Working Through a Feed Shortage

Months of poor weather tracing back to last year has made for difficult conditions on farms around the country. Grazed grass that should currently be making up the majority of animals diets is now more of a hope as ground conditions are poor to say the least.

Silage and fodder stocks are nearly exhausted leaving farmers under pressure to find the best solution and source feed when cows nutritional demands are peaking. There is no “one size fits all” solution as demand, ground conditions and feed stocks will differ on every farm. Instead we offer some ideas of how to overcome a feed shortage, in the short term, to ease pressure on the farmer and animals.

1. Avoid running out of forage or silage completely by continuing to sub divide this. If you have 10 days silage try and make this into 15 or 20 days. Animals are ruminants first and foremost and the use of forages and straw is important to keep the animal healthy and the provision of bulk to keep the animal satisfied.

2. Grass is growing and while conditions haven’t allowed for adequate grazing time we should look at every way to get a few kilos into the animals. Through on-off grazing for a few hours in drier paddocks, and/or using back fencing, spur roadways, zero grazing etc. Getting any quantity of grass into cows will help.

3. In the absence of a forage source on farm, silage is still available to be purchased around the country. Be conscious of the quality of this as cows are in their most productive period and require good quality, mould-free feed. The new fodder transport support provided by the government recently will provide financial assistance once distance is >75km.

4. If you are looking for other good quality forages or replacements, purchase of forage maize and beet should be considered. Maize can be delivered in bale format but even out of a pit it can be re-pitted for extended use. Beet takes a little more work as it may need washing and chopping, also it should be introduced gradually, especially when feeding high levels to avoid digestive upsets. These are great feeds to supply energy for weight gain and milk solids.

5. If you need to stretch out current silage stocks then there are a few options:

• Increase concentrate levels. Every kilo of concentrate will replace around 4 kilos of standard silage. This will also help energy levels for the animal whether you are looking for weight gain, condition, milk yield or solids. Care needs to be taken to balance the energy/starch with fibre and avoiding going over 50:50 forage to concentrate ratio on a dry matter ration i.e. if they are on 9kg of silage DM (approx. 39kg as fed) the max concentrate is 9kg of DM (approx. 10kg as fed) and less if the concentrate is grain heavy. Seek advice beyond this. Feeding higher levels of concentrate to store cattle could give the final push to finish them now, which could save 20-30kg of silage per head.

• Forage extenders are another option from your local feed merchant. Generally a mixture of hulls and pulp, their high fibre content means they can replace forage in the diet. These will also increase the quality of the diet significantly compared to silage alone. They are also more cost effective to increasing concentrate when all you are looking for is intake. Beyond 3kg of these you can have palatability issues for some types of feed and also you lose the ‘fill factor’ i.e. they will eat 3kg in a minute whereas 12-15kg of silage will take longer and have more fill. Straights might also be an option so best to speak to your feed supplier.

6. Straw is another option but after the season we have been through it is very much in short supply. It is a very concentrated source of fibre and so has the same effectiveness as high levels of silage. One kilo of straw will replace 4-5kg of standard silage but is can also be used with increased concentrate and/or forage extender. Back in 2018 it was common for farms to use a few kilos of straw and high levels of forage extenders and concentrate in the complete absence of silage/forage.

We appreciate the difficulty that all farms are under to find nutrition solutions for herds in the absence of forage and grass.

To assist with this the InTouch nutrition service will be available for free and with no obligation to all farms over the next few weeks to help them stay on track. While of course continuing to offer support to our existing customers, our team of 10 nutritionists are available to you whether you are diet feeding or not.

We can be contacted on 0599101320 for any help, questions, or guidance we can give.