Iowa Beef Center  |   January 13, 2012

A barn full of high quality hay, a bin full of grain, and cattle that are clean, dry and protected from harsh conditions make a most comforting thought to any cattleman when temperatures are near zero and snow is belly deep.

The more probable situation though is a fence row of weathered round bales of medium to lower quality and possibly a “good buy” on some commodity that is intended for energy and protein supplementation for a mixed group of cattle fending off the elements.

Regardless of the situation, cattle still have nutrient requirements and care must be applied in ration provisions to satisfy these needs. Focusing on the third trimester pregnant stock cow as an example the following nutrient densities would be a starting point for consideration.

  click image to zoom

*NFC = Nonfiber carbohydrate (starch+sugar+pectin)
*eNDF = effective neutral detergent fiber.  The percent is the percent of total NDF that is effective.

Tables such as this are nice, and with a calculator and paper, a ration could be made.  However, anyone who formulates many rations will quickly discover a number of inadequacies. What about the Brahma influenced breeding in the cows that are now in the herd coming from the drought areas of Texas? What about my  first-calf cows that may not breed back very well? What about “skinny” cows? What about wet conditions? What about …..?  The list goes on and we have not even addressed the issue of using nontraditional feedstuffs for these situations. 

The current ethanol boom has redirected land and crop use relegating cows to be seen even more as tools for a salvage business specializing in vegetative leftover utilization.  By-products of the ethanol and human food industries, damaged grains, chemically altered forages and whatever else can be found are now used to round out the no longer typical ration.

With this in mind, eight years ago the Iowa Beef Center went at the task of developing BRaNDS (Beef Ration and Nutrition Decision Software) available through ISU Extension Distribution, phone 515-294-5247.  You may already use this or another program to balance your rations.  Likewise you may have a feed consultant or salesman assist in balancing rations. Regardless, this is a good time to evaluate what you are doing and make the adjustments needed to keep everything running smooth in the New Year.

Source: Garland Dahlke, IBC assistant scientist