The breeding season places significant demands on our cows, who play a crucial role in this process. They are not just animals in our operation but critical contributors to our success. During this time, they are expected to provide adequate nutrition for their calf and allow their bodies to recover from giving birth. Then, they are expected to return to estrus just before they are bred again. All of this is likely to occur within 90 days after calving to maintain a yearly calving interval. This cycle is essential for our operation’s success.
A yearly calving interval is not just a cycle; it’s a financial lifeline for our operation. If a cow does not provide a calf every year or 2, then we are not getting a return on what we spend on the cow. With the ever-increasing input costs we have seen over the last year, we need more than getting a return on investment. The financial implications of this cycle are urgent and crucial for our operation’s success.
Adequate nutrition is not just a key but a responsibility in breeding your cows again. Considerations should be made to meet the cow’s nutritional demands. The best approach is to look at the quality and quantity of forage consumed, the cow’s nutrient requirements, and the feed options available. This responsibility is crucial in ensuring the health and productivity of our cows.
What is your forage base at breeding
Forages form the very foundation of any successful nutrition program. Not only are they more economical than buying feed, but the cow’s rumen needs a certain amount of roughage in the cow’s diet to function correctly. Regarding your forage base, there are two things to consider: Can the cow eat all it wants in a day? And what is the quality of the forage that she is consuming?
The quantity and quality of forages can differ depending on factors like drought. However, we are prepared for such situations. During drought or drought conditions, we can see reductions in both the quality and quantity of forages. How you handle this type of situation can be crucial. Suppose you want more information about forage management during a drought. In that case, we have resources available, such as those by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, a renowned institution in the field of agriculture, to guide you.
Another factor that can affect how much forage she will need is the amount of milk she produces. The more significant the amount of milk produced, the more high-quality forage she will need to consume. You want to select traits where she will make just enough milk for the calf but not too much; otherwise, she will need a lot of feed.
When your breeding season is over, it will play a role in the quality of the forages available. For most native-type pastures, forage quality tends to peak sometime in June. After that, it will start to decline from July to November. Knowing the quality of your forage and the Body Condition Score (BCS) of your cows, which is a numerical assessment of their body fat, will be a big part of learning how to proceed. Having your forages tested regularly will tell you the overall quality of your forages.
Forage quantity
In many cases, the amount of forage available is as significant as the quality. There are four methods that you can use to estimate your pasture’s yield:
- Cut and weigh: This is the most accurate method. Use a 0.25 sq meter frame and trim all the forage that falls in that frame to ground level. You should take at least ten different measurements across your pasture to get the most accurate amount. If we assume the grass is 20% dry matter, multiply the wet grams of forage by 0.2 to get the amount of dry matter. Then, multiply the average dry matter weight by 35.69 to convert it to lbs/acre. The actual conversion rate can differ depending on ground cover and forage type.
- Use a grazing stick: This is the most commonly used method for estimating yield. Walk the pasture and take about 30 different height measurements to get a reasonable estimate. Take the average of all your heights, then multiply by 250 lbs/acre/inch. Again, the conversion rate will depend on forage type and coverage.
- Falling plate method: This uses a grazing stick or a yardstick to measure the height of the forages under a heavy plate. The compression from the plate leads to a more accurate height estimation because you will not be eyeballing the forage level. As with the other, you should do this multiple times in each pasture to an average measurement. Using a height in inches multiplied by 432 lbs/acre/inch to get a forage estimate in lbs/acre.
- The rising plate method: Unlike the falling plate method, this uses a rising plate meter to take measurements. Walk the pasture and take about 30 measurements. Take the average forage height and multiply it by 126/lbs/acre/inch to convert it to lbs/acre.
Her nutritional needs at breeding and beyond
The cow’s stage of production will impact her overall nutrition requirements. Her age will also play a part since, during this time, she could still be growing herself. Generally, when they move from mid to late gestation, energy requirements will increase by 25% and protein by 10%. After calving, she will see her most significant nutrient demand due to lactation.
If she is going to lose weight, it will usually occur after calving due to an inadequate supply of nutrients to support milk production. Forages alone will likely not provide all she needs, so supplementation will probably be required. What type to use will depend on what the forages lack and what she needs.
If forages are not providing all of the needed nutrition, there are some management actions you can take. One of these is to wean your calves early. Early weaning can be advantageous when dealing with 2- 3-year-old cows that are in a losing condition. Early weaning helps because once the cow no longer has a demand for lactation, it will no longer need as much forage. The difference in forage intake between a lactating vs. non-lactating cow is about 5 lbs of forage per head per day. This reduction in forage demand can significantly ease the nutritional stress on the cow.
Other available feed sources
When dealing with drought conditions, you may need to replace forage. As I said before, the cow’s rumen needs a certain amount of roughage in its diet to promote microbial activity. Without them, the cow won’t be able to digest the starches in the feed effectively.
When deciding what feed alternatives to use, consider your needs and budget. In a previous post, “How to replace hay in a drought year,” I went over some options. With fuel prices the way they are, it is a good idea to source your supplements locally.
One thing that some people need to do correctly is to begin supplementing too late. It would be best to start supplementing at the first signs of forage inadequacy. If you wait too long, you will have to “catch up,” which can be more expensive in the long run.
Remember that not all proteins are created equal if you need to provide a supplement. Though a protein source may be high in crude protein, this does not mean that the cow will be able to metabolize it. A protein source high in rumen undegradable protein may be needed to increase the supply of metabolizable protein.
