D&—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 6,1952
'm
Feed ’em By Weight
and Production
If I asked you how much forage
you feed your cows per day, what
would your answer be? Would it
be, for example, 15 pounds of
alfalfa haylage, 5 pounds of alfalfa
hay and 35 pounds of corn silage
per cow, per day?
Then, if 1 asked you how much
grain and supplement you feed,
would it be a flat amount for all
cows, or would it vary according to
milk production? No doubt you
feed grain according to production
levels, and hopefully, according to
condition of flesh, stage of
pregnancy and rate of foody growth
as well, while also keeping an alert
eye on appetite and f orage-to-grain
ratios.
VVhy then, don’t we consider
body weight when we feed forages.
Surely, that 1,600-pound cow has a
much greater need—and desire—
for forage than that small 1,100
pounds first calf heifer! Just ob
serve how that big cow steals
forage from the smaller heifer
standing beside her, or how she
controls the feed bunk until her
appetite is satisfied.
When you feed every cow the
same amount of roughage, as if
they are all the same weight, you
could run into some problems,
similar to what 1 observed on a
farm recently. This dairyman was
Dairy
Pipeline
By
Glenn A. Shirk
Extension
Dairy
Agent
4/
running a herd test of 2.6 percent
fat, down from 3.8 percent two
months ago. That alone was
costing him about |2 a hundred on
his milk check! Over half the herd
tested less than 3 percent and
almost a quarter were under 2
percent. Most of his low testers
were his big mature heavy
producing cows and his smaller
heavy-producing heifers.
His recommended feeding
program looked satisfactory to
me—for his average-sized cow.
And they were holding their test
and appetites better than the
problem cows. The forages, which
I used as an example in the first
paragraph, were of good quality.
He also was feeding high-moisture
ground ear com, pelleted sup
plements and several buffers. 1
won’t bother you with the specific
rates. They were fed separately—
not blended—in a tie stall bam.
Minlmum Forage Intake
After calculating dry matter
intakes and comparing the ratio of
forage to grain, here is what I
found.
The heaviest cows were con-
stuning 1.2 pounds of forage dry
matter per hundred pounds of body
weight compared to 1.8 for the
smallest heifers. Our minimum
recommendation is 1.4 pounds lor
a short duration of 3 to 4 months
and 1.8 pounds for extended
periods. So, his big cows simply
were not consuming enough forage
to meet these minimum
requirements that are essential for
normal rumen function.
About two months ago, they
started weighing the grain
religiously. The cows responded
with increased production. We
suspected the cows were receiving
more grain, now that it actually
was being weighed. Further
calculations revealed that grain
to-forage ratios were satisfactory
for the average-sized cow of
average to lower production. But
as production—and grain intake
increased on the smaller heifers,
we found that 56 percent of their
total dry matter came from grain.
This would be okay if she ate all the
forage put before her, and if the big
cow next door did not steal any of
her forage.
The maximum amount of total
dry matter intake coming from
gram should generally be kept
under 55 percent; this is a
guideline, and there are ex
ceptions. If these heifers, for some
reason, were not consuming their
full allotment of forage, this
percentage could climb to over 60
percent. Then, she is a good
candidate for digestive distur
bances and low fat tests. This was
definitely the problem with his big,
heavy producing cows that were on
heavy grain feeding and minimum
forage intake.
You ask, "How do you solve this
problem in a tie stall barn or in any
feeding system where cows can
steal from one another?” It’s hard,
unless you go to a blended ration,
and that isn’t convenient or
economical for every situation.
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HARRISBURG Commercial
red meat production in Penn
sylvania during December 1981
totaled 79.2 million pounds, down
nine percent from a year earlier,
according to the Pennsylvania
Crop Reporting Service.
Cattle slaughter, at 70,200 head,
increased 13 percent from last
December, while calf slaughter
increased 24 percent to 28,700 head.
Hog slaughter, at 206,500 head,
decreased 31 percent from 1980
levels. The number of sheep and
lambs slaughtered totaled 14,600,
up five percent from December
1980.
U.S. commercial red meat
production during December
totaled 3.42 billion pounds, up two
percent from December 1980. Beef
P.O. Box 366, Lititz, Pa. 17543
717-626-11640 r 394-3047
The other alternative is to feed
forages lavishly enough to have a
margin of safety to compensate for
variations in intake.
Pelleted Feeds
Remember, 1 mentioned that
pelleted supplements were being
fed in this situation. When high
levels of grain and minimal
amounts of forage are being fed,
and when fat tests are depressed,
consider feeding non-pelleted
feeds. Pelleted and heat-processed
feeds can be fat depressants,
particularly under these cir
cumstances.
Also consider feeding more
frequently or blending some of the
grain in with the forage. This
should help keep the rumen more
stable and functioning at a higher
level of efficiency.
And, when you are on a
minimum forage program, you
may have to offer cows more
Pa. commercial red meat
production down 9 percent
At LANCASTER FARMING, we think we
do a good job of keeping you in
formed...and we have over 39,000 paid
subscribers who think so too!
forage as you pump more grain
into them in an effort to help them
sustain high levels of production.
This will help maintain a desirable
forage to grain ratio, percent
appetites and help maintain
reasonable fat tests. It’s going to
be hard to maintain high
production and high fat tests at the
same time.
Think of fat tests as a cows
barometer. Fat production is a
luxury chore for the cow. When
something goes wrong or when the
cow is “stressed” with high
production, high temperatures,
rumen “upsets”, etc., fat tests is
one of the first things affected.
So when tests drop suddenly and
drastically, and stay there, it
should be a warning signal to you
to check on the cause, and to take
correction active before severe
herd health problems develop.
production, at 1.90 billion pounds,
was up two percent while average
liveweight increased one pound to
1,078 pounds. Veal production at
million pounds increased 14 per-»P
cent and average liveweight
decreased to 239 pounds.
.Pork production totaled 1.45
billion pounds, up one percent. The
average liveweight of hogs
slaughtered increased one pound
to 247 pounds. Lamb and mutton
production increased seven per
cent to 30 million pounds with an
average liveweight of 111 pounds.
Commercial red meat
production includes slaughter in
federally inspected and other
plants, but excludes animals
slaughtered on farms.