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Drought places stress on grazing land, cattle, producers, and, ultimately, the producer’s bottom line. Cattle producers in many areas are facing difficult times because of a lack of available forage on pastures and hay supplies. The initial stress on the animal is due to poorer nutrition.

As forage matures, nutrients decline while the nutritional needs of the gestating animal increase. Producers are faced with their toughest challenge heading into the fall and winter ... a challenge that requires some creative strategies.

GET THE CATTLE TO MOVE FROM WATER TO GRAZING AREAS

During drought conditions the number of water sources usually diminishes and cows tend to congregate around the water that remains. It can be difficult to move cattle away from the water source. But there are effective ways.

“When your cattle are familiar with CRYSTALYX,^® which usually takes just a few weeks, you can place the barrels in undergrazed areas and cattle will follow,” said Mark Robbins, Research Manager for Ridley Block Operations. “Research has consistently proven cows will spend a significant amount of time grazing within 600 yards of CRYSTALYX.^®” With the protein, vitamins and trace minerals that cattle consume in CRYSTALYX,^® your herd is able to make better use of the forage they’re consuming, stretching the grass by getting more total energy into the cow.

GET THE MOST OUT OF CRP FORAGE

The number of counties that have received permission to graze or hay CRP acres is growing. While CRP acres can help relieve forage shortages, there are quality issues. “Because it’s not harvested every year, CRP forage is a very low quality forage by nature,” Robbins said. “Protein supplementation is the key to increase utilization of CRP forages. This can be especially important for CRP hay as cows are limited in their ability to select plants based on quality.”

KEEP KEY NUTRIENTS COMING

Energy is the major nutrient when fighting the effects of drought. However, supplementing “energy” feeds can be costly, time consuming and actually interfere with forage digestion. Typically, forage is your lowest cost energy source for your cow herd. Protein in CRYSTALYX^® allows cows to digest more forage and obtain more energy from it. Additionally, the fact that CRYSTALYX^® supplements are self-fed means your expenditure on fuel and labor are at an absolute minimum. Other nutrients supplied in CRYSTALYX^® include trace minerals and vitamins that become more important through the fall and winter for developing calves prior to weaning.

These nutrition strategies won’t make drought or forage shortages go away. But by supplementing with CRYSTALYX,^® producers can effectively manage grazing patterns in stressed pastures and get the most out of low quality forage while minimizing labor and fuel costs. It’s an important economic edge in countering the effects of drought within all aspects of your operation.

Can CRYSTAL-PHOS^® be a more cost-effective supplement than dry mineral, even with lush summer forage available? A group of ranchers, with the help of a local CRYSTALYX® dealer, decided to find out.

A western South Dakota CRYSTALYX^® dealer had a group of ranchers as customers that were part of a grazing association. They were running their co-mingled cattle on national grasslands. A dry mineral supplier approached the ranchers with a proposal. They were told they could supplement with dry mineral at a cost of no more than five cents per-head, per-day. The supplier would put out two weeks of mineral and only re-supply every two weeks. The ranchers quickly realized that a limit on how much mineral was delivered could be a problem. If the supply is consumed in a week, the cattle would be without mineral for another week until it was restocked.

The CRYSTALYX^® dealer had a better idea. Because of his own experience with CRYSTAL-PHOS,^® he recommended it to the grazing association. Past experience in his area projected CRYSTAL-PHOS^® intake to be around two ounces per-head, per-day on green grass.

“CRYSTAL-PHOS^® is formulated for an intake of a quarter pound in fall and winter when forage is dry and brown and the cattle need more nutrients,” said Mark Robbins, Research Manager for Ridley Block Operations. “In the summertime when forage is lush, you’ll likely see about an eighth of a pound or a two ounce intake. In the summer, when the grass gets green and things get warmer, it’s difficult to keep the animals on a mineral supplement. We generally see a lower intake of CRYSTAL-PHOS^® in the summer, but cattle still consume it at acceptable levels.”

The dealer told the grazing association they could have a summer supplementation program using CRYSTAL-PHOS^® at a cost of approximately five cents per-head, per-day. Better still, the supplement would be continuously available, and the barrels could be used to better manage grazing patterns by moving the cattle around in the pasture.

As the ranchers in the association learned over the summer, that is exactly what happened.

The demonstration tracked 1,308 head of cattle in three different pastures during a period from June 20th through the end of August. Using a CRYSTAL-PHOS^® cost of $830 per ton, the average cost across all pastures and all cattle was 4.7 cents per-head, per-day, and the average consumption was 1.8 ounces per-head, per-day.

“The demonstration showed that in lush summertime conditions, intake will generally be around two ounces per-head, per-day,” Robbins said. “That translates to a cost of less than five cents per-head, per-day.” Robbins added that CRYSTALYX^® supplements offer a number of advantages in addition to cost savings:
• Continuous availability
• Contains chelated/organic trace minerals
• Ability to focus grazing within a pasture — makes most efficient use of all the pasture
• Weatherproof (wind and rain)
• No waste
• Highly palatable — cows will consume it
• Eliminates need for expensive, specialized feeders

“As you go through the summer and the grass starts to dry off, you’ll get into a protein deficient situation,” Robbins said. “So then, in addition to CRYSTAL-PHOS,^® you should start feeding another CRYSTALYX^® product with protein like HE-20,^TM Natural 27,^TM BGF-30TM or HP-40.^TM

Can CRYSTAL-PHOS^® be a more cost-effective supplement than dry mineral, even with lush summer forage available? A group of ranchers, with the help of a local
CRYSTALYX^® dealer, decided to find out.

A western South Dakota CRYSTALYX^® dealer had a group of ranchers as customers that were part of a grazing association. They were running their co-mingled cattle on national grasslands. A dry mineral supplier approached the ranchers with a proposal. They were told they could supplement with dry mineral at a cost of no more than five cents per-head, per-day. The supplier would put out two weeks of mineral and only re-supply every two weeks. The ranchers quickly realized that a limit on how much mineral was delivered could be a problem. If the supply is consumed in a week, the cattle would be without mineral for another week until it was restocked.

The CRYSTALYX^® dealer had a better idea. Because of his own experience with CRYSTAL-PHOS^®, he recommended it to the grazing association. Past experience in his area projected CRYSTAL-PHOS^® intake to be around two ounces per-head, per-day on green grass. “CRYSTAL-PHOS^® is formulated for an intake of a quarter pound in fall and winter when forage is dry and brown and the cattle need more nutrients,” said Mark Robbins, Research Manager for Ridley
Block Operations. “In the summertime when forage is lush, you’ll likely see about an eighth of a pound or a two ounce intake. In the summer, when the grass gets green and things get warmer, it’s difficult to keep the animals on a mineral supplement. We generally see a lower intake of CRYSTAL-PHOS^® in the summer, but cattle still consume it at acceptable levels.”

The dealer told the grazing association they could have a summer supplementation program using CRYSTAL-PHOS^® at a cost of approximately five cents per-head, per-day. Better still, the supplement would be continuously available, and the barrels could be used to better manage grazing patterns by moving the cattle around in the pasture.

As the ranchers in the association learned over the summer, that is exactly what happened.

The demonstration tracked 1,308 head of cattle in three different pastures during a period from June 20th through the end of August. Using a CRYSTAL-PHOS^® cost of $830 per ton, the average cost across all pastures and all cattle was 4.7 cents per-head, per-day, and the average consumption was 1.8 ounces per-head, per-day.

“The demonstration showed that in lush summertime conditions, intake will generally be around two ounces per-head, per-day,” Robbins said. “That translates to a cost of less than five cents perhead, per-day.” Robbins added that CRYSTALYX® supplements offer a number of advantages in addition to cost savings:
• Continuous availability
• Contains chelated/organic trace minerals
• Ability to focus grazing within a pasture — makes most efficient use of all the pasture
• Weatherproof (wind and rain)
• No waste
• Highly palatable — cows will consume it
• Eliminates need for expensive, specialized feeders

“As you go through the summer and the grass starts to dry off, you’ll get into a protein deficient situation,” Robbins said. “So then, in addition to CRYSTAL-PHOS^®, you should start feeding another CRYSTALYX^® product with protein like HE-20,^TM Natural 27,^TM BGF-30TM or HP-40.^TM

Managing around the continuing drought in the West calls for a fine balance between spending money on supplemental feed and starving a living out of your cows and calves. Try these suggestions:
• Supplement effectively. Key to holding the line on costs during drought supplementation is your ability to extract all usable energy from the grazing that remains:

— Provide a protein supplement like CRYSTALYX® low-moisture blocks to improve the digestibility of low-quality forage and increase the amount of critical energy cows can extract from it. Supplement a blend of ruminally degradable protein and bypass protein that will both maximize rumen microbial fermentation efficiencies for digesting low-quality forages and improve protein status of the cow.Conserving protein tissues are important because they are the metabolically active tissues and organs of your reproductive cowherd. Cows in this stage of negative energy balance will have major difficulty producing healthy calves, milking sufficiently and rebreeding on time.

— Provide the same levels of trace minerals as during normal seasons, with particular attention to sufficient phosphorus consumption.
— Supplement Vitamin A, which can be deficient in forages harvested during and after drought.
— Position low-moisture blocks in strategic locations to help draw cattle away from traditional loafing areas and into areas that may be underutilized. Research shows they can be a more powerful draw than even water.

• Use a supplement that controls consumption physically, rather than by using salt. Salt only increases cattles’ requirements for clean, fresh water that usually is compromised and restricted during periods of drought. Physical consumption control using low moisture blocks permits you to continue to take advantage of free choice supplementation without further increasing the cost of labor and fence-walking in anticipation of scheduled deliveries.

• If you’re already feeding forages, limit grazing. Pulling animals off drought-stressed range permits grass to rebound if, and when moisture returns.

• Cull conservatively, if possible. Preg check early and ship non-producers first. Unless you’re scaling back the operation, heavy culling into quality breeding animals is the last resort. This is where performance testing pays off in prioritizing culling decisions.

• Wean early, especially for your fall calving cows. Be mindful of the management challenges: Early weaned light-weight calves will be even more vulnerable to the normal stresses of weaning, drylot acclimation, environmental challenges and processing.
Drought-management feeding strategies

• Effective drought management requires you to supplement effectively—to extract the most usable nutrition from the available forage supply.

Managing around the continuing drought in the West calls for a fine balance between spending money on supplemental feed and starving a living out of your cows and calves. Try these suggestions:

Supplement effectively. Key to holding the line on costs during drought supplementation is your ability to extract all usable energy from the grazing that remains:

• Provide a protein supplement like CRYSTALYX® low-moisture blocks to improve the digestibility of low-quality forage and increase the amount of critical energy cows can extract from it. Supplement a blend of ruminally degradable protein and bypass protein that will both maximize rumen microbial fermentation efficiencies for digesting low-quality forages and improve protein status of the cow. Conserving protein tissues are important because they are the metabolically active tissues and organs of your reproductive cowherd. Cows in this stage of negative energy balance will have major difficulty producing healthy calves, milking sufficiently and rebreeding on time.

• Provide the same levels of trace minerals as during normal seasons, with particular attention to sufficient phosphorus consumption.

• Supplement Vitamin A, which can be deficient in forages harvested during and after drought.

• Position low-moisture blocks in strategic locations to help draw cattle away from traditional loafing areas and into areas that may be underutilized. Research shows they can be a more powerful draw than even water.

• Use a supplement that controls consumption physically, rather than by using salt. Salt only increases cattles’ requirements for clean, fresh water that usually is compromised and restricted during periods of drought. Physical consumption control using low moisture blocks permits you to continue to take advantage of freechoice supplementation without further increasing the cost of labor and fence-walking in anticipation of scheduled deliveries.

• If you’re already feeding forages, limit grazing. Pulling animals off drought-stressed range permits grass to rebound if, and when moisture returns.

• Cull conservatively, if possible. Preg check early and ship non-producers first. Unless you’re scaling back the operation, heavy culling into quality breeding animals is the last resort. This is where performance testing pays off in prioritizing culling decisions.

• Wean early, especially for your fall calving cows. Be mindful of the management challenges: Early weaned light-weight calves will be even more vulnerable to the normal stresses of weaning, drylot acclimation, environmental challenges and processing.

Quick Summary
• Effective drought management requires you to supplement effectively—to extract the most usable nutrition from the available forage supply.

SUPPLEMENT STRATEGIES IN ACTION

In southeastern Colorado, Bill Riggins’ fourth summer of drought has left him long on country but short on grass. His strategy to hold things together includes leaving CRYSTALYX® low-moisture blocks out for cows all summer.

“Some people might think that was cost prohibitive,” says Riggins, who has now cut his cowherd by more than half.

“But you can’t sell the roof off the house and still expect to live in it. Our only hope for maintaining these cows on what little dry grass and oak brush they’re left with is to give them some supplement that helps get some good out of it.…

“Between the drought and cattle prices, our deal hasn’t been real lucrative the last couple years. But we have very few open cows at fall pregnancy test. We have very few problems at calving. If we do that again this summer on what little grass we’ve got, I’m going to feel pretty strongly the blocks had something to do with it.”

Results by the Barrel^TM
CRYSTALYX^® Brand BGF-30™ Supplement helps stretch a drought-limited forage base, by providing:

• Balances both rumen-available and bypass protein help to improve forage utilization, extract more energy from available forage and provide additional protein that is directly available to your cattle.

• CRYSTALYX® Brigade® Stress Fighting Formula in the first 30 days of receiving provides calves:

• A highly palatable supplement that assists calves with starting on feed

• Electrolytes, to help ward-off dehydration and maintain proper immune function

• High levels of key vitamins and organic trace minerals

• An early nutrient boost to beat the stresses of weaning

Today’s low-cost producer has been bluntly advised: Get out of hay production. As that economic reality drives more producers to graze cattle into late fall and winter, they find low-quality, dormant forages are often nutritionally deficient.

Now, recently reported research from Kansas State University finds that supplementing those low-quality forages with cooked molasses blocks, also known as low-moisture blocks, can stretch their efficiency by increasing both intake and digestion.

The researchers fitted 12 steers with devices to sample their rumen contents and manure output, and then put them on ad lib diets of prairie hay containing 5.9% crude protein and 69.4% neutral detergent fiber (NDF). The steers were fed either no supplement or one of three cooked blocks that differed only in their base molasses ingredient.

Steers fed any of the cooked molasses blocks consumed on average 22% more forage organic matter and neutral detergent fiber than the unsupplemented ones. Even better: Use of blocks increased digestible organic matter intake by 38% and digestible neutral detergent fiber intake by 31%.

The researchers attributed the increase in digestibility to the ruminally degradable protein provided by the cooked supplement blocks. That form of protein feeds the rumen microbes a steady supply of necessary ammonia, to increase fermentation of the low-quality forages. Better rumen fermentation extracts more usable energy from the more-bulky forage, overcoming the natural limitation in which animals, in effect, fill up before they can eat enough to meet their requirements.

HOW LOW DOES IT GO?
North Dakota research similarly analyzed rumen and manure samples  from animals as they grazed throughout the season. By measuring quality of the forage not as it lay on the ground, but inside the animal’s rumen, they got a better picture of just how low the amount of crude protein and NDF actually eaten and digested falls during winter.

Don Klein calls himself a grain farmer, but his commercial cow herd is the number one priority on this Kansas operation. “If my cows are not content, I’m not happy,” he says.

Feed is an important part of making his 125-cow herd content, along with a complete health program and solid genetics. “I’m the type that wants to make sure my cows get all they need. I get the most out of my cattle,” Klein says. “Feed is number one. If you don’t feed right, you’re neglecting the cow’s potential.”

CRYSTALYX^® has been part of his feeding program for the last two years. For his spring calving group, he puts CRYSTALYX® BGF-30 out in November when the cattle begin to graze stalks until grass comes on in May.

Klein also fall calves and he decided to leave the CRYSTALYX® in front of the cow-calf pairs all winter. The decision paid off with 24-pound heavier weaning weights than the year before. “I don’t sell numbers, I sell pounds,” he says.

Consumption patterns help Klein fine-tune his feeding program. When the cows are eating an average of three-quarters of a pound of CRYSTALYX® per head per day, all is well. But when consumption goes over that, Klein starts looking for the source of the problem.

“Someone can come out here and give me feed suggestions, but the cows know what they need,” he concludes. “That’s what I like about CRYSTALYX® —the cows will consume it if they need it.”

Don Klein calls himself a grain farmer, but his commercial cow herd is the number one priority on this Kansas operation. “If my cows are not content, I’m not happy,” he says.

Feed is an important part of making his 125-cow herd content, along with a complete health program and solid genetics. “I’m the type that wants to make sure my cows get all they need. I get the most out of my cattle,” Klein says. “Feed is number one. If you don’t feed right, you’re neglecting the cow’s potential.”

CRYSTALYX^® has been part of his feeding program for the last two years. For his spring calving group, he puts CRYSTALYX^® BGF-30 out in November when the cattle begin to graze stalks until grass comes on in May.

Klein also fall calves and he decided to leave the CRYSTALYX^® in front of the cow-calf pairs all winter. The decision paid off with 24-pound heavier weaning weights than the year before. “I don’t sell numbers, I sell pounds,” he says.

Consumption patterns help Klein fine-tune his feeding program. When the cows are eating an average of three-quarters of a pound of CRYSTALYX^® per head per day, all is well. But when consumption goes over that, Klein starts looking for the source of the problem.

“Someone can come out here and give me feed suggestions, but the cows know what they need,” he concludes. “That’s what I like about CRYSTALYX^® — the cows will consume it if they need it.”

We would like to continue with our theme of maximizing profitability from forages as we head into the summer and fall.  The importance of making the most from your forage base is a key factor in reducing additional expenses as well as optimizing calf performance and cow reproduction.  Summer and Fall grazing conditions bring upon new opportunities for capturing added value from your forages.  I have outlined a few of those opportunities below that can pay dividends for most beef producers.  We will also expand on these areas over the next 5 weeks to help provide you more information to determine if they have the potential to help you with your bottom line. 

1. Fly control has demonstrated improved calf gains.  Flies, particularly the horn fly variety, can limit cattle performance on summer pastures when present in large populations.  Feed-through larvacides can be an important part of an integrated fly control program to help prevent reductions in calf body weight gain from fly pressure.  CRYSTALYX^® Brand Supplements have products that contain Rabon^® Oral Larvacides (ROL) in addition to Altosid^® Insect Growth Regulator (IGR) that can be used to help control flies on pasture. 
2. Limit the negative impact on animal performance from endophyte infected fescue pastures.  Endophyte infected fescue pastures can severely limit animal performance, especially during the heat of the summer.  Make sure you provide a supplement that is specifically formulated for fescue pastures to help cattle deal with the heat when endophyte consumption can impair the animal’s circulation to their extremities.  CRYSTALYX^® products like Fescue-Phos^® or Hi-Mag Tasco-lyx^® are specifically formulated with Tasco^® seaweed meal to help cattle grazing endophyte infected fescue pastures.  Current cattle economics indicate any loss in reproduction or calf weight gain will result in significant reductions in cow-calf returns.  Make sure you have a supplement program in place that allows your cattle to deal with fescue pastures as profitably as possible.
3. Grazing management with CRYSTALYX^® low-moisture blocks maximizes pasture forage utilization.  Extensive research has been conducted on the use of CRYSTALYX^® Brand Supplements to improve forage utilization through the use of barrel placement.  It has been clearly demonstrated that cattle will spend more time in areas within 200 to 600 yards of where CRYSTALYX^® barrels are placed in the pasture.  Management strategies have been developed where barrels are placed away from water, which is normally not recommended with free-choice supplements.  Cattle will then graze to the supplement and then graze back to the water.  This can help producers encourage cattle to consume forages in pasture locations where they may typically avoid.  Unused forage at the end of the season does not do much for helping promote animal performance. 
4. Creep feeding can keep calves growing when pasture quality declines in the fall.  High calf prices have reiterated the importance of growing calves to their genetic potential while on grass.  As pastures mature in the fall, forage quality dips below cow maintenance requirements and as a result, milk production is significantly reduced.  When forage quality and milk quantities deteriorate, calf growth is negatively impacted and the opportunity for additional gain is limited without supplemental nutrition.  Economic returns for creep feeding become much more viable when forage availability and quality are dramatically reduced, in addition to when calf prices are extremely high.  Calf prices look to be very favorable this fall and should warrant serious consideration for creep feeding programs to ensure maximum calf growth and optimal returns to cow-calf producers.
5. Protein supplementation can increase forage intake and digestibility of low quality forages.  This extensively researched practice is well established as a method of increasing the utilization of low quality forages.  Protein that is available to ruminal microbes will increase their growth and therefore the amount of forage digested.  This often times results in increased forage intake which in many cases helps cows meet their energy requirement, particularly in mid gestation and the first month or two of late gestation.  During dry periods or later in the growing season as forages mature or are stockpiled for later use, the need for protein to maintain both calf gains and cow body weight maintenance often pays, and this year the returns should be even more evident given present calf values.  Calves are heavier at weaning and cows go into the winter with more body condition stores so they are better fit to calve and rebreed on time.

Your largest feed expense is stored forage.  Your hay and silage is worth more than ever before.  Efforts to improve your management of forage storage will result in a good return on your investment. 

What is the New Normal for forage cost?  The average hay price has increased for all hay types.  Fair quality grass hay is $120 - $150 per ton and premium quality alfalfa hay is $200 - $300 per ton.  Current corn price dictates that corn silage should be valued at $60 to $70 per ton.  There are several reasons for increased forage cost listed below. 

*2012 was the smallest hay crop in 22 years

*the conversion of hay and pasture to row crops

*increased demand for hay in the southwest and southeast

*high corn price equates to high corn silage cost

*increasing harvest cost due to high fuel cost

USDA estimates that forage DM loss can be as high as 50% under the poorest conditions.  From what I observe on many farms and ranches, we commonly accept 15% to 20% DM loss as acceptable and normal.  We are at a New Normal with all aspects of livestock production, and at current forage costs, we need a New Normal in what we accept for DM loss.  Evaluate these 3 areas in your forage program to reduce DM loss in your hay and silage.

1. In-Field Loss
2. Harvest and Storage Loss
3. Feed out losses

Decreasing the amount of dry matter loss associated with hay and silage can greatly improve your income potential.  Where can DM loss occur and what is the benefit of using a preservative?

Not all forage treatment products are created equal.  Preservatives are generally considered to be chemical products and often used on dry hay.  Their main mode of action is changing the environment in the hay bale or silage.  The most common preservatives are organic acids such as propionic, acetic and citric acids.  They are applied at 5-15 lbs. per ton depending on hay moisture.  The mode of action is lowering pH to inhibit spoilage organisms.  Preservative such as BulletProof^® uses oxygen scavenging technology to inhibit spoilage organisms.  It is applied at 2-3 lbs. per ton depending on hay moisture.  You need to consider application rate and total cost per treated ton of hay when making comparisons. 

The highest feed expenditure you have is your stored forage.  Using a preservative to reduce DM and nutrient loss will have a significant positive impact on your income over feed cost.  You will have more forage available and forage quality should be improved.

In one of his recent blogs, Dan Colling explained the “large” benefit that you can get from a “small” amount of protein supplement on dry or mature pastures.

This week I’d like to talk about another benefit of self-fed protein supplements. While this benefit of CRYSTALYX^® does impact the nutritional status of your herd, it is primarily a behavioral modification of your cattle.

We have known for years that cattle will seek out palatable supplements, and even salt, in pastures.  Research by Dr. Derek Bailey at Havre, MT, has actually quantified this effect. It shows low-moisture block (LMB) supplements, like CRYSTALYX^®, to be much more effective than salt alone at luring cattle to underutilized areas of pastures.

From the table below, we can see that grazing cattle spent a larger percentage of their total time within 100, 400 and 600 yards of LMB (CRYSTALYX^®) and salt than just salt alone. This difference was found to be statistically significant.

During periods of drought, or when grasses naturally mature (as with stockpiled forage) CRYSTALYX^®  can offer you two distinct advantages:

1.) It can increase the digestibility of a low quality forage

2.) It will lure your cattle to the underutilized areas of a pasture where they may not normally travel to. 

During periods of drought, naturally occurring sources of water may dry up. This can leave many pastures with areas that cattle avoid due to lack of water. Research has shown cattle will travel over a mile from a water source, to consume CRYSTALYX^®. While the cattle are there, they will also graze the adjacent forage.

Does your current supplement multi-task? CRYSTALYX^® does. Put the CRYSTALYX^® benefits from nutrition and behavior to work for you.  

CRYSTALYX^® Brand self-fed supplements are an excellent way to maximize your returns from a supplement program that’s available 24/7, while minimizing your investment in time, labor and equipment.

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.

As we near the end of the winter feeding period, sometimes we have to make tough choices regarding use of moldy hay. Horses and other non-ruminants are most susceptible to mold toxicity and should not be fed moldy hay except under the most dire situations.

Ruminants are protected to some extent because the rumen destroys most mycotoxins, but they are still susceptible to chronic symptoms, especially pregnant animals and those under stress.  We can all agree that feeding moldy hay is not most desirable, but what can you do if it is your only option?

The first strategy is to dilute the mold with “clean” feed. In the absence of good quality hay, high fiber feedstuffs such as soyhull pellets, dried distillers grains or baled corn stover can help your livestock eat less of the offending moldy hay. Another strategy is to inspect all hay and feed the worst hay to the least susceptible animals (mature male ruminants, open mature female ruminants). Another strategy is to use temporary fencing to take advantage of new spring growth in non-pasture areas to reduce reliance on hay. It also goes without saying that well-fed livestock that are not lacking in protein, energy, minerals or vitamins in their diet will be much more capable of withstanding a temporary encounter with mycotoxins than animals that are lacking.

Mold causes problems in two main ways, through spores or mycotoxins. Spores can cause respiratory problems when breathed in, especially for horses. Mycotoxins negatively affect a variety of systems in the body. Most molds are harmless and do not produce m

ycotoxins; however, when feeding moldly hay one must assume that mycotoxins could be present and watch carefully for the following symptoms:
    *reduced feed intake or feed refusal
    *diarrhea
    *lowered fertility and abortions
    *lethargy and increased morbidity
    *suppressed immune system leading to lack of response to medications and vaccinations

Have you faced a similar situation in your livestock operation this winter? If so, let us know how you dealt with it.