Feeding Facts: Forage Testing

BY JIMMY PARKER

While forages are absolutely necessary in the diets of any livestock that are grazers, there are ways to limit the amount that they require and with the cost of growing grass and hay at record levels, this may be the year to take a long hard look at ways to limit forage needs. Cattle, horses, sheep, and goats all need a minimum of about 1% of their body weight in forages every day.

Most years it makes sense to feed as much forage as possible. This year that dynamic is a bit different with fuel, fertilizer and most other inputs needed to grow and harvest forages at all-time record prices. The cost of stored forages, hay, haylage and silages will likely also be at record levels. This will make forage testing more important than ever before. Hay prices will also likely cause producers to cut and bale things that would normally be left in the field and will produce some hay with little or no feed value. There will be many rolls of hay bought this year for record prices that have little feed value but at least you will know where you stand before poor-quality hay causes problems if you have it tested.

The most obvious thing that could replace a portion of your hay and forages is feed. Not that feed will likely be cheap this fall and winter, but it is likely to be cheaper than forages per pound of nutrient in some cases. How is that decision made? The most accurate way is to get your hay tested and see what it costs per pound of protein and per pound of energy and then compare that to those same costs in the available feeds. For example, if a 900 pound roll of hay costs $75 and is 54% TDN (a measure of energy), then your cost for 486 pounds of TDN would be $50, if you don’t consider wasted hay. That would be about 15 and a half cents per pound of TDN. Compare that to a high-quality feed that is 80% TDN and costs three hundred dollars per ton. So, 2,000 pounds at 80% TDN would be 1600 pounds of TDN for three hundred dollars. That would be roughly 18 cents per pound of TDN.

Hay is still cheaper, until you consider waste. Very rarely is a hay bale completely eaten. Generally, 15 to 20% of hay is wasted when the hay is good. This year, expect that to be higher than usual and if you calculate a 20% waste then the feed is cheaper and if you have great hay and a better way of feeding all of it, then the hay is cheaper. The takeaway from the calculations in that scenario would be that if feed is 300 per ton, then hay is probably cheaper as long as it costs less than $75 per bale but once it passes that mark, feed makes more sense. Those calculations need to be done on each farm with costs that are accurate when fall and winter gets closer.

There are other things that can be done like reducing stocking rate and stockpiling forages. This may be a more common and cost-effective plan, though the long-term ramifications of reducing the number of brood animals may outweigh the perceived savings. Keep in mind that when you graze stockpiled forages it is almost always a good idea to feed a tub like the Stimulxy tubs or the Purina High Fat tubs. That will add to cost, but the tubs almost always pay for themselves long term.

There are other management tools that might make sense. Producers could alter their breeding season to push back calving or kidding times until later in the spring when grass is actively growing and you have fresh forges available when animal needs are highest. That would reduce the need for stored forages and feed significantly and reduce winter feed costs. There are ramifications to that as well, especially in cattle. Moving your calving time back to late winter or early spring will be difficult and hitting your normal markets will be almost impossible once input costs come back down.

Input costs will be at record highs for the foreseeable future and will alter the management decisions for a good while. If you plan ahead and make wise management decisions, hopefully these high input prices will be less of a burden than it seems today. Test your hay, buy good feed and/or tubs and look at ways to reduce the needs of the herd or flock well before the need for stored forages is here.