Livestock Management RANCHING
late gestation, however, more energy and protein may be necessary. That can come in the form of a co-product like distill-
ers grains or wheat midds. This will slightly increase the protein of the ration, but the biggest need will be for an increase in energy. “This can even be done with corn,” he says. “What
does this particular animal need at this period of time? If she is getting it from your pasture, then you do not need to do anything else. If she is losing weight on the pasture, then you need to supplement.” Intensive cow feeding does require strategic feeding
at late gestation, but it can make you money either by increasing stocking rates, or by increasing the weight of the calves. Once the calf is born, Hutcheson says, “If you have
a good pasture that will provide the nutrients for her to milk at her maximum production, I may only supple- ment with minerals. It may only require a couple of pounds of corn per head per day. “A cube that has high energy and a little bit of
protein in it could work, fed every third day,” he says. While confi nement is not needed, the practice could
work in the absence of grass during a drought. One Kansas feedyard holds 8,000 cows. “They are in their third year now, and it has been working great for them,” he says. “It is producing calves at less cost coming into their feeding system than anything else they could pursue with these high-priced feeders.” A number of intensive cow production systems have
used feedyards, which have excess capacity due to the decline in the cattle herd numbers. Other sites include receiving yards, sacrifi ce pastures (where no effort is made to preserve the grass) or, in the Midwest, hoop houses commonly used for swine.
The rancher may want to produce more pounds per acre through weaned calves.
Dr. David Lalman, Oklahoma State University ani-
mal scientist says they started paying more attention to the phenomenon during the height of the southwestern drought in 2011 and 2012. “You have to have very intensive management, particularly in terms of the diet,” he says. “If you turn
68 The Cattleman December 2015
a cow out to graze, she gets to consume all the forage she wants, but it’s a very safe diet so there’s not much risk of digestive upset. “When you put a cow in a confi ned situation where
you are delivering primarily concentrate feed with some level of roughage, you just have to have better management. Feed has to be delivered in the correct amount at about the same time every day, if not twice a day, so it takes a lot more labor and attention to detail.” Another complication is manure management, which
Lalman says is worth advance planning. “If he has an introduced forage system where he can use the manure generated to fertilize that pasture, he can reduce the cost of the forage production side of his business and recycle those nutrients,” he says. “The better job they can do to handle those nutrients, designing whatever kind of indoor or outdoor facility they have, will have a major impact on their success in terms of health or disease challenge.” Lalman has been looking at the system of confi ning
cows to a dry lot and feeding hay during the winter. Two or 3 days a week, the cows are allowed out for 3 to 4 hours to graze wheat as a supplement to the hay. After that time, the cows are fi lled up and at the gate, ready to drink water. “It does not fi t everybody,” Dr. Hutcheson adds. “If
you want to do it the way you have always done it, that’s fi ne. Nevertheless, it is all about the return on your investment. If you can produce a better quality calf, one that will bring more money as well as more weight at weaning, at $2 per pound if you can put weight on them for 75 cents, that works.”
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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