June marks the time when a creep feeder starts to look tempting to producers.Calves are putting on weight. The grass might still look good from a distance, but it is not feeding like it did in April. Each week gets hotter, flies are increasing, cows are milking and trying to breed back, and everyone is watching the market to decide if extra calf weight is worth the effort.
This brings us to why creep feeding is worth considering.
On paper, creep feeding calves sounds simple. Put feed where calves can reach it, but cows cannot, then sell heavier calves at weaning. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it works really well. Other times, you spend good money on feed, fight waste, feed birds, attract pests, and end up with calves that are a little heavier but not heavy enough to pay the bill.
This leads to the key question for June: Is creep feeding helping your calves, or is it just becoming another expensive chore?
In West Texas and the Southern Plains, the answer depends on forage quality, cow milk production, calf age, feed cost, feeder setup, water access, heat stress, fly pressure, and how you plan to market those calves. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. A creep feeder can be a smart tool, but it is not magic. It will not fix poor water quality, overgrazed pastures, sick calves, poor mineral intake, or a bad marketing plan.
Before refilling that feeder, consider what specific job you need the creep feed to do, and whether it accomplishes that job well enough to pay for itself.
Across West Texas and the Southern Plains, a pasture may still look pretty decent from the road. There may be green color left, grass standing, and cattle scattered about, as if everything is working fine. But just because there is forage in front of your cows does not mean it still has the same nutritional value it had back in April or early May.
Grass can look good from the road and still fall short where it counts. That’s one reason more cattle producers are using protein tubs as a simple way to support herd nutrition without adding another daily feeding chore. These self-fed cattle supplements can be placed directly in the pasture, giving cows access to extra protein, energy, vitamins, and minerals when forage quality starts to slip.
In May, green grass can be deceiving. From the truck, everything might look fine and the cows seem happy, so it’s easy to think the pasture has it covered. But this is often when mineral needs catch you off guard, especially as spring grass matures, summer heat arrives, and breeding season approaches.
Have you ever noticed that two ranches can feed what seem like the same cattle on similar pasture, but still get very different results? It’s frustrating, and it usually has less to do with the cattle or the grass than most people think. More often, it comes down to something less obvious: how the cattle feeding program is set up.
If your cattle feeding program in May is the same as it was in February, you could be losing money without realizing it. Around this time in West Texas and the Southern Plains, many producers think green grass means nutrition is covered. But that’s often when performance drops and feed dollars start to go to waste.
Most producers pay attention to protein and energy when thinking about cattle nutrition. But if you only focus on those, you might miss out on better performance. A good mineral program is essential, even though it’s often ignored. Minerals are needed in small amounts, but they have a big impact on reproduction, immune health, and overall results. They’re like small but essential tools: easy to forget, but nothing works right without them. If you want better conception rates, stronger calves, and steady gains, mineral supplements are a must.
Every producer has looked at a feed tag and thought, “That should cover what my cows need.” Crude protein looks good, energy numbers seem solid, and the mineral package checks the boxes. On paper, everything adds up.
Each spring in West Texas, ranchers breathe a sigh of relief as pastures turn green again. After months of feeding hay and waiting for the grass to grow, it’s a welcome sight to see cattle grazing on fresh forage. The cows are back on pasture, hay costs go down, and the grass takes over feeding duties.
Every spring in West Texas, ranchers wait for pastures to green so they can stop feeding hay and let cattle graze.
