NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

October 15, 1998

[EDITORS: THIS IS THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES ON CALF MANAGEMENT.]

Planning and Objectives Should Determine Winter Calf Feeding Strategies

With profit margins squeezed tight in the beef industry, producers can't afford to take a wait-and-see attitude with this fall's calves, according to a North Dakota State University beef expert.

"Current conditions demand that we do whatever we can to increase the potential for profit," says Chip Poland of the NDSU Extension Service. "For producers who are looking at feeding calves after weaning, that means setting some goals in advance and formulating diets and feeding plans to accomplish those goals."

That's especially critical for producers who plan to background their calves this fall and winter, Poland says. In North Dakota, many calves are backgrounded for 75 to 100 days before calves are sold to feeders. Many producers are considering backgrounding calves this year because feed grain and beef prices are low. Producers hope to use the cheap grain to add pounds to calves while the beef market recovers, Poland says.

"For that strategy to work, producers need to choose a target date for marketing and a target weight for their calves and formulate diets so calves meet those objectives," Poland says. "Calves need to gain at their genetic potential. The faster the rate of gain, the greater our profit potential." To do that, calves must make the transition from nursing and grazing to high quality forages and grain supplements as rapidly as possible.

That transition can be fraught with problems. Adding too much concentrate too quickly can cause calves to stop eating or upset the delicate balance of microbes in the rumen. The result could be bloat, acidosis or reduced performance from stress. "It's a bit of a balancing act," Poland admits.

Still, pushing calves onto high concentrate diets needs to be done sooner than later. "Studies show that profit potential rapidly disappears during the first 28 days of the backgrounding period," Poland says. "If we're looking at 100 days or less for backgrounding, we don't have the luxury of taking more than 30 days to move those calves onto a high concentrate diet."

Poland advises starting those calves on high quality hay for the first five to seven days. After that, concentrates can be top-dressed on the hay. Increase concentrate and reduce forage in discrete steps every three days while monitoring calves for health concerns.

Poland says it's not uncommon for producers to feed calves a maintenance diet for a couple of weeks after weaning while they decide whether to sell them or background them. "Unfortunately, the feed bill from that period can take a big bite out of backgrounding profits," he notes.

Producers may choose to feed calves throughout the winter for other reasons such as to prepare cattle for grass next spring, for a short preconditioning period just after weaning or to raise replacement heifers. In each case, clear objectives and feeding strategies to meet those objectives are keys to maximizing profit potential from the beef herd, Poland says.

Producers who precondition calves typically feed them for only a month or less to get them ready for transition to a feedlot. Feeding good quality hay and minimizing stress after weaning are keys. "We don't want weight loss and we want to encourage gain, but putting on weight isn't our primary objective. We simply want good healthy calves that are ready to go into the feedlot," Poland says.

Health is also the primary goal for calves fed throughout the winter to be turned out onto pasture next spring. "The key with those calves is to minimize cost," Poland says. Use lower quality forage with some supplement to keep feed costs low. "We're not looking for weight gain, we just want them healthy and ready to gain when they hit the grass in the spring."

For replacement heifers, producers need to look ahead to next year's breeding season. "If you're planning to breed them in April or May, choose a feeding program that will get them to breeding weight by then. The idea is to go slow and get them there with minimum expense," Poland says.

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Source: Chip Poland (701) 227-2078

Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629