Hay

3 Nutritional Questions to Consider Prior to Calving

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:45:05 GMT

Supplying adequate nutrition to the cow is critical during the 60 days prior to calving and immediately after calving.

“Beef cattle can turn high fiber forages and food by-product residuals into protein food at a very effective rate,” says John Comerford, Pennsylvania State University professor emiritus of animal science, in a recent extension article . “For the cow herd, there is seldom a period during the year when the cow cannot meet her nutritional needs with reasonable quality grass, hay or stored forages. The exception for these nutritional needs is for the 60 days prior to calving and immediately after calving.”

Why Is There a Nutritional Challenge Prior To and After Calving?

Comford explains there are three major reasons why cows are challenged prior to and right after calving:

The initiation of lactation
The return to a fertile reproductive state
The production of colostrum

He adds the cow’s age has an impact on these factors, and younger cows have more critical nutritional needs.

Lawton Stewart, University of Georgia (UGA) assistant dean for extension, and Uttam Saha, UGA Agricultural & Environmental Services Lab (AESL) program coordinator, explain there are three nutritional questions producers should consider as calving season approaches — depending on forage availability and quality.

Does restricting feed in the last trimester decrease calf birth weights?
Do you need more protein to go with hay?
Are you underestimating crude protein and overestimating energy?

Does Restricting Feed in the Last Trimester Decrease Calf Birth Weights?

Stewart and Saha say yes, feed restriction will decrease birth weights. The problem is that birth weight is not the only thing it will affect.

Recent research has focused on fetal programming . Fetal programming is the concept that maternal stimuli or insults during fetal development have long-term effects on the offspring.

One of the most critical aspects of fetal programming involves the adequate nutrition, or lack thereof, of the dam. Research has shown minimal impact on calf birth weights; however, the restricted nutrition during the last trimester decreased weaning weights, finishing weights and hot carcass weights.

Additionally, research from Nebraska indicates heifers from nutritionally restricted cows reached puberty 14 days later than those with proper nutrition.

Do You Need More Protein to Go with Your Hay?

Stewart and Saha say possibly, however, protein is only half of the equation.

Figure 1: The nutrient requirement of a mature brood cow through a 365-day calving interval.

(UGA)

From April 1 to Oct. 1 of 2025, 773 bermudagrass hay samples were submitted to the UGA lab. The mean crude protein (CP) and energy (TDN) value was 11.1% and 55.7%, respectively. The illustration above represents the CP and TDN requirements of a brood cow throughout the production year. As cows enter the final trimester, their CP requirement is exceeded by the average bermudagrass sample, but the energy requirement falls short. More importantly, as they calve, enter peak lactation and the breeding season, the CP requirement is met, but the TDN falls tremendously short.

Do Producers Underestimate Crude Protein and Overestimate Energy?

Stewart and Saha say there is a tendency for producers to underestimate crude protein and overestimate energy.

“The cheapest money you will ever spend in a beef cattle operation is a forage test, guaranteed,” Saha says.

He explains a great illustration of this happened recently during the UGA Master Cattlemen’s Program. As part of the program, a free forage test was offered to participants along with a survey to estimate what producers thought the quality of the hay was prior to testing. This survey showed 83% of producers were underestimating the protein of their hay compared to the actual. This would result in purchasing a protein supplement when not needed.

For energy, 50% overestimated the level, resulting in depriving needed energy during late gestation and early lactation. In addition to the previously discussed fetal programming issues, this could also cause delayed breeding.

Figure 2: Actual example of over estimating energy.

(UGA)

An example of overestimation of energy is illustrated the example above. The overestimation could likely result in breeding being delayed 42 days. The resulting loss in weaning weight could easily reach 80 lb., leading to an approximate $280 decrease in value per calf.

“Through forage testing, the producer would know to feed 4 lb./day of a supplement such as corn gluten feed. Based on a 25-cow herd, this could easily return $6,325 above cost. That is a no-brainer,” Saha explains.

Brood cow nutrition is a crucial part of a beef cattle operation. Between fetal programming and maintaining the proper calving interval, it is imperative for producers to pay close attention to the nutrients available in their forages, and if they meet the requirements of their herd.

Your Next Read:
Ensuring Quality and Nutrition: Three Easy Steps For Forage Analysis
9 Tips to Ensure Calving Season Success
Your Calving Prep Starts Here: The Essential Checklist

Ag Meterologists Worry More Drought Lies Ahead

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 17:17:03 GMT

As Eric Snodgrass looks six weeks out to the end of March, he doesn’t like the weather pattern he sees shaping up for spring – more dry conditions.

Varying levels of mild to moderate drought have dogged much of the upper Midwest, West and Southwest since last fall, and the outlook is for more of the same, according to Snodgrass, a leading U.S. meteorologist.

Check out the soil moisture deficit currently in the upper Midwest.

(Eric Snodgrass)

“I’m concerned about the way the central United States and the western Corn Belt, in particular, are going to be dealing with the risk of drought building into spring,” Snodgrass told livestock producers and farmers attending the Top Producer Summit in Kansas City last week.

History shows that drought tends to beget drought. In six of the past 10 years with a really dry fall, Snodgrass says the spring to follow was also dry.

The current weekly U.S. Drought Monitor echoes his observations. The Monitor released last Thursday (Feb. 20) says drought is impacting 34% of the beef cattle inventory area, 27% of the dairy area and 49% of U.S. alfalfa hay production acres.

Current conditions are dry in many of the regions where beef and dairy are produced.

(U.S. Drought Monitor)

Arctic Air Is Contributing To Drought Conditions

Snodgrass spells out what usually happens in late winter to create the moisture livestock producers and farmers need for U.S. grain and livestock production.

As the jet stream moves across the Pacific Ocean, it typically splits and sweeps into the West Coast from two positions – one from the northern North Pacific Ocean and the other from the southern North Pacific Ocean, close to Hawaii. The two portions of the jet stream usually then scream across U.S. western mountain ranges, picking up moisture they then deposit in portions of the West, Southwest and Midwest before moving on to the East Coast and exiting the U.S. in Maine.

This year, the portion of the jet stream that normally comes from Hawaii has veered from its usual course and possibly even stalled. One indicator of that happening, Snodgrass says, is a drop off in ocean temperatures in the Baja of California and the Gulf of Alaska. The result is dry, arctic air has been moving into portions of the U.S.

For some parts of the U.S. the cold, arctic air has brought snow along with it. But the snow holds little moisture that would help alleviate the frozen dry soils. “We have some deep snow in areas right now, but it’s only got maybe two-tenths of an inch of liquid in it,” Snodgrass explains.

That’s bad news for livestock producers and farmers who need a full profile of soil moisture going into spring and don’t have one.

Similar concerns were voiced by Drew Lerner, founder and president of World Weather, Inc., during the Top Producer Summit.

“If we continue bringing these cold shots of air through North America, we will have a below-normal precipitation bias [in western states] as we go forward through spring planting season,” Lerner explained during the taping of the U.S. Farm Report.

This map shows what the precipitation could look like in March. But remember, Mother Nature is unpredictable. She could change course and bring moisture.

(Eric Snodgrass)

That’s not the meteorologists’ expectation for the East and Southeast. Much of those regions have had an over-abundance of moisture recently. Lerner and Snodgrass agree those areas are likely to continue having plenty of moisture going into spring.

More Weather Trouble Brewing For Summer

If current cold conditions continue through March, which Lerner and Snodgrass anticipate will be the case, what will likely occur is a knee-jerk reaction in the atmosphere: a warming trend will start in late March or early April and build through late spring and into early summer.

“If we warm up quickly in the spring, which is a high possibility, we could end up falling behind the eight ball a little bit more on soil moisture,” Lerner says.

While some meteorologists point to this year’s La Niña as a cause of the continued move to dryer conditions, Snodgrass and Lerner say that’s not the case.

“La Niña will be gone by the time we get into mid-March,” Lerner predicts. “This La Niña hasn’t lasted long enough to really have a big footprint in the atmosphere. As we get into April, it’ll be pretty much a non-event.”

Keep An Eye On The Pacific Decadal Oscillation

Lerner and Snodgrass believe a negative phase of what scientists call the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) could be a primary contributor to ongoing drought and higher temperatures by April. The PDO is a long-term climate pattern that affects the temperature of the Pacific Ocean and can influence weather patterns across the globe.

While the PDO has not had what Lerner calls a “tremendous amount of impact” in past years in the U.S., it’s looking more influential for the 2025 spring and summer.

“I’m seeing some additional cooling off the West Coast of North America that may end up leading us into a greater ridge building with all the dryness that’s in the soil and that negative PDO,” Lerner says. “I’m not ready to go all the way over with [that prediction], but that’s where I’m headed.”

The Surprising Solution To Drought

If Mother Nature continues on her worrying course, Snodgrass says continued low temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska would be a signal in early summer.

“If we get into June and it’s cool there, that is telling me that the atmosphere is not moving. And if it doesn’t move, well, all of a sudden we could find ourselves in a situation in late June into July with more drought and excess heat,” Snodgrass says.

Another worrying sign he says to watch for is where the active spring weather pattern falls. If areas of Kansas and the Great Plains see an active tornado season, Snodgrass says that means the weather pattern is more favorable for rains to fall across the Midwest and West. But if tornado warnings blare across the Southeast, Snodgrass says that’s a signal drought could be a problem this summer.

There is a solution to the troubling weather patterns, he adds, one most beef and dairy producers understandably won’t welcome – a big, wet snow on the Northern Plains.

“The No. 1 thing I’m praying for right now is an April 4 blizzard. I want a foot of snow,” Snodgrass told producers and farmers, many of whom laughed.

Snodgrass laughed, too, and added, “You’ll hate me for about a week, and then love me through the rest of May.”

Estimate Hay Needs For Cattle Herd Now

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 20:18:34 GMT

Here are some basic rules of thumb to follow when determining the hay supplies you will need to sustain your cow herd over the next few months.

Determine your average mature cow size. This can be done by weighing your 4 – 7 year old cows and calculating the average weight. From mature cow size, we can approximate the amount of forage dry matter cows will need to consume per year or per day. For example: a 1,000 pound cow will consume about 26 pounds of forage dry matter per day. A 1,400 pound cow will consume about 36.4 pounds of forage dry matter per day.
Determine your cow inventory
Estimate the amount of time you expect to be feeding cows.

From this information you can calculate the total amount of hay needed. For example: 100 cows weighing 1,400 pounds will consume about 3,640 pounds of hay per day. We should take into account that a certain amount of the hay fed will be wasted and there will be a certain amount of spoilage of each bale fed that won’t be consumed. With this in mind we will add another 10% to the daily total to bump it up to about 4000 pounds (2 tons) per day.

Remember the amount of hay wasted or spoiled could be higher. If we are feeding hay from last year expect a higher percentage spoiled in each bale.

If we are expecting to feed hay from mid-October to mid-May, that is approximately 200 days of hay feeding. 4,000 pounds of hay needed per day x 200 days equals a total of 800,000 pounds (400 ton) of forage dry matter that cows will consume over this time. If we are feeding or buying large rounds with an average weight of 1,250 pounds that equates to 640 (800,000 divided by 1,250) big bales needed to sustain the 100 cows.

If possible, purchase hay by the ton. It leads to less error in securing the amount of hay you will need to purchase or have on inventory. If buying hay by the bale is your only option, make sure to weigh enough of the bales to have an accurate representation of bale weight. Also, take into account the amount of spoilage of each bale. One of the upsides of hay baled this summer (and the drought we are dealing with now) is less spoilage of warm season grass hay baled in the summer of 2024.

Other factors such as weather, stage of gestation or lactating versus dry cows will obviously impact nutritional requirements of cows from day to day. Provide hay and other nutritional supplementation accordingly.

Balancing Quality and Cost When Feeding Your Cow Herd

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:42:40 GMT

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could graze 365 days out of the year? Think about the feed, fuel, time and overall money you would save! While it’s a great goal to aim for, it simply isn’t realistic for all climates or ranches. If you fall into the category of cattlemen and women who simply must supplement feed at some point during the year, understanding the quality of your feed and how to reduce feed waste is vital to your success each year. Dr. Karl Hoppe, Livestock Systems Specialist at the Carrington Research Extension Center, offers insight into how cattle producers can better understand the nutritional requirements of their cows and how to pair that with the quality of feed they have available during Season 7, Episode 35 of the Casual Cattle Conversations podcast.

Body condition scoring is a common method of evaluating if your cows’ nutritional needs are being met. To use this information effectively, ranchers must know how long it takes to move their cows up a score if they are thinner than desired.

“When it comes to winter feeding, you need to think six months ahead,” Hoppe says.

Depending on the cow, there is approximately a 80-pound difference from one body condition score to the next. How long it will take you to make that gain depends on the genetics of your herd and a variety of environmental factors one being feed quality. To set your herd up for optimal performance, you must know what they need for nutrients and what our feed sources have to offer.

“People often think if cows are thin, they can just throw a few extra bales out for them,” Hoppe says. “This happens during cold, wintry days too. But the cows need energy, not just extra feed. We tend to miss this and don’t realize how much energy our cows need.”

The solution is simple, test your hay each year.

As soon as your hay is put up, you can test it and get results back within a few days. It is encouraged to test for energy, protein, calcium, phosphorus and trace minerals. However, it can be beneficial to test for toxins such as nitrates which are more common during dry years.

When it comes to collecting samples, Karl says, “Make sure you get at least a quart bag full of corings for an adequate sample.”

Additionally, it is wise to test bales from each field because there can be large variances between different types of hay and the land it was grown on. For those who grind and mix different quality hay, test before you grind as the ground hay pile isn’t mixed enough to offer a representative sample. If you don’t have a probe to collect samples, reach out to your extension agent, feed store or feed company representative for help. If you need to test feed that is supposed to be ensiled, be sure to allow this process to take place before collecting samples. For distillers, ask the plant or location you are purchasing from if they have averages for quality so you can formulate an accurate ration. Feed and hay samples can be sent to commercial laboratories that run these tests often. The National Forage Testing Lab website is a good resource for cattle producers to find a lab near them.

Testing the feed is one thing. Raising high-quality, cost-effective feed is another. We tend to do a lot of things like generations before us, but our cows and economy are not the same. This makes it important to explore different options and be flexible with our environment and weather to raise cost-effective, high-quality feed. This might look like grazing or haying different feeds like rye, barley, winter wheat, sorghum-sudan mixes, oats, forage sorghum or corn silage. From an energy standpoint, corn silage is a great feed source to include in your total mixed ration (TMR), which can also be cost-effective. Your location may also provide access to different byproducts such as wheat middlings, soy hulls, beet pulp or corn gluten-feed just to name a few examples. Hoppe helps North Dakota producers incorporate these into their rations.

You can raise it. You can test it. How do you make sure you don’t waste it?

There are numerous strategies to reduce feed waste depending on what and how you are delivering this feed. For those feeding a TMR, feed bunks are the best option to reduce waste. For round bales, look at different feeders to help keep the hay in the feeder and not on the ground. Karl reminds producers, “Cattle don’t waste high quality hay. Cattle do waste poor quality hay.” So, take this into consideration when deciding how and what to feed your herd. There are opportunity costs to consider when deciding to feed a TMR or stick to bales. Hoppe said, “It costs money to grind hay, run two tractors and own a mixer wagon; so if you own a small amount of cows it might be cheaper to let cows waste a greater percentage of hay rather than feed a TMR. But, don’t forget to consider the cost of that hay that is now considered bedding. Your hay could be $100/ton which is expensive bedding compared to $40/ton straw or stover.” Before you get into the argument of which option is best for you, be sure to know your costs to get the most accurate picture.

As we work toward increasing our grazing days and decreasing our feeding days, remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Start by knowing your costs, what resources you have available, the needs of your cows and your goals. From there, don’t be afraid to ask around and try new methods to determine which feeding strategies best fit your operation. And of course, TEST YOUR HAY!

Listen: Casual Cattle Conversations Episode 35

Read more on hay and forage:
Understanding Forage Quality Analysis
Options for Producers When Facing Short Hay Supplies

Fall and Winter Feed Management Strategies for the Cow Herd

Haying season is over, the days are getting shorter, and temperatures are cooler. Fall is here and winter is just around the corner. Beef producers will keep cows grazing as long as they can because grazing is cheaper than feeding harvested hays and forages. Depending on stage of production, supplements can be fed to take care of any nutrient gaps. Dormant range, cool-season pasture, and cornstalks are good winter feed resources as long as grazing recommendations are followed. At some time during the winter and before pastures can be grazed next spring, there is a good chance that harvested hays will be part of the menu for the beef herd. Now is a good time to get the harvested hays component organized.

Sampling Hay
Contact the lab that you will send the hay samples to. The lab often provides plastic bags to put samples in (a quart zip lock will do just fine too), an information sheet identifying the hay type, analysis you want the testing lab to perform, and billing and contact information.

For harvested forages like hay, use a hay probe to collect the sample for an accurate assessment. Most extension offices have a hay probe that can be checked out. Sample each hay by lot . A lot is hay harvested at a similar time, from the same plant type and growth stage, and from a similar location such as a field. Because hay quality can vary due to differences from all the listed factors, sampling by lot ensures that a representative sample is provided for testing.

For most hays, 20 subsamples should be taken per lot and then mixed before the sample bag is filled and submitted to the laboratory. This helps capture variation in the hay. When sampling, try to take samples at random from bales. Don’t seek out good spots or avoid bad ones as this can skew results providing an inaccurate assessment of the hay quality.

Testing Hay
The most cost-effective analysis for most hays is a NIRS analysis . For this type of analysis, it is important to identify the sample (alfalfa, summer annual, prairie hay, bromegrass, etc.). Most common hays have a robust NIRS database for labs to pull from, but complex mixtures or rare hay types may still be best analyzed using traditional wet chemistry. If you have any questions, reach out to your lab of choice before submitting for confirmation on types of analysis (NIRS, wet chemistry) to use.

If hays will be fed to beef cows, test for moisture, percent crude protein, and total digestible nutrients (TDN). TDN cannot be directly tested but is a calculated value. You can request minerals as part of your NIRS analysis. If there is a need to test for other minerals, the lab can do that using another testing procedure. Summer annuals should also be tested for nitrates.

Hay Inventory
Inventory hays by type (alfalfa, grass hay, summer annual, etc.). Inventory each hay type by quality, including high (percent crude protein and percent TDN), moderate, and low. Count the number of bales by type and quality. Take a weight of each hay type by quality and calculate total pounds of each type. This will help determine the number of feeding days for each hay type and quality. Cows will eat more of the high-quality hay compared to the moderate and low-quality hay because it is easier to digest.

Cows will eat between 2.0 and 2.5 percent of their body weight on a dry matter basis . As you budget the amount of hay needed, account for storage losses (10% to 25%) and feeding losses (10%). It is important to store hays in such a way to reduce storage losses. Store big round bales on the round side with space between them and not in low places where water settles. Additionally, limit or control (by mowing) the growth of weeds around the bales.

The following calculations will help you determine the amount of hay to budget per cow.

If cows, on average weigh 1,200 lbs. and the hay quality is moderate to high, each cow will eat 30 lbs. per day.
When accounting for feeding losses (10%), this calculates to 33 lbs. per head per day on a dry matter basis.
To determine the amount needed on an “as-fed” basis, look at the hay analysis to get the dry matter content.
If the moisture content is 15%, then the dry matter content is 85%. Most baled hays will be between 84% and 90% dry matter. Divide 33 lbs./hd/day by 0.85 to determine pounds per head per day “as-fed”. For this example, the amount is 39 lbs. per head per day. If storage losses are 15%, you will need to budget 45 lbs. per head per day.

Staging Hay
With inventory complete, consider organizing the stackyard by hay and forage quality.

Stage by type (alfalfa, grass hay, summer annual, etc.) and quality. If some hays like summer annuals are high in nitrates, make sure you know where these hays are in the stackyard because they need to be diluted with other hays to be fed at a safe level. Consider identifying these bales by spray painting the bale wrap with a N.

Organize the bales in the stackyard, so that you can easily get to each hay quality and type. Work with your Extension Educator or nutritionist to determine when and what to supplement when the hay doesn’t meet the cow’s nutrient requirements based on her stage of production (stage of gestation and stage of lactation).

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