a I Beef Briefs
THE CHANGING NEEDS
OF THE
BEEF COW
I recently had the opportunity to
evaluate some rations for a cow
calf unit that was using several
sources of forage in the feeding
program.
The changing nutritional
requirements of the beef cow dur
ing the year and during their life
time again became apparent as I
tried too match the feed available
to the needs of the cows.
As a typical example, one hay
sample was analyzed with the fol
lowing results:
• Dry matter content was 87.6
percent
• Crude protein was 10.2
percent
• Total digestible nutrients
(TDN) was 51.6 percent
• Calcium was .59 percent
• Phosphorus was .27 percent
This represents the usual grass/
legume hay that many producers
would be using for winter forage.
The question to answer is: How do
I use this feed to meet the needs of
the cow herd?
The first consideration is the dry
mailer content. Dry matter intake
will average 21,22,23,20, and 21
pounds per head daily, respective
ly, for mid-pregnancy, late pre
gnancy, and lactating mature
cows, and bred heifers and lactat
ing 2-year-old heifers of average
size.
With the dry matter content of
this feed, this means the manager
must offer about an average of 25
pounds of the hay per head daily.
Further, if the hay has been
stored outside, an additional IS
pounds per head, daily must be
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by
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added.
Finally, recent research here at
Penn State has shown us the typi
cal round bale feeder will result in
losses of about IS percent for each
bale fed.
To sum it up. a 1,000-pound
bale of this hay stored outside and
fed in the typical round feeder
would feed 21 cows for a day (or
32 head for a bale stored inside).
The next thing most people
would consider is the protein val
ue. The fact is, this hay (at the pre
scribed level of intake) will pro
vide all of the protein needed for
all classes of cows in the herd. As
usual, protein is not the limiting
factor in forage nutrition of beef
cows.
What is a limitifig factor is ener
gy. There is only one class of cows
in which the energy needs will be
met with this hay dry, mature
cows in early to mid-pregnancy.
Bred heifers and lactating cows
and heifers will need additional
energy.
For the bred heifers, the supple
mental energy would be (he equi
valent of l'/i pounds of com daily,
a pound for the mature cows with
calves, and I'A pounds for the
2-year-olds with calves.
Failure to provide this addition
al energy will have two results.
First, the potential milk production
will suffer. This could be as high as
a half of the potential milk produc
tion in the young cows. That kind
of reduction could easily reduce
weaning weights by 25 percent.
Secondly, the young cattle that
are still growing will lose condi
tion. Failure to rebreed or an exten
sion of the time needed to start
cycling for the next breeding sea
son will result in younger, lighter
calves—or no calves at all—next
PFB Supports USDA Efforts
READING (Bedes Co.) A
state farm leader said that his
organization supports efforts to
organize and streamline U.S.
Department of Agriculture ser
vices to farmers under a single
agency.
This message was delivered by
Keith W. Eckel, president of the
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (FPfe),
in testimony presented Monday at
a hearing of the department opera
tions and nutrition subcommittee
of the U.S. House Agriculture
Committee.
PFB is a membership organiza
tion with 23,000-plus family
members in the commonwealth. It
is affiliated with the American
Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF),
which is the largest general farm
year.
‘Typical” hay, silage, or hayl
age will seldom fit the needs of all
classes of beef cows. A good ration
evaluation will Certainly head off
some problems for the rest of the
winter.
BVD Warning
Extension veterinarian Dr. Tom
Drake recently related a problem
with abortions that has been
observed in the Penn State animal
diagnostic lab.
His observation is that the cause
may be bovine virus diarrhea
(BVD). Drake pointed out that one
possible cause is the use of killed
vaccines in fall vaccination
programs.
It is known the modified live
version of the BVD vaccine can
result in abortion when adminis
tered to pregnant animals. For this
reason, many of the vaccine com
binations available contain a killed
BVD portion.
However, the development of a
tiler against the disease may not be
as effective with the killed pro
duct. The recommendation from
Drake was for producers to consid
er using the modified live vaccine
in unbred replacement heifers,-and
then use the vaccine combinations
with the killed product as the annu
al booster.
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organization in the U.S. Eckel
serves on the AFBF Board of
Directors and its executive
committee.
“Providing service to farmers in
the most efficient, cost-effective
manner (dust be the primary goal
for USDA reorganization,” die
Clarks Summit tomato grower
told the committee.
Presently there is a proposal to
place major government agencies
dealing with farmers under a
single entity called the form ser
vice agency.
He did express strong fear that
agriculture was taking big cuts in
budget, and urged the same type
. of evaluation and reorganization
of other government agencies.
Federal spending in agriculture
/has been cut by nearly two-thirds
/ since 1986, which is reduction of
about 9 percent annually.
\ Eckel said'that the proposal has
appeal to fanners because it could
eliminate red tape, and provide
better communications with the
fanner and between individual
agencies. The proposed farm ser
vice agency, according to the
Farm Bureau official, should
include the Agricultural Stabiliza
tion and Conservation (ASCS),
the Fanners’ Home Administra
tion (FmHA), the Federal Crop
Insurance Corporation (FCIC),
and the Soil Conservation Service
(SCS).
“Merging these agencies will
not eliminate the need for the'spe
cialized technical resources now
provided by SCS,” he testified.
Technical advisors to carry out
sound conservation practices
should continue to be a high prior-
ity. “Local farmer input and direc
tion” should be maintained, the
West Chester (Chester Co.)
Christopher Leister started work
with the Chester County Conser
vation District on January 10. Pri
or to coming on board, Leister
worked for three years as an en
vironmental technician with the
Montgomery County Conserva
tion District, so erosion and sedi
mentation control is nothing new
to him.
Leister has a bachelor’s in en
vironmental planning/geography
from Bloomsburg University in
Columbia County. He was bom
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farm leader told die committee,
through a restructured committee
approach.
“It's important,” Eckel said,
“that the committees are made up
exclusively of farmers elected by
their peers,” to maintain the far
mer confidence. The farm organi
zation opposed a committee com
posed of elected and appointed
members because it would redqpe
farmer input
He further recommended that
the county committee system
remain in any reorganization plan,
when a farm service agency cov
ers more than one county.
He urged USDA to custom
design a plan for farm service
agency offices rather than use a
“one size fits all" approach. Plans
for locating these offices should
be flexible enough to fit with local
and regional conditions.
Pennsylvania farms average
154 acres, he explained. “Most are
animal intensive resulting in com
modity program payments that are
relatively small. Our hilly terrain
requires conservation plans that
are more complex to design and
implement”
He urged USDA to take these,
and other factors, into considera
tion when locating farm service
agency offices.
In other recommendations, he
suggested that the Agriculture
Extension Service should remain
closely involved with research and
the land grant university system;
that USDA should establish a
division to handle appeals to settle
disagreements, and that Farm
Bureau would oppose any transfer
of current USDA functions to
other federal agencies.
and raised in Ambler, Montgom
ery County, and lives in Oaks,
Montgomery County with his wife
and daughter.
Leister will be carrying out the
erosion and sediment control pro
gram for the northeast portion of
Chester County.
Leister was a member of the
Marine Corps Reserve and served
at the rank of sergeant in an artil
lery unit. During the Gulf War, he
was stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
He was discharged from the Ma
rines in May 1993.
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