The fall of the year can be a bit of a problem for producers. Even if you had forages growing their overall quality declines drastically during this time of year. As the forages mature they become more fibrous, their crude protein level goes down, and they become less palatable. If a producer has his herd calve in the fall this makes the problem even more of an issue.
The issue with having a fall calving herd is that the quality of forages does down as her nutrition needs increase. The important thing to remember is to meet the cow’s nutritional demands. It may seem like it can be impossible that is not really the case. With some proper planning, it is possible to not have this become an issue.
Why nutrition at this time matters for fall calving
As I mentioned earlier the cow’s nutrition demands will increase as forage quality decreases. The greatest increase in needs is during her last trimester to the beginning of lactation. This puts even more stress on her because she is trying to maintain her body at the same time this is going on. Now you may be wondering just how much of an increase is there during this time.
To give you a baseline a dry cow, one that does not have a calf, only requires 7-8% CP and 45% TDN in order to maintain her overall condition. In this scenario, your basic, medium-quality forage is more than enough to meet those demands without supplementation. A lactating cow on the other hand needs 10-12% CP and 50% TDN to do the same job. Even in a good year, your average warm-season grass will have a hard time providing this. So you can see why planning ahead can be important here.
What can be lacking
The area where you are will play a role in what you will need to be supplementing. In your mild winter areas, protein will be your more lacking nutrient. An easy way to cover that is you can put out some lick tubs. In your northern areas where winters can get extremely cold energy will be lacking more according to Dr. Bart Lardner of the University of Saskatchewan. This is more important because it is needed so the cows can keep warm when temperatures reach way below freezing.
I don’t have to tell you that this year finding enough feedstuffs to meet those demands can be a bit tricky. Across most of the country, hay may be near impossible to find. And if you can find someone willing to sell the price could make it unprofitable to use it. So it is needed that producers get a little “creative” when it comes to what supplements to use. If you are looking for alternatives then check out my previous post “How to replace hay in a drought year”.
Possible nutrition shortfalls
As I mentioned a couple of times already but nutrition levels of forages decline as we go into fall. As the plant matures most of the nutrients are moved to the lower third. This is so the plant will survive the colder weather that is coming. soon.
Understanding the nutrition levels of your forages is important. Before you start putting out hay it is a good idea to have it tested so you know what it will provide. Once you know that amount you can start planning if you will need to provide over supplements to fill in the gaps. Testing for nutrition is not just for hay either. You should have your forages in the field tested at different intervals to know what is being provided under different conditions.
Cool-season forages are key
As any producer will tell you if you have to constantly buy store-bought supplements you will not be as profitable. In order to be as efficient as possible, you will need to extend your grazing season for as long as possible. This is where using cool-season grasses can help you.
As your warm-season grasses begin to decrease cool-season forages can take their place. It is possible when using these that your grazing season can be almost year-round. Depending on which type you go with they can produce from November all the way to April and even May.
Types of cool-season grasses
Though there are many different varieties that you can go with here are a few of the most common ones. You should take into consideration your location and growing conditions when picking a cool-season forage.
- Oat: this particular one is the least winter-hardy of the group. However, in areas like South Texas, it can be an option because of fewer hard freezes. Early fall is the best time to plant oats, as they will likely produce the most dry matter of any cool-season crop. They do not grow well on sandy soils but do tolerate wet, poorly drained soils.
- Rye: this is the most winter-hardy of the group. Compared to the others this produces more fall and winter forages. It will mature earlier in the spring than most wheat varieties. Rye grows well on well-drained soils with a sandy texture.
- Ryegrass: This is adapted to a wide range of soil types growing better on wet soils than most other cool-season annuals. It is easy to establish by simply broadcasting seeds on the surface. Production of dry matter will be late in the cool season. Mixtures of small grains with ryegrass can work well to extend the grazing season.
- Fescue: This type is the most dominant cool-season perennial grass used in the Southeastern U.S. While it is most adapted to Arkansas, Missouri, Tennesse, and Kentucky it can also be found in eastern Oklahoma and Northeastern Texas. It grows well on a wide variety of soil types but it performs best on loam or clay soils with some water holding capacity. In fescue, endophytes are a major problem. There are some varieties out there that do not form this though.
Pasture management is key
As with growing any type of forage how you manage your pasture will determine how successful it will be. You will need to give the plants a chance to establish themselves before you turn cows on it. You do not want to overgraze them either since this will reduce their growth. A rotational type of grazing system will benefit you greatly in maintaining a high forage production.
Using this type of system you want to follow the old “graze half, leave half” rule. What this means is that you want to move the cows off once they have grazed the forages to half height. With most of your forages, this means when the grass has reached a height of 4-6″. Before you rotate them back you will want to give the pasture enough rest for the forages to get back to a height of 10-12″.