D6-Uncnt«r Farming, Saturday, April 13, 1996 Grazing Gazette pennState « College of Agricultural Sciences in cooperation with USDA/AKS (Continued from Page 05) pasture intake more slowly and helps the rumen adapt. Start grazing animals as early as possible. Maintain ing a high dry matter intake should always be your first goal, so keep enough high 1 quality feed (TMR, stored for ages, etc.) available, especially when begin ning to graze. Remem ber that cattle do not graze as closely to the ground as sheep, so what may look like an abundance of green growth to you may actually be unavailable to the cow. Adequate feed available in the barn also helps to minimize the risk of bloat, especially with legume pastures. As the animal’s dry matter intake increases, the amount of stored feed that is refused will increase somewhat proportionally. For every pound of dry mat ter refused from TMR or high quality forage, the cow is eating about a pound of dry matter from pasture or about 5-7 pounds of wet material. Spring pasture is about 15-20 percent dry matter and general ly higher in protein and energy and lower in fib er than most stored for ages. Plan ahead by working with your nutritionist to decide how often your rations will need to be adjusted. It is best to avoid very frequent ration changes, because the] can upset the rumer environment. However, a decline in milk pro duction is easy to avoid by balancing a new ration ahead of time based on estimated changes in pasture intake, rather than mak ing “off the cuff feed changes. Remember to monitor production, average daily milk pro duction per daily cow or gain per animal for livestock, in order to assess whether your feeding management is effective. With higher grain prices, it is espe cially important to also monitor changes in feed costs per unit of produc tion (cwt. of milk or pound of grain). Watch for overfeeding of grain as TMR changes with spring grazing. Lactat ing dairy cows should not be consuming more that 2.5 percent of BW from concentrate. Watch for underfeeding of grain as TMR changes with spring grazing. Drops in milk production and body condition score will from low energy (low grail!) result in problem*, rumen rations acidosis, displaced abomasums, One final word on feeding “J. impact with spring grazing relates Th®* monitoring to fiber tohe ration. NDF of the entire ration and usmg Lush spring pasture is oftjr low in JJJJ® J Jmm some of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and tSht radons with finely chopped sil- problOTS. Work with your ages and little or no long hay can feed consulUnt to find a formula that works for you! Spring can be a very challenging time, especially for new graziers. It takes some intensive manage ment of both the plants and ani mals to navigate the rough spots, reach your goals, and get a great start grazing those pastures!
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