On the back of a drier than normal winter and spring, this summer is shaping up to be very different from last year. Standing feed has matured and dried off much sooner than usual and, although hay sheds and silage pits are stacked to the brim, prices for supplementary sources of feed are through the roof. However, effective protein supplementation can increase the value of your standing dry feed and significantly reduce your feed bills.
Key Points
- What should I do with my dry cows?
- How can I judge the nutritional value of my feed?
- How do I get the most out of dry feed?
- How does effective protein supplementation work?
With the dry period coming early, we urge producers to consider their dry season feeding options. Build a plan and assess how long your current stocks of supplementary feed will last. Remember, “put money where you earn money, not where you don’t”. in other words, don’t waste good feed on dry livestock.
So what should I do with my dry cows?
Assuming that dry cows were weaned in a condition that is close to expected joining condition, dry cows are only required to be on a maintenance diet right up until joining.
What does a maintenance diet look like?
A 500kg dry cow requires a diet that provides 58 MJME/day and around 8% Crude Protein (CP) in order to achieve maintenance.
How do I know if the feed in my paddocks will do the job?
Paddocks dominated by standing dry feed can be quite variable throughout the season. Rain events can leach soluble nutrients out of dry feed, lowering the value of that feed, but also can provide moisture for green pick coming through.
One easy, inexpensive test is to use a supplementary feed source with known energy and protein values (e.g. a bale of barley straw) and place it in the paddock. If the cows don’t really take to the bale, the feed in the paddock is better than the straw, but if they devour the bale then the standing feed in the paddock may be limiting.
How do I get the most out of my dry feed?
Using barley straw as a yard stick, a common value is 70%NDF, 5.5% CP and 6.5 MJME/kg DM.
A 500kg dry cow would only be able to consume around 8kg DM of this feed. So would receive 52 MJME/day, short 6 MJME/day (see requirement of dry cow above) and a little short in protein at 5.5% CP.
The only way to get the most out of this feed is by increasing its digestibility, enabling the cows to eat more of it and therefore increasing the total MJME/day each cow receives, and the most efficient and economic way to do this is through effective protein supplementation.
Protein supplementation with an effective source of non-Protein Nitrogen (NPN), like that included in StockGro-HiPro: Liquid Feed Supplement for Cattle and BoviPro: Loose-Lick Supplement for Cattle, can increase the consumption of dry feed by up to 30%.
In this case, effective protein supplementation can increase the consumption of barley straw to around 10kg DM, and at this level providing 65 MJME/day – well more than the required 58 MJME/day. At the same time, effective protein supplementation can boost the CP% getting it much closer to 8%.
How does it work?
StockGro-HiPro and BoviPro provide NPN in the form of urea, a highly soluble form of nitrogen, which is used to feed rumen microbes. These rumen microbes, in turn, break down fibrous plant material more effectively and efficiently, enabling the cow to consume more feed and get more out of the feed.
How do I know my supplement is working effectively?
An easy way to see if dry feed is being digested effectively is by looking at the cows poos.
Ineffective digestion is seen by a poo that is quite fibrous, dry and stuck together like a well formed scone. In some cases you can still see large amounts of undigested fibrous material in the poo.
Effective digestion is where a poo looks a bit wetter, is not fibrous and spreads out on the ground. More like an oven baked biscuit.
Where can I get more information?
We have a wealth of resources and information that can assist you in making the right decisions when dry season feeding. In-fact our Chief Nutritionist, Dr Paul Meggison wrote his thesis on NPN utilisation in the bovine.
Other resources on dry season feeding:
- Dry season feeding guide
- Dr Paul Meggison’s Dry Season Feeding Program
- Judging the production capability of dry feed
If you have any questions or need assistance in dry season supplementation contact the team at AusFarm Nutrition Products today.
