Angus Advisor
Our team of Angus advisors offer regional tips for herd management for the month of July.
Midwest Region
General comments
During the summer slump, active-minded producers often want to run out and buy feed when pasture quality declines. Creep-feeding calves often comes up during these discussions. Below are a few frequently asked questions about creep-feeding.
Do spring-born calves get enough nutrients during the summer slump for growth to genetic potential?
It is reasonable to think growth is restricted during the summer slump in high-genetic-merit calves. However, the 300- to 600-lb. calf is remarkably resilient, and compensatory gain later in life is common. If you sell at weaning, there is more incentive to maximize preweaning calf gain than if you are going to background or develop breeding stock.
If not, what nutrient(s) are missing from their diet?
The ideal creep feed differs based on your forage type. For cool-season perennial forages, energy is often the limiting nutrient (University of Arkansas Research & Extension Publication FSA3107). High-fiber byproducts like soy hulls or wheat middlings fit well in this scenario. Distillers’ grains or gluten feed may also be a good buy at this time of year. Cereal grains reduce fiber digestion and should be blended with other feeds if used in a creep feed.
Does creep-feeding take the pressure off the cow by requiring her to make less milk?
Creep feed tends to replace forage in a calf’s diet, not milk. Lardy et al. (2007) reported similar performance (weight gain) between cows grazing across multiple experiments.
What is the expected conversion of feed to pounds of gain?
The literature suggests 4 lb. to 9 lb. of feed per 1 lb. of gain when creep-feeding. Remember, feed disappearance is not the same as feed consumption. When a creep feeder empties, that is disappearance. Feed losses from wildlife scavenging are common when creep-feeding. If the creep feed is $0.10 per lb. ($200 per ton), the value of calf gain has to be more than $0.90 per pound (9 lb. feed to gain ✕ $0.10 per pound feed cost) to break even. The feed cost above is likely a commodity blend and not a branded product from a feed company.
The decision to creep-feed should be made based on potential return on investment. I prefer to spend money on supplemental feed when I manage intake closely, which just does not happen when calves are allowed access to a creep feeder. If you would like copies of the articles I used as sources, do not hesitate to shoot me an email.
Management calendar
Assumptions: Spring-calving herd begins calving Feb. 1. Fall-calving herd begins calving Sept. 1.
Spring-calving herd
- Preweaning vaccinations will be coming up next month if weaning takes place by Oct. 1.
Fall-calving herds
- Do not be surprised if calves start hitting the ground sooner than expected. There have been reports of premature calving from fall-calving herds the past few years. Start planning for calving now.
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Southern Great Plains
Spring-calving herds
- Breeding bulls should be removed from the cow herd after a 45- to 65-day breeding season.
- Monitor consumption of free-choice mineral products. Intake frequently declines during mid- to late summer. If consumption falls significantly below the recommended level, palatable products such as cottonseed meal, dried molasses and dried distillers’ grains can be blended with the mineral.
- Remove fly tags as soon as possible once effectiveness declines to minimize buildup of resistance.
Fall-calving herds
- Weaned calves should be monitored frequently for development of lameness, respiratory disease, pinkeye and other health issues.
- 1 lb. of a high-protein supplement (such as Oklahoma Gold) can increase late-summer weight gain of weaned calves by about 0.6 lb. per day. Inclusion of a feed additive such as Bovatec® or Rumensin® is an important feature of this program. The protein supplement can be fed daily or three times per week.
- Select replacement heifers and determine which cows will be culled from the herd. Cull-cow prices frequently decline from July through November.
General comments
- Monitor water sources frequently to ensure adequate supply and quality. Mature beef cows’ water consumption can vary from 8 gal. to nearly 22 gal. per day. See http://bit.ly/2krv4sY for more information.
- If moisture is abundant in Bermuda-grass pastures and a split nitrogen application strategy is being used, it may be time to apply an additional 40 lb. to 60 lb. of nitrogen per acre.
- Harvest Sudan and Sudan hybrids for hay in the boot stage (normally 4 ft. to 5 ft. in height). Before harvest, test the forage for nitrate concentration. More information can be found at http://bit.ly/2IKQekx.
- Continue fly- and tick-control program. Sprays, rubs and feed-through products will need to be employed or continued if fly tags were removed.
- Be prepared to test harvested forage, whether purchased or raised. A list of forage-testing laboratories certified through the National Forage Testing Association is available at www.foragetesting.org.
- Several herbicide treatment options are available to minimize spread of the invasive legume Sericea lespedeza. A herbicide application prior to seed production (prior to and during the flowering stage) during late summer can be very effective.
- Similarly, blackberry bushes can be effectively controlled during late summer with herbicide immediately following fruit production/drop.
- Late-season prescribed burns suppress brush and keep S. lespedeza from going to seed.
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Western Region
Fall-calving herds
Main focus: Cows are on cruise control.
- 1. If any precalving vaccinations, such as a scour vaccine, are going to be used, now is the time to decide on the specific products and get them on hand.
- 2. Be sure that cows are receiving adequate levels of calcium, phosphorus and trace minerals that are deficient in your area. MultiMin® is an excellent injectable if that is a preferred route of administration. Copper (Cu) and selenium (Se) boluses are available and an effective means of delivering those trace minerals over an extended period of time.
- 3. The target BCS at calving is a minimum BCS of 5.0 for mature cows and 6.0 for 2-year-old heifers on a scale of 1 to 9.
- 4. Mid-summer is typically a time of the year when fall-calving cows will maintain themselves adequately with no need for either energy or protein supplementation as long as forage is available.
- 5. The developmental period from weaning until breeding is critical in terms of influencing the future productivity of females. Females should be developed to reach approximately 55%-60% of their projected mature weight at the start of the breeding period.
Spring-calving herds
Main focus: Breeding season and suckling calf health.
- Depending on desired calving dates, the AI breeding period should be concluded. Monitor return heats and clean-up bull performance for any problems that may arise.
- Be sure that cows are receiving adequate levels of calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P) and trace minerals deficient in your area. Consider chelated mineral products, especially prior to calving and through the end of the breeding season. See the previous comments on injectable and bolus mineral products.
- Energy balance has a major impact on fertility. Thus, it is critical that cows are in a state of positive energy balance or gaining weight during the breeding season. If cows are grazing irrigated pastures, they are usually fine in terms of being in a state of positive energy balance.
- Treatment protocols and products should be on hand for scours and pneumonia in suckling calves. It is best to have two treatment options for both conditions, and be sure that those protocols have been communicated to the appropriate personnel.
General management
- If irrigated pastures are part of your forage resources, timely irrigation during hot summer months is critical in terms of impacting forage production.
- Mid-summer is also an excellent time to control thistle or other invasive weeds in pastures.
- Mid-summer is the time of the year when problems with pinkeye can become quite prevalent. Treatments can become very time-consuming. The incidence of pinkeye can be reduced by clipping tall, mature grasses and controlling flies with dust bags, pour-ons, fly tags and/or mineral products that contain fly-deterrent products. Availability of shade helps to reduce the incidence of pinkeye. It is important to treat problems quickly and aggressively, thus reducing the spread of the disease by flies.
- Antibiotics such as the long-acting oxytetracyclines are very effective in treating pinkeye. A more inexpensive treatment option, but one that is more difficult to administer, is to treat the infected eye with an injection of 2cc-3cc under the membrane that covers the upper portion of the eyeball with a mixture of 90% penicillin and 10% dexamethasone. We make up the mixture by buying a 100-milliliter (mL) bottle of penicillin at the beginning of each summer and pull out 10 mL of product and replace it with 10 mL of dexamethasone.
- Most people prefer to apply patches to infected eyes and those can be made very easily from old worn-out jeans. Leave the bottom portion of the patch unglued so that the eye can drain.
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