Menu
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Forums
Cattle Boards
Feedyard Board
Winter feeding again..
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Help Support CattleToday:
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Aaron" data-source="post: 593095" data-attributes="member: 1682"><p>Bez!!</p><p></p><p>I just found this comment while I was searching for an old thread of mine. I think you pretty much summed it up.</p><p></p><p>This year, we have scrapped a lot of older (and potentially profit-losing) cows and are in a position of having excessive feed....we have about 200 5x4 bales too many. :banana: Even so, we have about 40+ acres of standing forage that was supposed to be grazed this past summer. It wasn't, and now we are the profitable position to feed our cows (possibly with calves) on this standing feed well into December...maybe even January, depending how lazy we are and how hungry the cows get. Being as such, I only calculate our feed costs based on what goes through the cow. I figure the worst years, our feed cost is somewhere around the $200 mark. Most years, I would say it is more like $150. I am hoping that maybe this year, we might have a chance at $100 winter feed cost. These are not times to splurge on feeding cows. We have now set ourselves into a position where, we can decrease the amount of feed we put up next year, stockpiling more forage and potentially increasing our grazing further in the winter.</p><p></p><p>As far as protein goes, we have never really worried about it. Whatever the feed has, it has. We now occasionally throw out a 20% protein block, perhaps once every month or every two months. The cows seem to consume them rapidly in the spring after they calve, but their needs for it steadily decrease until they calve again. At $27 a 50 lb block, we probably spend about $200 or so on them. The two most critical times to use them, we found, was at calving to give the cows a boost and in late July, early August when pastures have run down and we need the cows to increase their consumption and maintain a steady flow of milk production. Unlike Bez, who lives more in the corn country of Canada, we don't feed any grain to our cows in the winter and limit feeding it to our calves. Grain, is an area where a lot of money can be lost in the cattle biz, especially in the cow/calf industry. Focus your attention to buying bulls with good hair coats and a lot of capacity to turn that hay into energy. We hit -40+C (-40F) for about 2 to 3 weeks during the winter up here. Cows are fed more often, but they don't get special treatment. If they can't eat, maintain flesh and walk half a mile to the water trough (or eat snow) they don't deserve our :heart: . :cowboy:</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Aaron, post: 593095, member: 1682"] Bez!! I just found this comment while I was searching for an old thread of mine. I think you pretty much summed it up. This year, we have scrapped a lot of older (and potentially profit-losing) cows and are in a position of having excessive feed....we have about 200 5x4 bales too many. :banana: Even so, we have about 40+ acres of standing forage that was supposed to be grazed this past summer. It wasn't, and now we are the profitable position to feed our cows (possibly with calves) on this standing feed well into December...maybe even January, depending how lazy we are and how hungry the cows get. Being as such, I only calculate our feed costs based on what goes through the cow. I figure the worst years, our feed cost is somewhere around the $200 mark. Most years, I would say it is more like $150. I am hoping that maybe this year, we might have a chance at $100 winter feed cost. These are not times to splurge on feeding cows. We have now set ourselves into a position where, we can decrease the amount of feed we put up next year, stockpiling more forage and potentially increasing our grazing further in the winter. As far as protein goes, we have never really worried about it. Whatever the feed has, it has. We now occasionally throw out a 20% protein block, perhaps once every month or every two months. The cows seem to consume them rapidly in the spring after they calve, but their needs for it steadily decrease until they calve again. At $27 a 50 lb block, we probably spend about $200 or so on them. The two most critical times to use them, we found, was at calving to give the cows a boost and in late July, early August when pastures have run down and we need the cows to increase their consumption and maintain a steady flow of milk production. Unlike Bez, who lives more in the corn country of Canada, we don't feed any grain to our cows in the winter and limit feeding it to our calves. Grain, is an area where a lot of money can be lost in the cattle biz, especially in the cow/calf industry. Focus your attention to buying bulls with good hair coats and a lot of capacity to turn that hay into energy. We hit -40+C (-40F) for about 2 to 3 weeks during the winter up here. Cows are fed more often, but they don't get special treatment. If they can't eat, maintain flesh and walk half a mile to the water trough (or eat snow) they don't deserve our :heart: . :cowboy: [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Cattle Boards
Feedyard Board
Winter feeding again..
Top