If you’ve ever turned a fresh group of bawling weanlings onto winter pasture… only to watch your beautiful ryegrass or small grains disappear faster than a feed truck at dawn, you’re not alone.
Winter annuals are some of the most valuable forages we have in West Texas. They grow when nothing else does, they support high gains, and they take pressure off hay. But they’re also some of the easiest for calves to overgraze—especially during and right after weaning.
Here’s the thing most folks don’t realize:
Your weaning program—how you transition calves, how you feed them, how you manage stress—can make or break your winter pasture for the rest of the season.
So today, we’re going to break down:
- How to avoid overgrazing winter annuals with freshly weaned calves
- What realistic gains look like on wheat, small grains, and ryegrass
- When and how to supplement calves so your pasture doesn’t get hammered
We’ll keep it practical. No fluff. Just things you can use this week.
