Air October 31, 2001

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. A little frost over the weekend and then Indian Summer weather. Although I might like a little rain, I’m not complaining. Just a quick note to remind you that K-State Swine Day is coming up soon. Thursday, November 15th at the Holidome in Manhattan. Registration starts at 8 and the program at 9. Contact me if you have any questions.

Whether we like it or not, winter is going to be here soon, 52 days to be precise, just a little over 7 weeks. And while we all hope for a mild winter, we can’t assume anything but the worst. So while the sun is still shining and the snow isn’t blowing, take a little bit of time to start winterizing your cow herd. K-State Beef cattle specialists Dale Blasi and Twig Marston offer some of these hints. Split your herd into management groups based on body condition. Young and thin cows need a little more feed and those cows carrying plenty of condition don’t need as much. Splitting the herd may mean a little more work for you, but it will help minimize over and under fed cows and result in a healthier herd in better condition at a minimized cost. Preg check to find any open cows. With feed being a tight commodity this year, open cows are excess baggage or dead weight. Culling open cows can cut winter feed needs anywhere from 5 to 15%. Next, learn to utilize and manage feed. Feed wastage is probably one of the biggest money robbers the cattle producer faces. Feed hay in some sort of feeder. Just rolling it out on the ground can waste up to 25% of the forage. That’s roughly 10 to 15 dollars of wasted feed per bale. Sample your different forages so you aren’t over or underfeeding the cattle. Hay can easily change in quality 30 to 40% from year to year or from the first cut to the last. Hay isn’t just hay and simply letting the cattle have what they want is fine, if hay is cheap and plentiful. It’s neither right now. Make use of crop residue at a time when the animals nutritional needs are lowest. For many spring calving cows, the next 45 days is a pretty low need time. Let the cows utilize that forage. It’s cheap and readily available. Why feed expensive hay that you spent money baling up, when the cattle can do the harvesting for you. Hopefully it’ll be a mild winter, but hay is still expensive and we need to stretch it out and minimize maintenance costs for the good of the herd!

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2001.

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