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

October 22, 1998

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

Low Barley Prices Offers Opportunity for Feeding Cattle

A good supply of feed barley at bargain prices is an opportunity for beef producers who may be backgrounding their calves this year, says a North Dakota State University beef specialist.

"The key is to process and feed it correctly to minimize health problems in the herd," says Karl Hoppe, of NDSU's Carrington Research Extension Center. "For growing calves, barley fits quite well into our rations."

Hoppe notes that barley is high in energy, containing up to 82 percent total digestible nutrients, compared to about 90 percent in corn. Crude protein levels of up to 14 percent are common while corn typically contains about 9 or 10 percent.

"When you look at those feed values, generally when the price of barley per ton is 10 percent less than the price of corn per ton, it's time to seriously consider using barley as a part of the ration," Hoppe says.

Barley does need to be processed in some way to crack the outside husk. "That needs to be done to allow the rumen bacteria to penetrate and get at the starch in the kernel," Hoppe explains. Canadian research shows that relying on calves to chew whole barley results in a feed that is only 30-percent digestible.

But excess processing that could produce fines or dust should be avoided. Feeding rations with barley fines and dust can produce acidosis and other digestive upset in cattle. "Rolling may be the best option," Hoppe notes. Some producers are tempering barleyraising the moisture content of the grain from 13 percent to 18 or 19 percent, allowing the grain to swell for 12 to 24 hours and then rolling the grain to crack it. Tempering is a process that produces almost no dust or fines.

Hoppe urges producers to be cautious when introducing barley into rations, especially with newly weaned calves. Too much barley too fast can produce digestive upset and reduce performance or kill calves.

One strategy is to introduce barley at 0.5 percent of body weight and gradually increase rates by 0.5 percent every two days until cattle are on full feed, Hoppe explains. That approach should keep calves on track for profitable gains in backgrounding while minimizing health problems.

"It's important for producers to keep a close watch on those calves during that time so any health problems can be detected and taken care of quickly," Hoppe says. A calf with acidosis can go from healthy to sick in less than a day, he notes.

Bovitec, Rumensin and other ionophores are commercial products designed to buffer the effect of added grain in the diet and prevent acidosis and other problems. Sodium bicarbonate at a rate of 1 to 3 ounces per day has a similar effect. Hoppe said the products serve as acid inhibitors in the rumen and allow the digestive system to cope better with increased levels of grain. Another option is to blend barley with oats or corn, which present less potential for digestive upset.

Much of the feed barley available in the region contains vomitoxin produced by the scab fungus. "Research here at the Carrington Research Extension Center shows no reduction in performance due to the presence of vomitoxin," Hoppe notes. "And we feed grain with vomitoxin levels that were much higher than you would typically find."

Another concern this fall is sprouted barley. Sprouting does modify the starch in barley somewhat, Hoppe says, and that change reduces digestible energy by about 10 to 20 percent.

"The key to feeding any barley is to know the quality of the grain, process it correctly and feed it cautiously at first," Hoppe says. "With those management considerations in mind, backgrounding calves on a diet containing barley is an opportunity to add value to a crop that doesn't have much commercial value on its own this year."

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Source: Karl Hoppe (701) 652-2951

Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629