New ranchers gain insight on putting forage-cattle facts together

By LYNN MONTGOMERY | East Texas Edition

Beef cattle information mixed with pasture management details were the focus of the recent workshop held in Overton. The workshop was designed for new or inexperienced ranchers. -- Staff photo

April 17, 2003 -- As spring-time forage, and beef cows with calves at their sides, are thriving in East Texas, producers attending the recent Pasture and Livestock Management Workshop in Overton gained knowledge aimed at generating profits.

"The workshop targets new or inexperienced ranchers, and covers the basics of forage establishment, management and utilization," Dr. Larry Redmon, workshop coordinator said.

Specifics of forage management were covered in classroom instruction and demonstrations of planting, calibrating sprayers, inoculating legume seed; plus, the ranchers were shown proper methods for castrating, vaccinating, and dehorning their calves.

Record-keeping for livestock's performance evaluation was one subjected addressed at the workshop. Dr. Greg Clary, Extension economist, stated one reason for keeping records was to utilize the records.

"If you're not going to use your records and do a SPA (standardized performance analysis), then why bother keeping up with the records?" he queried.

An SPA, initiated by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, is designed to help producers reduce their cost of production and improve their production and marketing efficiency. The objective is to help producers achieve goals by analyzing production and financial performance.

Clary told the producers there are several workshops held each year and the next workshop for East Texas is planned for June. Registration fee to an SPA workshop is $100 per ranch and includes the SPA analysis, a private meeting review, software, educational materials, and meals.

(For more information about the SPA workshop, contact Clary at 903-834-6191 or g-clary@tamu.edu.)

Beef cattle, especially momma cows, are expected to perform well on pasture forage.

"Forages should be the main source of nutrition for a cow-calf or stocker producer," began workshop presenter Dr. Jason Cleere, Extension livestock specialist. "However there are times when forages fail to provide an adequate supply of nutrients to meet your production goals, or forage is limited," and cattle must be supplemented.

Or, in other worlds, the producer must "provide what is lacking."

Cleere said there are four reasons for supplemental feeding.

The first reason is to provide the animals nutrients which are not in the forage. A nutrient-deficient forage actually limits the cow's forage intake and digestion, according to Cleere.

"With supplemental feeding an animal's intake is usually the limiting factor associated with nutrient deficiencies on dormant forages or poor quality hay. When the protein content of a forage drops below 7 to 8 percent, dry matter intake will decline rapidly," Cleere said.

If a forage or hay contains less than 7 percent crude protein, then feeding a protein supplement will improve the cattle's protein and energy status by improving forage digestibility and intake. Adequate forage is necessary when supplementing protein because if it is not, the protein source just becomes an expensive source of energy.

The second reason is "to add to the value of low-quality forage and increase the animals diet quality." This supplement is called enhancement feeding.

An example of enhancement feeding, according to the Extension specialist, is feeding a 20 percent protein breeders cube to lactating cows during the winter when forage is at at its best.

"Consider a supplement that will sustain forage intake and digestion at the present level," he added.

The third reason is "to partially replace forage in the diet." Also called substitute feeding.

"The reason behind substitute feeding is the cow's performance is currently meeting production objectives, but forage availability is anticipated to limit performance in the future," Cleere said.

The objective is to maintain the current level of performance, but extend the forage supply in to the future.

The fourth reason is "to provide nutrition during a shortage of forage, supply feeding."

Cleere ended his talk with different substances to supplement cattle: cottonseed meal, soybean meal, cubes, cottonseed cake, protein blocks, liquid, good quality hay, etc.

"The best thing is to find the most economical and convenient one for you," Cleere said.

Each spring, the Pasture and Livestock Management workshop, which cost $250 per participant, is hosted by the Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center faculty in Overton. Redmon said he already has 65 people signed up for the course, but has not received any money. Class size is limited to 40.

"Due to the popularity of this course, we will more than likely offer two courses next year. If people are interested they need to be contact us so that we can put their name on a list," Redmon said.

The center's telephone number is 903-834-6191.