K-State Research and Extension

“High Risk Calf Nutrition”

 by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

 What are the three most critical required “nutrients” for high-risk calves who have been on a truck for an extended period? Hay, water, and rest. Alright, those aren’t all exactly “nutrients” per se, but they are definitely REQUIRED. Nutritionists, veterinarians, and feedyard managers could probably argue for a month as to which of the three is the most important and urgent; none the less, they all are both important and urgent.

The rumen thrives on constancy. The animal is designed to keep a steady supply of forage and water flowing to the rumen, a steady amount of waste products flowing out from the rumen, and a steady stream of nutrients from fermentation absorbed through the rumen wall. Cattle that have been off feed and water for a number of hours need to re-start this flow.

Good quality grass or cereal grain hay, long-stemmed, needs to be available for calves to nibble on, along the bunk line and also in a hay feeder. Normally we want to encourage calves to get all their feed from the feed bunk but extremely stressed calves need to feed immediately and there may not be sufficient linear space at the bunk for all calves to eat at once. There needs to be a safe place for small or timid calves to eat hay in peace.

Clean, fresh water needs to be available. A separate additional water tank should be placed along the fence line so that (a) there is room for many calves to water immediately after arrival and (b) there is plenty of water for all the calves. These tanks may need to be re-filled throughout the day depending on demand.

Exhausted calves will want to lay down immediately after arrival. Opinions vary with respect to the urgency of rest. Some experts believe that immediately upon entry to the receiving pen exhausted calves should be gently moved to the feeding and drinking areas, to encourage them to eat and drink prior to bedding down; others contend that 30 minutes of rest prior to feeding and drinking is valuable. Most agree that after feeding and drinking, calves should be allowed an extended rest period prior to post-arrival processing. Some suggest an hour of rest for every hour on the truck. This is a rough guideline.

If pen conditions are wet upon arrival, straw or corn stalks should be put out, on the mounds, to give calves a relatively, dry, clean place to bed down. Regardless, receiving pens should have abundant area per animal, bedding during wet conditions, and shade during hot conditions.

We often place unrealistic expectations on vaccines and antibiotics to prevent disease in high-risk calves. It might be better to focus on these three important “nutrients” first.

“Weaning Nutrition”

 by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

 The biggest hurdle in getting calves started off right in the fall is the weather. The sooner you get calves through the stress of weaning and started on feed, the better. If calves get through the stressful process of weaning from their dam and onto feed ahead of fall rains or ice storms, they have a good chance at success.

Good quality grass hay is very palatable and it’s a good way to attract bawling calves to the bunk. Don’t use a bale ring; this teaches calves NOT to come to the bunk to eat and you’ll just need to re-train them to the bunk later. After 1-2 days of free choice feeding long stemmed loose hay in the bunk, limit hay consumption to about 1.0% of bodyweight (5 lb for 500 lb calf) and top-dress 3-5 lb/head (for 500 lb calf) of the weaning ration on top of the hay. As calves consume this small amount of mixed diet, begin to further reduce the amount of loose hay you feed each day and increase the amount of mixed diet.

A mixture of 50% ground hay (grass or grass/alfalfa mix), 50% concentrate (including cracked grain and a starter supplement) can be fairly easy to blend and manage. However, if by-product feeds such as wheat midds, soy hulls, distiller’s grains, or corn gluten feed are available and priced at or below the cost of grain on an equal dry matter basis, the by-products can be substituted for about half of the grain component. Silage should be limited to ≤10% in the starter ration but can be increased in later step-up diets.

CAUTION: Increase the feed offered per head very gradually. Excessive consumption of even a moderate energy starter diet can cause acidosis in a calf which hasn’t been fully adapted to grain. Increase the ration no more than 2 lbs/head every other day. If calves are hungry, feed 1-2 lbs of extra hay in the bunk. If stools become loose, you may have increased the amount of mixed ration too rapidly. If this happens, feed an additional 1-2 lbs/head of hay. Healthy calves should consume about 3% of bodyweight by 14 days on feed. Sick calves may take longer to reach this level of consumption. Gauge any changes you make to feed deliveries on cattle behavior and disease status—slower may be better in the long run.

You want to make the weaning diet as easy of transition for the calves as possible. The diet you feed needs to deliver energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals, all in a form that the calves will readily consume.

Avoid the temptation to skimp on QUALITY of starter ingredients; also, avoid the temptation to rush the QUANTITY of starter ration you provide for the calves to eat. When calves have consumed 3% of their body weight of the starter ration continuously for 3-5 days, you can move them up to the next step-up ration.

“It’s Time to Precondition”

 by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

Vaccine and antimicrobial technology continues to improve at a breakneck pace. Yet we continue to see that calves which are unprepared for life in the feedlot and which undergo significant stress during and after weaning in route to the feedlot will have morbidity upwards of 30% and first treatment success is often 30-50%. Calves which get mild respiratory disease will gain 0.2-0.4 lbs less ADG and those calves requiring multiple treatments will gain 0.6 lbs less for the entire feeding period. This translates to about 15 lb less carcass weight and 10-15% fewer choice carcasses. It pays to keep calves healthy.

Preconditioning can mean everything from giving calves a vaccination prior to weaning, all the way to 2 rounds of vaccination, pre- and post-weaning, weaning from their dams for 45 to 60 days, and transitioned onto a total mixed ration, feedbunks, and waterers.

As far as animal performance is concerned, the extent of preconditioning needed to minimize post-arrival problems and maximize feedlot performance depends on the extent of stress imposed on the calf during transition.

Recent studies here at K-State suggest that single-source calves shipped 4 hours to a feedlot will benefit from pre-weaning vaccination and weaning and feeding for at least 2 weeks pre-shipment. If calves are going to be shipped a great deal farther, will be extensively commingled either in transit or upon arrival, and may experience adverse weather conditions post-arrival, vaccination and weaning for 6-8 weeks pre-shipment would be preferred.

Investing time, technology, and labor into the calf crop has very real costs for the rancher. But the high purchase price of weaned calves entering the feedlot means the risk of respiratory disease and the financial uncertainty that respiratory disease causes for feedlot producers is at historically high levels as well. Many feedlot producers are willing to pay ranchers a premium to mitigate some of this disease risk which causes them economic uncertainty—consider it “biological risk management.” When certified preconditioned calves are sold at special preconditioned calf sales, they have the potential to bring unprecedented premiums compared to non-preconditioned, “commodity” calves.

Respiratory disease is the most costly disease in the cattle industry, and the greatest factor affecting calf performance in the feedlot. If you can prevent or control disease, you can, to a certain extent, control performance of calves. Feedlots are paying premiums for calves which are prepared for life at the feedlot. Why? Because they perform. As a rancher, you can and should get paid for your investments of time, money, and management.

“The Value of Carcass Gain”

 by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

 This is dangerous territory; the topic of fed cattle marketing fills volumes and greater men have failed. But there is one aspect of fed cattle marketing of which to be acutely aware this time of year: marketing endpoints.

If you market fed cattle based strictly on live price, the simple rule for when to pull the trigger and send the cattle to town is this: when the COST of a day’s gain (cost of feed + yardage) exceeds the VALUE of that day’s gain (live price × that day’s gain), feeding for more days will cost more than it will return.

If you sell cattle in the beef (carcass weight basis rather than live weight basis) with no direct premium or discount for any specific carcass parameters, the equation changes slightly. Your decision is still based on value of daily gain vs. cost of daily gain, but it changes to the cost of that day’s gain vs. the value of that day’s CARCASS gain.

This is where it gets interesting. Although the dressing percentage of an animal may ultimately be 62-64%, the dressing percentage of each pound of live weight gained during an animal’s time in the feedlot is actually much greater—the dressing percentage of the next pound of live weight added at the end of the feeding period may exceed 80%.

How is this possible? The explanation is remarkably simple: an animal walks into the feedlot with nearly 100% of the head, hair, hide, horns, hooves, and viscera with which it will leave the feedlot. In other words, non-carcass components don’t increase very much during the feedlot life of the animal; nearly all of the animal’s live weight gain is carcass rather than non-carcass.

Another way to look at it is, if the steer is gaining 2.5 lbs/day live weight, carcass gain during that same time period is roughly 2 lbs/day. Therefore, because of the increasing dressing percentage with increasing days on feed, rate of carcass gain does not decrease as rapidly as rate of live weight gain as animals fatten.

The reason this is important is that for the carcass weight-based or for the grid-based seller, net value of gain does not decrease as rapidly at the end of the feeding period as it does for the live seller. If you’ve recently switched from selling cattle on a live weight basis to a carcass weight basis, keep this in mind when determining the optimum marketing endpoint.

“Consider Early Weaning early”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

Normally we only consider early weaning when we are in the throes of a nasty drought. However, given what we now know about calf and cow nutrition, we may want to expand our thinking.

Late summer forage quality in pastures declines, even in good rainfall years. The decreased energy and protein content of late summer grass does not support a great deal of calf gain. Doubly challenging is that this late season forage also does not support a great level of lactation by the calf’s dam, so calf ADG declines considerably late in the grazing season. Assuming you’ve received adequate moisture, late season calf gain may be estimated in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 lb per day; many years on western range late season ADG may drop to near zero.

Although the actual amount of milk and grass consumed by calves varies greatly among calves and from season to season, it can be stated broadly that the calf’s first choice for a source of nutrients, as long as he can get away with it, is his mother’s milk. Calves are fully functional ruminants by 60-90 days of age, and are fully capable of making use of good quality forage, but milk is always their first choice for nutrients, rather than their last. So every day they will go to their mother and consume as much milk as they can. And as the calf grows and it’s appetite climbs, mother’s milk decreases, effectively pushing the calf to go to grass more and more in order to supplement his nutritional needs.

This constant demand for milk by the calf places a tremendous pull on the dam’s nutrient reserves. Early in the season, when grass is both lush and plentiful, the cow can often produce a greater quantity of milk than the small calf can utilize because of the lactation curve and the abundant nutrient supply available to the dam. However, as grass matures and nutrient supply declines, the cow will pull energy from her own reserves (her body fat) to sustain lactation to prepare the calf for the winter.

If we work backwards from calving, the target body condition for beef cows at the time of calving is usually a condition score 5.0, indicating muscling, and a slight cover of fat, but no fat pockets obvious, and 2-3 ribs visible. Cows which are in a thinner condition than this target usually have a longer post-partum interval and delayed post-calving first estrus, resulting in later conception—or even an open cow come next preg check.

So if the cow goes into the winter in poor body condition, we need to feed those reserves back into the cow or risk late breeding next summer and late calving in subsequent years or even open cows next fall. It is estimated that for each 2 weeks we leave cows grazing late season pasture with calves still suckling them, after about September 1, cows lose about 0.25 of a condition score, which is worth about 20-25 lbs. That means if we leave the calves on cows until November 1, we’ve milked about 100 lbs of body condition off the cows.

If calves are only gaining 0.5-1.0 lb per day on their dam late in the season, we can do better. By weaning (especially utilizing low-stress weaning methods), we can improve the nutritional supply available to the calf, meeting all the needs for energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Weaning during favorable weather also has the advantage of reducing stress and the risk of disease brought on by inclement, cold, wet, fall weather.

In turn, the now dry cow can maintain and oftentimes actually increase body condition without the demands of lactation, resulting in cows going into winter in better flesh, requiring less supplemental nutrition to achieve the target body condition 5.0. That means less out of pocket cost to maintain the herd.

The disadvantages of early weaning are lower weaning weights, and weaning and feeding calves separate from cows requires good quality feeds, equipment, decent facilities, and labor. But the advantages are reduced disease, improved daily gains late in the season, and improved cow body condition going into the winter.

It’s usually true that your standing forage is your cheapest feed resource. But I’m not advocating NOT using that precious resource, only re-directing it’s use to optimize it’s value: allow the cows to graze themselves into good body condition rather than feeding that same condition onto them later in the winter with costly purchased feeds, and provide the calves with extra nutrition other than the relative pittance of milk Mama is putting out at the end of lactation. It’s time to reconsider what we do and why we do it. “Because we’ve always done it this way…” is the worst reason to do anything. If there are legitimate, defensible reasons for what you do on your operation, then keep on truckin’. If not, seek wise counsel to find perhaps better, more efficient, and more effective practices that may lead to better outcomes for your calves, your cows, and hopefully, your bottom line.

“Market Weight”

 by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

The world wants your product. And they want more of it. And they’re paying more for it than ever before. So your market signal is to produce more of it for them. But how?

The shortage of beef relative to domestic and international demand has created a sort of vacuum for beef, which has led to greater demand for feeder cattle, resulting in increased price for replacement heifers and for herd bulls. But it’s commonly believed in the feedlot world that the cheapest feeder animal you can purchase is the one already standing in the feedlot—in the form of a 1,200 or 1,300 lb fed animal.

Carcass weights for 2015 are running 10-20 lbs greater than in 2014, and 2014 ran 10-20 lbs greater vs. the previous 5-year average. Feedlots are, and have been for quite some time, feeding animals to heavier end weights.

The substantial increase in final live weight of feedlot animals can be attributed to a number of factors such as genetics and technology, but much of the increase over the past decade has come from simply feeding cattle longer. Based on K-State Research and Extension data, cattle are fed for 2-3 weeks longer than they were 15 years ago (figure 1).

Figure 1. Days on feed for steers fed in Kansas feedlots marketed in December from the Focus on Feedlots report (http://www.asi.k-state.edu/about/newsletters/focus-on-feedlots/monthly-reports.html).

If cattle are gaining 3.00 lbs or more late in the feeding period, and assuming 80% of late-term live weight gain is carcass gain:       21 days × 3.00 lbs × 80% = 50 lbs Hot Carcass Weight

USDA data indicate carcass weights have increased approximately 68 lbs over this same time frame, indicating that the combination of additional days on feed, genetics, and technology changes have all probably played a role.

Although increases in mature cow size have slowed in recent years, carcass weights of the offspring of those cows has continued to climb. Although we cannot, for a variety of reasons, increase the mature size of cattle through genetics, we have certainly found very effective means to continue to produce more beef in spite of limited feeder cattle supplies.

“Watch the Fat – an Update”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

 Since the advent of cattle feeding, we learned early on that cattle make very good use of by-product feeds that monogastrics—pigs, chickens, and people—can use very little of productively, especially if cellulose—fiber—makes up the majority of the feed. The corollary to that guideline is that if cattle have to compete with humans for a feedstock, humans win.

Three decades ago, wheat was a common ingredient in feedlot diets throughout the high plains. Today, the opportunity only occasionally presents itself due to temporary pricing inversions. We like our bread and Twinkies—humans win.

A similar, but more subtle phenomenon has taken place gradually over the past few years, since the ethanol industry boom began. Corn oil is worth more marketed to humans as that—corn oil—than to livestock in the form of distillers’ grains (DG), and the ethanol plants have developed novel technologies to extract an increasing amount of that oil from the by-product.

Early on, the fat content of corn DG was commonly between 11 and 13%; however, today, some corn DG with fat levels near 8%, and some as low as 4%. Fat in cattle feed contains 2.25 times the energy of carbohydrates, so removing fat such that the void left is filled with predominantly cellulose, would be expected to result in a lower energy feed.

As a capitalist, I am in favor of ethanol companies finding a way to increase their revenue from secondary product streams. But as a cattle nutritionist, I must also be aware that removal of oil from DG will dramatically reduce the value of the by-product for cattle feed.

Recent research conducted at the University of Minnesota concluded that for every 1% decrease in fat content of the DG, we should expect nearly 2 Mcal NEg / cwt reduction in energy value. Or, if your DG are 8% fat instead of 12% fat, the NEg for those DG is 65 instead of 73. So if DG makes up 40% of the finishing diet, and fat content of those DG was formerly 12% and is now 8%, we’ve lost 3.2 Mcal NEg in the final diet. We’re feeding a 61 Mcal NEg finishing diet when we used to feed a 64 Mcal NEg diet. That’s a substantial change. If the DG has 4.5% fat, we’re feeding a 58 Mcal NEg finishing diet—a “hot” grower diet really. Low-fat DG has less value for finishing cattle than does high-fat DG.

Fat content is a major reason DG have value in the finishing diet. If the fat percentage in DG has decreased over time, the feed value of DG for a cattle finishing diet is also decreased, and the astute cattle feeder should adjust pricing expectations accordingly.

“Deworming Feeder Cattle”

by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

The value of deworming pasture and feedlot cattle has been clearly demonstrated to the livestock community; the research is definitive and media surveys indicate that ranchers and cattle feeders have gotten the message loud and clear.

But if you dig very deep into the science of deworming, into specific parasites, life cycles, and mode of action of different dewormers it is very easy to become overwhelmed with the seeming complexity of the situation and potential solutions. The good news is you don’t have to dig very deep to understand the issue.

Parasites live most of their life inside the animal, but require green grass, moisture, and relatively warm temperatures to start the life cycle over. Eggs are laid by mature females living inside the animal and excreted in feces; warm temperatures stimulate the eggs to hatch and release larvae; larvae reside in dew drops on blades of grass and are consumed by the animal; the larvae then mature inside the host. In short, if there are eggs in the feces, the cattle have mature worms inside their digestive tract.

If you receive cattle which have been grazing green grass, they are likely carrying some level of internal parasites. If you receive cattle which have been in drylot and were effectively dewormed upon arrival in that drylot they should have little to no parasite burden leaving the drylot; there’s no chance for them to have become re-infected. There is a simple test that your veterinarian can conduct, using a small amount of fresh manure, to determine the level of internal parasites and the effectiveness of your deworming program.

Parasites make it difficult for cattle to respond to vaccination and to fight off viral infection because the 2 different types of immune battles are competing for immune resources. If you are having unexpected health problems several weeks or months into the feeding program, you may wish to have the cattle examined for internal parasites.

“Mud Season….Again”

 by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

 Consider the humble Box Blade.

As a feedlot nutritionist, you’d think my favorite piece of equipment or technology would be the steam-flaker, the feed mixer, the small-ingredient inclusion system. No. I love the box blade.

Why? Because the nutritionist owns performance. BRD belongs to someone else, but when closeouts are chronically below expectations, the nutritionist often takes the heat.

As we come into Spring, lots can become muddy, and mud has devastating impacts on performance.

Cattle need a (relatively) dry comfortable place to lie down. If winter moisture has resulted in destruction of the mound, it’s time to run the box blade. Cattle that cannot rest do not perform.

Cattle should have 20-25 square feet of mound area on which to lie down. The top surface (5-10 feet wide) of the mound should be crowned side-to-side, and longitudinally have a mild grade similar to the direction of the slope of the pen, which is normally between 1 and 6%. The sides of the mound should have a slope of 1:5 to enhance drainage yet still allow cattle to lie on the surface.

The end of the mound should connect directly to the concrete bunk pad so that, especially during muddy conditions, cattle can move freely and easily between the mound and the bunk and water areas. This will encourage both feed consumption and resting behavior, both of which will enhance performance during inclement weather.

“There’s Still Time”

 by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist

 As we approach calving season, there may still be time to “save” your thin heifers and cows. If you have bred your cows to begin calving in late March or later, there’s time. However, if your cows have already begun calving, it’s too late to dramatically improve the reproductive performance of thin cows this coming breeding season.

Cows that are still 45 days from calving can be moved upward on the body condition scale, but care must be taken. Body condition score is primarily an issue of energy balance between what they’re consuming, what they require to maintain their body and grow the fetus, and what they are putting onto or taking off from their body stores. But feeding too much energy in the form of concentrates (grain or grain by-products) can lead to acidosis and wind up causing more harm than good.

The first step must be to sort off the very thin animals so that they can be provided a diet that targets their specific needs. There’s no sense in making thin, weak, young, or old, cows continue to compete with large, fat, aggressive cows. We’re trying to get additional nutrients to the thin cows and the aggressive cows will continue to take more than they need.

Next, visit with your extension professional or nutritionist as to the best way to get those thin cows some additional groceries. Grain, grain milling by-products, cubes, and high quality hay all can contribute to making up substantial ground on the body condition battle.

At a time of record-setting calf prices, the return on an investment of additional feed, focused on and directed toward those cows or heifers that will benefit most, will likely be positive.