Drought Feeding of Beef Cattle
by R.L. Preston, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Texas Tech University
Because of the extended drought and reduced supply of hay in many
areas of the West, cattle producers must either reduce the size of
their herds to fit the available feed supply or obtain supplemental
feeds. Drought feeding is not a new problem but present feed prices
are, especially hay prices in certain localities. Roughages, especially
poor quality hays, are generally thought to be the cheapest feed to
maintain beef cattle. This may not be the case at the present time,
however.
The following is an updated version of an earlier report that I wrote
while I was at the University of Missouri in 1962 during a severe
drought in the southern half of Missouri at that time. A cattle producer
from the boot-heel of Missouri knocked on my office door one Saturday
morning asking if I knew where he could purchase hay to feed his drought
stricken cattle. I couldn't answer his question but it did stimulate
my thinking as to what I would do in his place. The result (updated)
is as follows.
Energy and protein are the major requirements that determine the worth
of feed for cattle. Presently corn grain and soybean or cottonseed
meal may be the cheapest source of these two requirements. Using current
prices (Corn grain at $2.60/bu. and soybean meal at $180/ton.) for
corn grain and soybean meal, the following chart shows the most a
cattle producer can afford to pay for hays to supply the energy and
protein requirements for cattle.If hay prices in a given locality
are higher than the above prices, it will be cheaper to feed corn
grain and soybean meal. This will be the case in many areas of the
West this fall and winter since current hay prices are ranging from
$120 to $200 per ton! The above prices do not include any transportation
or handing charges. If corn grain and supplement require transportation,
the above hay prices should be increased accordingly.
It may strike many cattle producers as "unheard of" to feed
beef cows "expensive" grain and supplement. This may be
accomplished, however, with little or no danger. The Australians have
done this many times during their drought situations.
How much grain and supplement will it take? Table
1 sets forth the daily amounts of grain and supplement required to
meet the energy and protein requirements of a pregnant beef cow or
heifer. It needs to be stressed at this point that only energy and
protein needs will be satisfied. Mineral and vitamin requirements
will be discussed later. An ample supply of water must also be available.
Corn grain has been used above in calculating the
value of various hays. All feed grains can be used including corn,
sorghum grain (milo or maize), barley, oats and even wheat. Barley
and oats have a somewhat lower energy value than corn, sorghum grain
or wheat and therefore the amounts of these grains will need to be
slightly higher than for corn, sorghum grain or wheat.
All grain should be cracked, crimped, rolled, flaked or ground for
most effective utilization by beef cows. Ground ear corn would be
preferable to ground-shelled corn because of the roughage value of
the cob. The amount of ground ear corn would need to be 20 percent
more than ground-shelled corn. Cattle should be worked up gradually
on the amounts shown in Table 1 during the first two to three weeks.
Decreasing amounts of hay should be fed during this adjustment period.
If some hay is available, two to three pounds of hay should be fed
per head per day and the amount of grain shown in Table 1 decreased
0.7 pounds for every pound of hay that is fed. Ample bunk space will
be required for grain plus supplement feeding to prevent a few cows
from crowding the others away.
The amounts of grain and supplement indicated in Table 1 may be put
out for several days or self-fed by mixing with salt to limit intake.
Generally, cattle will not eat more that 0.1 percent of their body
weight in salt per day. This means that a 1,000-pound cow will probably
eat no more than one pound of salt per day. Thus if 9.5 pounds of
grain plus supplement is the desired target consumption per cow per
day, a mixture of one pound of salt and 9.5 pounds of grain plus supplement,
or a mix containing 9.5 percent salt and 90.5 percent grain plus supplement
should be prepared. A cattle producer must monitor the consumption
of any salt-grain plus supplement mix and adjust the salt content
up or down to achieve the desired consumption of grain plus supplement
since the amount of salt that a cow will consume is only a rough estimate.
If salt is used to regulate the amount of grain and supplement intake,
water must be readily available at all times.
The amount of grain plus supplement indicated in Table 1 should be
increased 25-30%, two to three months prior to calving, depending
on the condition of the cows or heifers, to allow for the developing
calf. A cattle producer should monitor the condition of his cows and
heifers and feed them accordingly so that they reach a body condition
score of 4 to 5 at calving. Cows and especially heifers that are too
thin at calving will not return to estrus soon enough to maintain
a yearly calving schedule. Cows too fat (body condition score of 8
or higher) at calving have wasted feed resources and may also have
difficulty re-breeding.
Certain mineral and vitamin requirements must also be met to assure
proper calf development, adequate immunity in the colostrum and successful
re-breeding. Vitamin A (or carotene), calcium, phosphorus, potassium
and certain trace minerals, depending on location, will also be required.
Most commercial supplements will be formulated to supply vitamin A,
calcium and phosphorus and trace minerals. When feeding grain plus
supplement as a replacement for hay, potassium may be an important
mineral requiring supplementation. To assure that all nutrient requirements
are met in a given situation will require consultation for that situation.
Many cattle producers will have fall and winter pastures, stubble,
or stalk fields that can supply part of the cow's energy requirement.
Also, a certain amount of hay or cottonseed hulls may be available.
It is impossible to make specific feeding recommendations for all
situations without knowing the amount and nutrient composition of
these feed sources. If these feed sources have been reduced due to
the drought to say one-half of the quantity normally available, then
one-half of the amount of grain, keeping the same amount of protein
supplement, shown in Table 1 should be fed. Other adjustments can
be made based on a judgment of the available feed supply compared
to a normal situation. If poor quality hay or straw is fed, the amount
of grain fed can be reduced 0.9 pound for each 2 pounds of poor quality
hay or straw that is fed. If the hay is alfalfa or good quality grass-alfalfa
hay, each 1.5 pounds of hay replaces:
