139 Evaluation of cool-season annuals or reduced labor supplementation systems for wintering cowcalf pairs

Abstract Cattle producers typically feed hay and supplement for a 90- to 120-d window to maintain cows during the winter in Alabama. Relying on stored feeds can increase management system costs and labor needs. The objective of this demonstration project was to compare alternative, reduced labor management systems commonly used by producers in the region for diet quality and animal performance responses. A 75-day trial evaluated the use of three systems (n = 3 replications per system): 1) rotationally grazed-winter annuals (GWA) on a 14-day rotation, 2) free-choice whole cottonseed (WCS) and bermudagrass hay, or 3) 50% soybean hulls and 50% corn gluten feed (SH:CGF) fed on alternate days at up to 1% BW daily and free-choice bermudagrass hay. GWA had the greatest diet digestibility (P < 0.0001), and SH:CGF and WCS were not different from one another (88.7%, 64.3%, and 64.6%, respectively). Diet CP values differed (P < 0.0001) for WGA (21.5%), SH:CGF (13.1%), and WCS (11.2%), respectively. Initial and final cow BCS was not different among treatments (P = 0.1558). Cow ADG was greater (P = 0.0370) on GWA than SH:CGF and WCS (0.9, 0.2, and 0.2 kg, respectively), and calf ADG followed a similar pattern (1.5, 1.2, and 1.1 kg/day for GWA, WCS, and SH:CGF, respectively). This project demonstrates that winter annuals provided 75 days of high-quality winter grazing and resulted in greater animal performance than the other diets. However, all diets provided reduced labor options to maintain cows throughout the winter.

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143 Economics of cool-season annuals or reduced labor supplementation systems for wintering cowcalf pairs

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/jas/skz053.019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 97 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 9-9

Author(s):

William K Kelley ◽

Max Runge ◽

Katie Mason ◽

Kimberly Mullenix ◽

Joshua Elmore ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Free Choice ◽

Low Cost ◽

Cool Season ◽

Grazing System ◽

Corn Gluten ◽

Corn Gluten Feed ◽

Winter Annuals ◽

Whole Cottonseed ◽

Gluten Feed ◽

System 1

Abstract Cattle producers typically feed hay and supplement for a 90 to 120 day window to maintain cows during the winter in Alabama. A 75-day trial evaluated the use of three systems (n = 3 replications per system): 1) rotationally grazed-winter annuals (GWA) on a 14-day rotation, 2) free-choice whole cottonseed (WCS) and bermudagrass hay, or 3) 50% soybean hulls and 50% corn gluten feed (SH:CGF) fed on alternate days at up to 1% BW daily and free-choice bermudagrass hay. GWA had the greatest Total Cost Per Pair Per Day (TCPD) for the 75 day grazing system at $6.58, followed by WCS at $4.73 and SH:CGF at $4.86. Initial and final cow BCS was not different among treatments (P = 0.1558). Cow ADG was greater (P = 0.0370) on GWA than SH:CGF and WCS (0.9, 0.2, and 0.2 kg, respectively), and calf ADG followed a similar pattern (1.5, 1.2, and 1.1 kg/day for GWA, WCS, and SH:CGF, respectively). WCS and SH:CGF were static across trial when only days of trial are considered, but TCPPD decreased linearly (R=.9723) as days on grazing increase. GWA becomes the low cost feed option (with WCS and SH:CGF inputs remaining constant) if trial days were extended to 119 days. This project demonstrates that GWA produces greater animal performance than other project diets, but requires additional grazing days (>119) to be the least cost feeding option.

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Conserved forage-based systems for backgrounding weaned beef calves1

Translational Animal Science ◽

10.1093/tas/txy063 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 272-279 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Erin M Forte ◽

Mary Kimberly Mullenix ◽

Jennifer J Tucker ◽

Joshua B Elmore ◽

Werner G Bergen

Keyword(s):

Free Choice ◽

Nutritive Value ◽

Experimental Unit ◽

Animal Performance ◽

Soybean Hulls ◽

Beef Calves ◽

Corn Gluten ◽

Corn Gluten Feed ◽

Gluten Feed

Abstract A 45-d backgrounding study was conducted to compare animal performance, forage nutritive value, digestion dynamics, and diet costs of conserved forage systems for weaned beef calves. One hundred and eight weaned Angus × Simmental beef calves (initial BW 279 ± 34 kg) were randomly assigned to one of three diets (n = 3 pens/treatment): 1) free-choice annual ryegrass (RB; cv. ‘Marshall’) baleage and 4 kg of a 50/50 mixture of pelleted soybean hulls and corn gluten feed, 2) free-choice Tifton 85 bermudagrass (BH) and 3 kg of a 50/50 mixture of pelleted soybean hulls and corn gluten feed, or 3) free-choice corn silage (CS; cv. Pioneer P1662YHR) and 2 kg of a 85% cracked corn and 15% cottonseed meal mixture. Diets were formulated to achieve a target gain of 0.9 kg/d based on the NRC (2000) requirement for a 270 kg growing calf. Animal performance (initial BW, final BW, and ADG) was measured on days 0 and 45 of the study. Forage nutritive value and an in vitro digestion trial were conducted to evaluate supplementation effects on forage diet digestion dynamics. Data were analyzed using PROC Mixed in SAS 9.4 as a completely randomized design. Pen was the experimental unit. Mean initial and final BW of the animals did not differ (P = 0.50 and P = 0.99, respectively) across treatments. Calf ADG for RB, BH, and CS diets were 0.61, 0.72, and 0.72 kg/d, respectively, and did not differ across treatments (P = 0.57). Based on these results, these forage options supported a similar level of gain when used for backgrounding beef calves. Forage in vitro DM digestibility differed 48 h after digestion, and BH + 50:50 had greater 48-h digestibility than when unsupplemented, which may be related to complementary forage-supplement interactions. In diets containing RB and CS, digestibility was greater with no supplementation at the 48-h time point. These data support the observation that supplementation type and level influence conserved forage diet digestibility compared with forage alone. The cost of feeding a baleage-based diet in this system was higher ($1.37/d) than CS or BH diets ($1.02 and $0.95/d, respectively). Results suggest that RB baleage-based diets may support a similar level of gain to BH or CS diets in growing beef calves, but supplement type, level, and ration costs should be evaluated when determining cost-effective backgrounding options in the Southeastern United States.

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Milk Production, Body Weight, Body Condition Score, Activity, and Rumination of Organic Dairy Cattle Grazing Two Different Pasture Systems Incorporating Cool- and Warm-Season Forages

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11020264 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 264

Author(s):

Kathryn E. Ritz ◽

Bradley J. Heins ◽

Roger D. Moon ◽

Craig C. Sheaffer ◽

Sharon L. Weyers

Keyword(s):

Body Weight ◽

Milk Production ◽

Body Condition Score ◽

Warm Season ◽

Cool Season ◽

Organic Dairy ◽

Condition Score ◽

Annual Grasses ◽

System 2 ◽

System 1

Organic dairy cows were used to evaluate the effect of two organic pasture production systems (temperate grass species and warm-season annual grasses and cool-season annuals compared with temperate grasses only) across two grazing seasons (May to October of 2014 and 2015) on milk production, milk components (fat, protein, milk urea nitrogen (MUN), somatic cell score (SCS)), body weight, body condition score (BCS), and activity and rumination (min/day). Cows were assigned to two pasture systems across the grazing season at an organic research dairy in Morris, Minnesota. Pasture System 1 was cool-season perennials (CSP) and Pasture System 2 was a combination of System 1 and warm-season grasses and cool-season annuals. System 1 and System 2 cows had similar milk production (14.7 and 14.8 kg d−1), fat percentage (3.92% vs. 3.80%), protein percentage (3.21% vs. 3.17%), MUN (12.5 and 11.5 mg dL−1), and SCS (4.05 and 4.07), respectively. Cows in System 1 had greater daily rumination (530 min/day) compared to cows in System 2 (470 min/day). In summary, warm-season annual grasses may be incorporated into grazing systems for pastured dairy cattle.

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