Hay is one of the most essential parts of keeping your cattle healthy through the winter. When the grass goes dormant, hay steps in to provide the nutrition they need. But before you can even think about feeding, you’ve got to understand what’s in the hay you’re offering.
Quality is key. You need to know what nutrients are in your hay so you can figure out what’s missing and what needs to be added. If the hay is low in quality, you’ll have to feed more, which can really drive up costs. So, finding the right balance between quality and price is super important.
The goal here is efficiency. You want to ensure you’re feeding the right amount without overdoing it. And with the recent challenges in weather, high-quality hay might be harder to come by, so it’s all about planning and knowing what works best for your cattle and budget.
Understand the cow’s needs.
Before you can start figuring out the amount needed, you must first understand what you are feeding for. Knowing what production stage your cows are in is the 1st step in this process. As you can figure, a mature, dry cow will need less than one in gestation. In fact, late gestation sees the most significant increase in the cow’s nutritional demand. This increase can create problems if you have spring-calving cows since this increase happens when most forages are at their lowest. Not understanding these needs can lead to undernourishment, poor health, and reduced productivity in your herd.
The weather can also affect their needs. Ruminants such as cattle use the rumen activity from digesting forages to maintain their body temperature. So, as the temperature drops below a certain point, their energy needs go up to compensate. According to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, for every degree below 32, the hay, on average, increases by 1% to meet this demand.
The time that the cow will have her calf will determine her needs. In fall-calving cows, warm-season forages typically do not meet lactation and maintenance protein and energy requirements. This deficiency in energy and protein can affect her body condition score because she will often place maintenance last in what she uses energy for. However, between energy and protein, it is the protein that is usually the nutrient that is most lacking in dormant forages.
Have your hay tested.
Before you can make any decisions on what you need to supplement, you first need to know what is there. A forage analysis is essential to both cost-effectiveness and efficient use of hay. The quality can differ from year to year due to the maturity stage in cutting and growing conditions. A fundamental understanding of nutrient value comes from accurate sampling procedures and thorough analysis at the lab. This knowledge is crucial for making informed feeding decisions and optimizing your feeding budget.
Any samples must accurately represent an entire lot of hay. A “lot” of hay consists of forages harvested from one field in a 48-hour period. This similarity means that each lot should be uniform in the forages that it represents. The type of plants, the number of weeds, where and when they were cut, and how they were stored should all be consistent in that lot. If there are differences in these conditions, separate samples must be taken.
How to test
The samples you will take should be done with either a core sampler or a hay probe. When you are taking the sample, the probe should penetrate at least 12-18 inches. The sample should also be no bigger than 3/8-in in diameter when taken. You should take at least ten samples or cores from each lot. Large round bales should be sampled by pushing the probe straight in at the center of the curve of the bale. That will give you an accurate sample of the entire windrow rather than a single point.
Once you have the samples taken, make sure to store them correctly. Place the samples in a freezer bag and seal them tightly so the lab can determine a similar dry matter concentration. Freeze any samples containing more than 15% moisture until shipping. Be sure to complete all of the information correctly and what you are testing for.
Testing any hay source for moisture, protein, and energy is essential. The correct formulation of any supplement requires this information. It may also be a good idea to have it tested for what minerals it provides. With the drought conditions we have had, it is also a good idea to have it tested for potential nitrate toxicity. Knowing that will tell you if it is safe to use or if you will need to mix it with anything to offset the nitrates.
How much hay do you need?
Now that we know what is being provided, let’s determine how much we need. There are a variety of factors that influence how much a cow will need. Body weight, stage of production, weather, and quality will all play a factor. Write down how much and what kind of livestock will be fed this winter ( mature cows, bulls, heifers, etc.). Generally speaking, each animal should require 2.5% of its body weight in dry matter each day.
An example of this:
- 175 mature cows X 1,350lbs X 0.025 = 5,906lbs of dry matter per day.
We just figured out the amount on a per-day basis, so now let’s look at the total. A producer typically will feed for 210 days during the year. This feeding period means that the producer will need 124,026 lbs or 63 tons during this time. If the bale weighs 1,400 lbs each and has 88% dry matter, that means it will provide 1,232 lbs of dry matter. Using our above example, the producer will need nearly 100 bales.
Include the losses, too.
The amount of hay needed should also take into account other factors. It is also important to include storage and feeding losses. By doing so, we will be able to determine an accurate number.
Depending on how you store your hay, you will lose more or less because of the weather. When keeping bales outside, dry matter losses can be anywhere from 20% or more. Storing them inside, losses can decrease to around 7%. If you are looking for ways to keep hay better, I cover that in a previous article, “5 tips for proper hay storage”, which includes advice on shelter, stacking, and monitoring conditions.
The amount you lose to feeding can vary depending on the system used. If you feed in bunks, waste can be as low as 3-14%. Rolling bales on the ground can result in 45% losses due to trampling and other factors. The type of hay ring can also affect loss from 3.3- 14.2%. Reducing losses may seem like little, but reducing loss by 25% with hay costing $120 per ton means a savings of $30 per ton.
So, for this example, let’s assume we have an average loss of 15%. Using the example we have above means you will need an additional 15 bales (100 bales X 1.15).
The quality of hay is vital.
As I mentioned a couple of times, the overall quality of the hay will matter. The simple difference of 9% CP or 7% CP can make all of the difference. A 1,300lbs spring-calving cow in her 3rd trimester will need 1,5lbs of CP to meet her protein needs. If everything works in your favor, divide 1.6 lbs of required CP by .09, meaning the cow will need to consume 17.8 lbs of DM to meet her protein needs.
If the hay tests at 7% CP, the amount needed to feed goes up to 22.9 lbs of DM hay. This increase of 5 lbs may seem like little, but if you have a large herd, it can add up. With 94 cows, that’s a daily difference of 470 lbs of dry matter. The extra amount can add up when feeding for any length of time.
