiber from the DDGs for further fermentation.  Again this changes the value of the co-product.

The co-products are priced to get them away from processing plants storage so that the more valuable ethanol can continue to be produced.  We need to know the analysis of what we are buying especially moisture levels before we jump at perceived bargains.

Beef animals can consume and perform well on pieces/parts of food/feed that are not acceptable to humans/pigs/chickens.  We just need to be sure we do not pay too much.

This spring and summer’s hot dry weather has been hard on pastures. If you were fortunate to get enough rain that you could turn your cattle out on pasture, the grass is now dry and mature. There are several things that can be done to help under current drought conditions.  One of the first but not always the easiest is to wean the calves earlier than normal.

1.     The available grass is not adequate to meet the protein and energy requirements of the calf.

2.     The calves’ needs could be better met with a bunk ration.

3.     The cow will not be eating to produce milk.

4.     The calf will not be eating grass that could be feeding the cow.

5.     The calf is getting older but not gaining when grass is this short.

The requirements for a dry cow are considerably lower in both energy and protein than for a lactating cow. Weaning the calf will allow us to retain as much body condition as possible until we get the fall rains. It is expensive to put body condition back on a cow once she has lost it. It is cheaper to do what we can to keep condition on the cow.

What can we do to help the cow get more out of the grass left in the pastures? The dry mature grass will be lower in TDN and can be limited in protein content. Feeding limited amounts of corn, hay or grain by-products are some of the ways to get more energy and some protein into the cattle. Delivery costs, in addition to the cost of the extra feed, may be higher than necessary. And it may actually be negative to the digestibility of the remaining grass. 

Providing a self-fed limited amount of protein and energy will improve the digestibility of the grass and get more energy into the cow. A Crystalyx^® protein tub can deliver a controlled amount of self-fed supplement at an economical cost.  The following study at Kansas State University showed improved digestibility when a Crystalyx^® supplement was compared to a limited amount of corn. The amount of corn fed provided the same amount of protein as the Crystalyx^® supplement.  Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) is a measurement of the grass fiber digested by the beef animal.

The depression of NDF digestibility by the starch in the corn shows a very negative effect on digestion. Even when the amount of grass is not limited, the last thing we want to do is lower digestibility. The rumen microorganisms that use starch grow much more rapidly than the microorganisms that digest fiber. And the byproducts of their growth depress the growth of the fiber microorganisms. When just a little too much corn (or other starch) is fed, then the fiber digesting microorganisms (rumen bugs) cannot grow fast enough to digest the fiber before it leaves the rumen.

Fiber bugs have energy and protein requirements for growth which are easily met when grass is green and growing. It is a different story when grass matures. Mature dry grass is lower in readily available energy and protein making it more difficult to digest. Crystalyx^® protein tubs provide readily available energy and protein in small amounts allowing the bugs to use them to effectively digest fiber. Small multiple Crystalyx^® meals allow the bugs to use the nutrients instead of having the rumen overwhelmed by a single big meal (range cubes or grain byproducts). The easily available small amount of rumen degradable protein (RDP) provided by urea can be easily used by the bugs as a protein source. If there is no RDP then the bugs have to break down the grass protein or supplemental natural protein to use as a protein source for their growth. The same situation exists for energy. The molasses in the Crystalyx^® protein tub provides small amounts of easily digested energy used by the bugs to help digest the grass fiber. A University of Nebraska trial demonstrates using a combination of RDP and natural protein to supplement mature grass. They compared no supplement (Control) to an energy (ENG) supplement to a RDP (very soluble protein) supplement to a combination RDP/natural protein (RDP/EP) supplement.  The cows were nursing summer calves when these measurements were taken in late September.

The cows receiving the combination of protein sources gave the most milk and did not lose weight. Their calves and the calves from the cows receiving RDP gained the most weight. If the calves had been weaned then the energy and protein used for milk production would instead be used to maintain or improve body condition.

The price we pay for the performance we get determines if there is a profit to be made. Prices of all inputs have gone up, some much more than others. Cattle cost more and pasture rents are higher. Pasturing methods and feed supplements we have historically used need to be evaluated to determine if the economics are still valid. Assuming you have adequate water, the amount and quality of available grass is the greatest determining factor of animal performance. 

No grass has the perfect balance of nutrients for any animal grazing it. We can improve the performance from any grass consumed with the proper trace mineral supplement.  As grass matures, a small amount of protein supplement can improve performance of the animal and the grass consumed. Grazing patterns can be influenced by trace mineral and protein supplement placement in order to improve pasture utilization.

If you utilized a distillers based program to maintain or grow calves over the late winter and early spring you needed a trace mineral supplement with high copper levels. And grass is almost always low in copper.  Copper is important in several of the animal’s biological systems so it should always be supplemented. Oklahoma State University research has shown that calves have an increased growth rate when provided a trace mineral supplement during grazing. And OSU has shown additional response when using a feed additive mixed with the balanced trace mineral mix.

Supplementing with one of the FDA approved feed additives such as Rumensin^®, Bovatec^®, or Gainpro^® is one of the easiest ways to improve gain on grass. It has been proven time and time again; any of these three can be used in many programs to improve gain from 0.14 to over 0.25 pounds per head per day. The cost to supplement these should be under 25 cents per pound of gain, which includes the cost of the trace mineral. 

So whether you own the cattle or are supplementing on a cost of gain, providing a mineral supplement with any of these three additives should make you more money.  There are also natural feed ingredients that have been shown to help with animal performance. Tasco^® is an organic feed ingredient approved by many Natural Beef Programs.

Fortunately, trace mineral supplements have not increased in price nearly as much as other inputs. The current cattle market means the response to mineral supplements and the performance improving additives they can contain is now worth more than ever.  Now is not the time to quit feeding trace minerals to “save money.” Consult with your Ridley feed supplier to determine the best options for your cattle and management situations.

Moisture levels still determine how much grass is available for us to graze. What we do to maximize the use of that grass is up to us.