Winter Grazing

BY JIMMY PARKER

Winter grazing should be an integral part of livestock production in the Southeast, especially in years that have normal or above-normal fall rains. This year has had abundant fall rains all across the state and if you had your perennial winter forages fertilized or your winter annuals planted in a timely manner, a good nutrient-rich food source should be ready to graze very soon.

Most of the winter grasses will run in the high teens on protein and in the mid-60s where TDN is concerned. Keep in mind that those numbers will vary a good bit depending on maturity of the plant, soil fertility and the species that you are grazing. We have several options: fescue in the Northern half of the state; ryegrass, wheat, oats and small grain rye for anywhere in the state. Some start faster and some stay with you later into the following spring. There is no one perfect answer for every farm, but each of them will add a great deal of value to your grazing plan. One thing that is consistent across those options is that all of those will do a great deal for your animal and its ability to meet its nutritional needs.

If you have young nutritious forages, what is the best way to utilize them? Generally speaking, these lush forages are high in moisture and fairly low in fiber. I do not think it would surprise anyone that when those two factors are combined you have food that will pass through the animal very quickly. So quickly that often there are things that the animal needs which pass on through and are wasted. One thing to consider is if the animals have been on drier, mature summer grasses or on hay, it would help if they were full before being turned into lush winter grazing.

Making sure that hay is available when the grass is young and tender will slow passage rate down, and help the animal get more nutrition from every bite of grass. The hay that you provide now could be some of your more marginal hay. You should not feed the best that you have as it makes more sense to feed the better hay when the nutritious grass is not available and the weather is colder. Any dry feed that you add can be higher in fiber to help that process as well, though that is often the more expensive and less effective option.

Winter forages are often in limited supply and if so, what animals need it the most? The younger, growing animals and those that are lactating fit the bill best. It is much easier to meet a dry cow’s needs with hay and very limited supplemental feed, whereas it is almost impossible to meet the needs of a cow that is milking heavily with just hay. So, when possible, you let the cow-calf pairs use the more nutritious forages and keep the dry cows on hay.

You would also consider using winter forages for weaned steers and replacement heifers. Calves will grow at a good, healthy rate on winter grazing. In most situations, winter annual plants are as cheap as any option for making calves gain weight. Hay should still be provided for all the reasons mentioned before and if you do need more weight gain than the forages can provide, then the CPC Grower or Developer could be offered alongside the winter grasses to get the most out of the calves’ genetics for growth.

Minerals and vitamins are also crucial for all classes of livestock, and a good mineral package should be provided. Tubs such as the Stimu-lyx tubs will help get the most out of any forage, and any loose mineral choices at your local Co-op that contain Rumensin or Bovatec will add efficient weight gain and increase overall animal health in most cases.

In the perfect scenario, you would have plenty of winter grazing to get all your animals through the winter and well into early summer. However, that is rarely the case and some hay will have to be fed. The nutritional value of the hay will almost never be as good as the green forages that the animals can graze. It will vary widely and to make an informed feeding decision, you really need to know what is in the hay that you are feeding. So, I will get back on my soapbox and point out that hay testing is cheap and effective. It will answer questions about what hay to use in different situations and is worth so much more than it costs. Hay samples tend to cost around $20 and if the knowledge saves you three or four bags of feed it would essentially be free.