The Rural Voice, 2000-08, Page 51Feeding poor quality
forage in beef and
sheep operations
By Christopher Wand,
Beef Cattle, Sheep and Goat
Nutritionist and Beth Wheeler,
Dairy Cattle Nutritionist
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture,
Food and Rural Affairs
The cool wet conditions this
spring have delayed hay crop harvest
across the province. Delayed harvest
and weathering damage reduces the
nutrient and feeding value crops. it
takes only five or six days to go from
high quality forage to a more mature,
less palatable and lower quality feed.
You can't change the weather but
you can change the rations, feeding
and management to cope with quality
differences. Here are some tips to
help producers make the best out of a
bad situation.
Rations
• Test all forages when they enter
storage and have rations balanced
before feed -out. Retest at feed -out
and make alterations when ensiled
feed analysis results are available.
• Test for lignin to get a better handle
on available energy. Test all hays and
fermented silages for heat damage
(ADF-N). Recheck soluble protein on
ensiled feeds.
• Save highest quality forages for
early lactation females and growing
livestock.
• Consider feeding animals in
multiple groups. Use poorer forages
for the group with lower
requirements.
Feeding
• Feed hay free choice, and allow
cows and ewes to sort it and pick out
the best parts.
• Reduce the amount of hay -crop in
the ration for growing animals (ewe
lambs, market Iambs, backgrounding
steers). Feed more corn silage, using
a urea -containing supplement to
increase the protein level where
possible. If corn grain is inexpensive,
consider it for replacing part of the
hay.
• Plan to purchase more protein for
growing animals and prolific ewes.
Advice
Choose low cost commodities such
as soybean meal, canola meal or raw
soybeans. Urea can be added into a
grain mix or TMR (but don't feed
urea with raw soybeans!) These feeds
provide cheap and digestible protein,
have good palatability and match
well with poor quality hay -crop
forages.
• Adjust the type or amount of
mineral. Mature forages have lower
calcium levels and vitamins are
depleted in weathered hay -crops.
• Feed yeast or yeast culture, to
increase the fibre digesting bacteria
in the rumen.
Storage
• Avoid mow fires; ensure hay is dry
enough to bale! Use your hay dryer,
and then move dried hay to an
alternate location so the dryer is
available for later cuttings.
• Keep an inventory of all forages.
Store by quality (mark silos, mows,
etc.) and for year-round access to
each quality type.
• Make haylage instead of hay to
shorten required dry -down time.
Consider silage bag storage, wrapped
bales, or packed and covered piles.
Ensile quickly and cover
immediately.
• Chop hay -crop silage finer than
normal to increase intake, especially
when a lot of mature baled hay will
be fed. Allow enough length to
ensure cud chewing continues.
• Inoculants may improve ensilation
and stability at feeding of low sugar
crops (legumes), but their benefit is
debatable on higher sugar crops
(grasses and corn silage).
• Beware of moulds, mycotoxins and
spoilage. Keep poorly preserved
silages out of the feed bunk, as they
may cause listeriosis and accelerated
spoilage of good feed.
Crop Management
• Get that first cut off somehow!
Regrowth is a critical issue for multi -
cut systems, especially if subsequent
"cuts" are grazed. Mob graze fields
or use mature hay as bedding to
remove it.
• Save those leaves! Leaves are
higher in protein and more digestible
than stems. Minimize raking,
inverting or tedding. Avoid handling
the hay crop when moisture is under
40 per cent.
• Sorghum-sudan (or pearl millet on
lighter soils) are annual silage
options if inventory is low.
• For ewes, turnips may be
considered for any late seeding
(July). This can be done on land left
unseeded due to spring conditions, or
following winter cereals. This will
extend the grazing season, reduce
costs and relieve pressure on hay
supplies.
• Fall rye may also be considered as a
grazing crop to extend the grazing
season and avoid the use of
diminished volumes of high quality
hay.
This is merely a list of
suggestions. They may be used in
combinations or individually as
required or possible. Knowing your
options ahead of time may sustain
productivity using poor forages or
minimize the negative impact of our
weather conditions on forage
quality.0
Cutting down on
pre -weaning
mortality losses
By Ed Barrie
Swine Sow -Nursery Specialist,
Stratford OMAFRA
Farrowing room records
consistently indicate pre -weaning
death losses in the range of 12 to 15
per cern. These same types of records
also show some operations where
death losses of five to eight per cent
can be achieved regularly. The
decrease is often due to the
recognition that pre -weaning
mortality is directly related to the
requirements of the animal and the
ability of the herdsperson to meet the
animal's needs.
Traunla is found to be the greatest
cause of death in 30-45 per cent of
pre -weaned pigs. A very high
percentage (85 per cent) of these
deaths occurs in the first three days
of life. Of the pigs that die from
trauma, 70 per cent were otherwise
healthy.
In response to this problem there
are several steps that can be taken.
1. Ensure sows are in good body
AUGUST 2000 47