Grass gains

Help Support CattleToday:

RanchMan90

Well-known member
Joined
May 19, 2016
Messages
1,320
Reaction score
2
Location
Southeast Oklahoma
What kind of daily gains have y'all gotten on weaned calves on native pasture without supplementation? (Spring through fall with just mineral and a couples cubes to keep them gentle)
 
Gains on just grass are pretty dismal here. A pound a day would be exception, and not the rule. You'd better not buy a very soft calf an expect anything.
 
2.5 lbs a day here last summer on my fall-born steers. Anything that gains less than a pound a day is a guaranteed dink in this area. Best gains I have ever seen here was just shy of 3 lbs/day on feeder heifers I sold a guy in the spring and he marketed in the fall.
 
In both California in the Winter and Wyoming in the Summer, I see 2lbs. to 2.5lbs. on good cattle.
 
From 1.0 to 2.3 pounds per day on just grass. Cattle quality and rumen maturity are key.
From 1.5 to 4.0 with some clover and corn/byproduct. Cattle quality and low starch energy are key.
Where are you going with this?
 
Bigfoot":17ux8y40 said:
Gains on just grass are pretty dismal here. A pound a day would be exception, and not the rule. You'd better not buy a very soft calf an expect anything.

kill that fescue!
 
Stocker Steve":d6jqo8zs said:
From 1.0 to 2.3 pounds per day on just grass. Cattle quality and rumen maturity are key.
From 1.5 to 4.0 with some clover and corn/byproduct. Cattle quality and low starch energy are key.
Where are you going with this?
Just looking for a lower cost of gain than full feed and winter annuals. Looks pretty tough to beat leasing pasture for $20 an acre with a stocking rate of 1 au per 5 acres. Stocking a calf to 3 acres would put cog @ 25¢ with an adg of 1 lb. The positives would be lower inputs and higher ROI, the negatives would be slower money and hard to hedge inconsistent gains. I'm thinking of buying some plain longtail bull yearlings for this. What class of cattle do you recommend?
 
Lowest cost of gain I have ever had was on leased pasture with a little ground ear corn or DDG supplement.

Value of gain was attractive on pee wees, but an extended back grounding program is required. I think more people are after pee wees since the $/head went up.

Bigger cattle do better on roughage. I used to turn out 5 wts.. Now more like 6 wts..

I sold steers and bought heifers in 2016, to take to grass in 2017. Sell the premium and buy the discount.
 
A lot depends on what you are grazing and how you manage it for quality. Here is a link to an article that compares fall born calves grazing Coastal vs. Tifton 85 with/without supplementation. You may not be able to grow Tifton 85 in Southeast Oklahoma, but the data on supplement vs no supplement should be applicable to you since the study was done at Overton, TX about 100 miles south of the Red River.

http://forages.tamu.edu/PDF/rouquette%20tifton%2085.pdf
 
Best stocker operator I know supplements with buckets each day. He thinks it calms them down and gives him a good look at any potential health problem.
 

Latest posts

Top