A34-Lancaater Fanning, Saturday, June 17, 1995 Grazing Gazette PENNS rATfc College of Agricultural Sciences in cooperation with USIDA/AKS J. W. Comerford and H.W. Harpster Penn State University The need for supplemental nu trients by beef cattle grazing pas ture is not if great as for the Isolat ing dairy cow. In fact, mature beef cows with calves should need only some mineral supplementation if they arc grazing adequate quanti ties of high quality forage. However, grazed stalk fields are an exception for mature cows. When properly managed, stalk Helds can provide an inexpensive source of feed, particularly for the Early wcanine of calves uto spring-calving beef cow. Usually' vidcs a more effirimf use of feed there is enough protein and energy resources because: 1) cow feed available in the stalks for dry. costs are reduced since spring pregnant beef cows for about 30 calving cows have a relatively low days. After 30 days, supplemental nutritional requirement after the protein and energy should be con- breeding season; and 2) calves sidcrcd. Here arc possibilities: will make more efficient gains • Lick tank placed well away from direct intake of grain com from water source to avoid over- pared to feeding cows to produce consumption (1-2 pounds of a4O milk. percent CP supplement is ade quate). •5 to 10 pounds of hay, depend- will requite supplemental grain ing upon condition of cows and feeding to achieve weaning amount of stalks in field. weights as good as those calves •3to 6 pounds of com, depend- that remain with the cow, even ing upon condition of cows and though forage may be abundant amount of stalks left in field. and of high quality. About 1 per • Some combination of the cent of body weight of calves in above. grain per day for early weaned TABLE 1. SALT NEEDED TO CONTROL INTAKE OF GRAINS AND PROTEIN Cattle weight Daily salt (lbs.) Intake 400 0.4 500 0.5 600 0.6 700 0.7 900 0.9 1100 1.1 1400 1.4 Table 2. Performance of Holstein Steers on Pasture and in the Feedlot pasture only pasture + liquid supplements 112 days on feed pasture only pasture + liquid supplement 168 days on feed pasture only pasture + liquid supplement 196 days on feed pasture only pasture + liquid supplement Supplemental Feeding Of Grazing Beef Cattle Another situation where sup plement is needed is the case of early-weaned beef calves (4-5 months vs. 7 months of age). This management practice is typically used to extend fall grazing of the cows. Calves may be confined away from cows and fed grain and stored forage while cows have ac cess to pastures, or calves have ac cess to pastures while cows are fed separately from calves with either stored forage or by following calves through a rotational grazing system. A recent study at Penn Stale has shown that early weaned calves Lbs. of Feed Intake per Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Phase One (Pasture) initial wl. final wl. 434 601 421 623 Phase Two (Feedlot Phase) final wt No. fat ADG Choice thickness REA 1019 379 2/5 1070 381 3/5 1159 3.47 3/5 1181 315 4/5 1206 302 4/5 1207 2.55 4/5 calves will be needed to have equal performance with normally weaned calves. Replacement heifers will usual ly have adequate performance with well managed grazing. For spring calving herds this usually implies the heifers will be bred during the early part of the grazing season. Adequate winter weight gains prior to breeding will be more critical than gains during the grazing season because the heifers must reach targeted breeding weight. Maintenance of weight gains during the grazing season should be 1.0 to I.S pounds per day for most heifers, and this can usually be achieved with grazing. In the event grass becomes re stricted. grain feeding should be used to maintain this performance. The amount of grain fed will be determined by the amount of for age that is available and the desir ed daily gains. Again, 1 percent of the body weight of the heifers in grain would be sufficient in most cases with restricted forage. Backgrounding of beef calves typically involves using pastures to economically add weight to calves after weaning. The most common backgrounding system is grazing wheat pastures in major wheat-producing areas in the country. Stockpiled grasses, may also be used where they are avail able, as well as feeding mainten ance rations to calves during the winter and then grazing the cattle the following spring and summer before they arc shipped to fccdlots for high concentrate feeding. In most cases the only supplemental feed used in a backgrounding sys tem is minerals because the use of grain will increase the cost of gain % Salt in Mix 1 1 1 2 1 5 1 8 22 1 0 13 1 6 1 9 total gain 167 202 1 1 1 4 1 7 10 1 3 1 5 ADG Ibs/d .99 1.20 9.9 10.2 9.6 11.1 10.5 10.5 or the cattle will become too fat bcforqjping switched to high con centrate diets. Calves that are too fat that enter fccdlots tend to get sick easier and purchase weight recovery will be longer due to shrink and the conversion to grain diets. In some cases, however, limited grain feeding may be used because there is a restriction in forage availability or because the price of grain will be low enough to make higher gains economical. Caule in the US are not “finished” on grass because it is difficult to reach adequate quality grades and because the color of the lean and fat tissue will be undesirable to consumers. An economical delivery system for protein or energy feeds for cat tle on pasture is usually difficult to obtain. One system that has been successful is using salt in grain mixes fed through self-feeders to limit intake of grains or protein supplements. The salt requirement for beef cattle is about .10 percent of the ration dry matter. Consump tion of salt will vary due to the size of the cattle and the type of ration they are consuming. Cattle eating dry feeds and grain will consume only half as much salt as those on pasture or those eating silage. Heavier cattle will also tend to consume more total feed. including salt There docs not ap pear to be any detrimental effect . of feeding high levels of salt as long as cattle have the free and un limited access to water, particular ly in winter. Cattle will Consume varying amounts of salt il i‘ is available, so only a gene al re- commendation can be made for the salt component of a mixed feed. The feeder should be prepar ed to change and regulate the salt content of a mixture because of the length of time the cattle have access to the feed, their size and weight, weather conditions, the availability of water and the type of feeds being consumed. The fol lowing table shows how much salt should be added to a mixture when the cattle are eating .10 percent of their body weight daily of salt Another method of feed de livery on pasture is with molasses- PRUA Elects Officers ELIZABETHTOWN (Lancas ter Co.) —Pennsylvanians for the Responsible Use of Animals (PRUA) selected a new slate of officers for its board and execu tive committee for the coming year at a recent meeting. Robert Junk of the Pennsyl vania Farmers’ Union was chosen as the board president. Junk replaces Karl Brown of the Pen nsylvania Farm Bureau, who served on die board as president for the past eight years. “We appreciate the work Karl has done to preserve our quality of life through the responsible use of animals.” Junk said. “We look for ward to keeping the programs that arc already established strong and working to establish initiatives (hat demonstrate the role of ani mals in our society.” PRUA is an association of more than 20 organizations and advis ory groups that promotes the neup v oußsel ,f based liquid feeds in “lick tanks.” Previously, most of the protein supplements used in these feeds were urea, but this is not an effec tive supplement for young, grow ing cattle. New suspension tech nology will now allow the use of many types of feed ingredients in the molasses. Early weaned beef calves, young dairy beef steers, and young dairy replacement heifers at 300-600 pounds will benefit most from supplemental protein while on pasture. Protein quality in pas ture is usually not sufficient to meet the needs of these young, growing animals. High rumen-by pass proteins are most desirable to supplement these grazing cattle. However, palatability of these feeds is usually low. A study at Penn State with dairy beef calves has shown that calves with supple mental high rumen-bypass pro teins (blood and feather meal) in molasses-based liquid feed while on pasture gained 35 pounds more than unsupplemcnted calves dur ing a 160-day grazing season. The supplemented calves also tended to have heavier weights at 112 days and 168 days in the subse quent fecdlot phase and had a slightly higher percentage of Choice carcasses. The disadvantage of using lick tanks is the lack of control and subsequent inconsistency of feed intake. In the above study, intake of the liquid feed often exceeded 6 pot. ids per head daily. This level of intake exceeds the desired pro tein intake, and the cost of feeding becomes excessive, in spite of the additional weight gains. A system to regulate intake of these liquid feeds will be needed to make them cost-competitive. Li summary, most-classes of beef cauls will have desirable per formance in a well-managed graz ing program. In some cases, grow ing cattle may require additional grain or protein in the diet, but the delivery system should be easy to use and economical. Self-fed salt and grain mixes may be useful, and molasses-based liquid feeds can be used if intake can be con trolled. responsible use of animals for food and clothing production, biomedical research and educa tion, wildlife management and entertainment. PRUA opposes organizations that seek to slop the use of animals through terrorism, misinformation, and intimidation. Other members elected to the board for the 1995-1996 term and organizations they represent arc vice president: Ray Martin, Pen nsylvania Federation of Sports men Clubs; sccrciary: James C. Mentzer, Pennsylvania State Grange; treasurer, John Henry Brubaker, Pennsylvania Associa tion of Meat Processors; at-large members to the executive commit tee: Tony Dobrosky, Pennsylvania Livestock Association, and Joel Rotz, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. Anyone interested in joining PRUA may write to PRUA, P.O. Box 61, Elizabethtown, PA 17022, or call (717) 367-5223.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers