Seems every year Mother Nature wants to wreak havoc on some regions with drought. Drier than desirable conditions cause problems for livestock producers who depend on forages for grazing during the summer months. But on a positive note using proper planning both your cattle and your bank account can survive the drought.
There are many options that a producer can choose from if they find themselves in a drought condition. They can wean their calves early, sell off some of their herd, or they can supplement to fill in the gaps. Like most things with rancher there is no 1 right answer. It is up to each individual producer to decide what is best for them.
When going with the supplementation option the goal is to meet the nutrient requirements of their beef cattle as efficiently and economically as possible. Factors that should be looked at when making decisions about supplements are forage supply, protein content, body condition score, cost, and availability of supplements.
Understand what supplement is needed during drought
In an ideal growing season nutrient requirements of grazing cattle are met by native pastures and/or improved pasture forages. Drought can cause reductions in both forage quality and quantity. This can impact cattle performance if supplement feed is not provided in adequate amounts.
In those type of situations it is important to understand which primary nutrient, protein or energy, is found to be lacking the most relative to requirements. This is vital so that you are not purchasing more feed than is needed. Having your forages tested on a regular basis will give you a “ball park” figure of what nutrients are being provided and in what amounts.
The time of year and the stage of forage production will also play a factor in this. During the growing season drought affected forages actually can be higher in quality than normal. This is because the nutrients are not as diluted by moisture as they normally would be. A down side here is that drought conditions can lead to earlier plant dormancy and earlier reduced quality.
Protein drought supplement
Usually when pastures have reached early dormancy due to drought conditions are generally deficient in protein. If this happens making sure that protein requirements are being met is necessary to optimize animal performance and reproduction. A minimum of 7% of dietary crude protein is needed to ensure adequate digestion and nutrient utilization by the microbes in the cow’s rumen.
An example of this is: Mature cows weighing 1,300lbs that calved in March and April need approximately 2.5lbs of Crude Protein per day. If we assume that most cool-season dormant grasses contain about 5% CP and that cows can eat about 2% of their body weight in low-quality dormant forages. They will be getting about 1.3lbs of CP per day from these forages. This means that they will need an additional 1.2lbs of supplement CP to meet their requirements.
A benefit of protein supplement is that is does not need to be delivered on a daily basis. Feeding every 3rd day or as often as once every 6 days can result in similar performance. Interval feeding can result in significant savings in labor and delivery costs. However it is not as effective if large quantities of supplement are needed. The maximum recommended amount to provide at any one feeding is 1% of body weight.
Energy drought supplement
Cereal grains such as corn are often used as energy supplement for drought conditions but it does have some effects on forage intake. Starchy feeds have been shown to have a negative impact of forage digestibility and intake when it is feed at levels higher than 0.4% of body weight. Typically this type of effect would be considered a negative consequence of feeding grain with a forage-based diet.
The type of cattle that you will be supplementing will also play a part on how good feeding grains will do. Your English breeds, such as Angus, will have a more positive result than your more tropical types such as Brahmas. This could be due to generations of being used to being feed these types of grain.
The negative response from grains may actually be beneficial during drought given the right conditions. This is provided that the energy lost through the reduction in forage intake is made up by the supplement. High energy, fiber-based supplements such as wheat midds, soyhulls, beet pulp, and corn gluten feed also can be used to substitute for forage without negative impacts on fiber digestibility.
Unlike protein supplements, energy supplements should be delivered daily for optimal performance. This is needed in order to avoid excess energy intake and maintain optimum conditions in the rumen.
Don’t forget the water
Surface water is often the main source of water for grazing cattle. However during drought conditions they can dry up leaving no water. This can be taken care of if there is a live tap nearby to fill the tanks. If there is no live tap available then moving the cattle out of the pasture or hauling water may be your only short term alternatives.
Don’t have to tell you but a cow can drink a lot of water. Cows will drink 20 gallons per day and calves will drink 5 to 8 gallons per day. So keep those numbers in mind if you are looking at hauling water to fill tanks.
Using salt to limit feed intake will play a role in the amount of water that is needed. According to a paper done by Texas A&M called “Drought Feeding Management” shows this to happen. Using salt in this way can increase water intake 50% to 75%. This can be approximately 50 gallons of additional water for each pound of salt.
Determining drought supplement costs
When looking at comparing supplement costs you should always do it as a “per lb. basis”. This will give you a more accurate “apples to apples comparison”. Some supplements may seem cheaper by sticker price but if you break them down by units of what you are looking for they can end up being more expensive.
Example: If a 20% protein supplement costs $300 per ton, then the cost per pound of protein is $0.75
( 2,000 x 0.2 = 400lbs of protein, $300 divided by 400lbs =$0.75)
If you are looking for ways to reduce your overall feed costs then check out one of my previous posts “How to reduce your feed costs”.
