Grazing Hail Damaged Cornstalks

As found at http://beef.unl.edu


Beef Cattle Production

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: A lot of corn on the ground in a hailed field. How much area at a time should you feed to thin cows to clean up the field? Is there a bloat supplement to curb eating?


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A: Anytime more than about eight bushels of grain per acre are left in the field after harvest, cattle grazing the stalks risk getting acidosis and founder. Both diseases are caused by excessive grain intake, which increases rumen acid production. This can cause severe foot and hoof problems, including lameness. While smut is not a health problem, some grain may contain other molds that can produce mycotoxins. Vomitoxin and fumonisin rarely cause problems for beef cattle at typical contamination levels and aflatoxin rarely occurs in risky concentrations in Nebraska grain crops. Still, if there are reasons to suspect much mycotoxin may be present, an assay of the grain would provide useful safety information. Estimate the amount of corn down in a field. An 8-inch ear of corn contains about one-half pound of corn grain so it takes 112, 8-inch ears to equal 1 bushel (1 bushel = 56 pounds). Thus, by counting the number of ears, the amount of corn can be estimated. For corn planted in 30 inch rows, count the number of ears in three different 100 foot furrow strips and divide by two to give an approximate number of bushels per acre. Small ears and broken ears should be counted as half ears, while very large ears could be counted as an ear and a half. Any amount beyond 8 bushels per acre will require a well-planned grazing strategy.

One strategy for using high-grain cornstalk fields is to minimize availability of grain to susceptible animals. A good way to do this is to first graze yearling cattle, calves, or cull cows destined for slaughter, then follow with cows. Another alternative is to graze only a few hours per day. You also could strip graze the field to force cows to consume some husks and leaves along with the ears of corn. A final strategy might be to feed some grain or ear-corn seven to ten days before cattle are turned out to help them adapt to a high-grain field.

One factor influencing the success of these stalk grazing strategies is the experience level of the cattle grazing the field. Old cows with previous experience in cornstalk fields can pick up amazingly high amounts of corn in a short period of time, as can experienced yearling cattle. If they have not been conditioned to eating a high grain diet, some of the previously listed strategies may fail. Thus, inexperienced calves may have the least risk of founder or acidosis in high-grain cornstalk fields because they must first learn how to find corn. As a result, their grain intake safely increases gradually.

Bloat is usually not a concern with cows grazing residue with excess corn.

In hailed damaged corn fields, nitrates could be a concern. The nitrates are usually confined to the stalk and in-particular the lower 6 to 8 inches of the stalk. In a stalk field grazing situation, cattle commonly select the stalk last to eat, after the corn, husk and leaves are eaten. Our experience is that as long as cattle can select corn, husks, and leaves, more than 50% of their diet will be these three items. My recommendation would be to fill pregnant cows up with forage (hay) before turning the into this stalk field and do not graze it so long or hard that you force cows to eat the stalks.

October 16th, 2009
Dr. Rick Rasby, Professor of Animal Science
Animal Science, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln, NE

Cattle Handling Facilities

Cattle Handling Facilities
Justin Gdanitz DVM
08/2009

People will often ask which cattle handling facilities work best. Granted, some brand names, by design, work better than others but by no means is there one type or design that fits every operation.

Some very basic thoughts should be considered when designing any facility. Not our own thoughts, but cattle preferences. Cattle preferences can prove any facility a success or failure when put to work.

· Cattle are herd animals and enjoy moving in groups. Small crowded facilities or narrow gates and alleyways will prove hard to move animals through much less moving them through without injury.
· Cattle enjoy seeing where they are going. Dark barns, solid sided alleys, and shadows all work against this desire.
· Cattle are more likely to continue down a path of their choosing. When cattle are forced into an alley they are more likely to back out vs. continuing forward.
· Cattle want to go back the direction they came when feeling crowded or entrapped.
· Cattle enjoy following others. If they see one enter and exit an alley or chute ahead of them they are more likely to do the same.
· Cattle prefer to go around something they see pressure from. This is also true in their response to our movements along an alley (if they can see us to respond). Moving opposite the flow of cattle in the alley will encourage their forward movement in an attempt to move past the pressure applied by the handler. (Benefit of being seen vs. felt.)

Many people are now familiar with the Bud Williams concept of cattle handling and the “Bud Box” which is his design for cattle handling pens. Bud’s handling techniques and facilities capitalize on the afore-mentioned points to allow easier movement of cattle, more efficient handling, and less stress for both cattle and handler. Daniels alleyways prove to complement the Bud Box and Bud Williams handling techniques.

When utilizing these facilities it is good to remember key things.
· Sometimes less is more…. less noise, less pushing, less prodding, and less hot-shots. More reliance on cattle instinctive behavior. More reliance on well designed facilities. More enjoyment when working cattle.
· More is not always better….if the crowd tub or bud box works well when 1/3 or ½ full, it does not mean that filling it fuller will work better or faster. (A bud box or crowd tub should not be filled with more animals than can fit down the alley.)

Remember that cattle need clear and concise directions. Through our handling and facilities, we need to give them that.

Links for more on low stress cattle handling and “Bud Box’ use:
§ NDSU Bud Box demonstrational video: www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/carringt/ or BreanneIlse@ndsu.edu and Vern.Anderson@ndsu.edu
§ Daniels Manufacturing Bud Box demonstration DVD: http://www.danielsmfg.com/
§ National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Low-Stress Cattle Handling Video: http://store.beefusa.org/Low-Stress)-Cattle-Handling-DVD-P194C12.aspx
§ Low-Stress Cattle Handling DVD preview: www.cattlelearningcenter.com/docs/LowStressCattleHandling.wmv
§ Bud Williams Stockmanship Website: http://www.stockmanship.com/

Bud Box dimension recommendations:
Rectangular crowd pen should be built 14 feet wide and 30 feet long for loading a truck, or 20 feet long when loading a squeeze chute. These dimensions encourage the people working the facility to work it correctly. The closing gate in the crowd pen should be solid but sides open.
· Cattle are moved into Bud Box and solid gate is closed behind them.
· Pressure is applied from side of Bud Box in which you desire cattle to flow.

Reference:
Bud Box by Alaina Burt, Beef Magazine, October 2008.

Passive Immune Status within 24 Hours of Birth and Long-term Health and Performance of Calves

You have heard the warning: “What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas!!!” Perhaps you have not heard: “What happens in the first 24 hours, impacts the rest of a calf’s life”! Veterinary scientists, while with the USDA experiment station at Clay Center, Nebraska monitored health events and growth performance in a population of range beef calves in order to identify associations of production factors with baby calf passive immune status.
Blood samples were collected at 24 hours after calving from 263 crossbred calves to determine the amount of passive maternal immunity that had been obtained from colostrum. Colostrum is the first milk produced by a cow upon giving birth. The baby calves were classified with “Inadequate” or “Adequate” Passive Immune status based on that blood sample at 24 hours of age. Growth performance and health events in the study population were monitored from birth to weaning, and after weaning throughout the feedlot phase.
The lowest levels of passive immunity were observed among calves that were sick or died prior to weaning. Calves with “inadequate” passive immunity had a 5.4 times greater risk of death prior to weaning, 6.4 times greater risk of being sick during the first 28 days of life, and 3.2 times greater risk of being sick any time prior to weaning when compared to calves with “adequate” passive transfer. Based on 24 hour proteins (most of which are antibodies or immunoglobulins) in the blood, the risk of being sick in the feedlot was also three times greater for “Inadequate” compared to “Adequate” calves. Passive immune status was also indirectly associated with growth rates through its effects on calf health. Sickness during the first 28 days of life was associated with a 35 pound lower expected weaning weight. Respiratory disease in the feedlot resulted in a .09 lb lower expected average daily gain.
Thus, passive immunity obtained from colostrum was an important factor determining the health of calves both pre- and post-weaning, and indirectly influenced calf growth rate during the same periods. Therefore, the cow calf producers can help themselves and the future owners of their calves, by properly growing replacement heifers, providing a good health program for cows and heifers, and providing natural or commercial colostrum replacers to calves that do not receive it in adequate quantities on their own. Remember that most of the transfer of antibodies from colostrum to the calf happens in the first 6 hours. The first day sets the stage for the rest of his life. (Source: Wittum and Perino. 1995. Amer. Jour. Of Vet. Research. 56:1149.)
January 25th, 2009
Dr. Glenn Selk, Professor-Animal Reproduction Specialist
Animal Science - Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK

Estimating the Amount of Grain Left in the Field

Estimating the Amount of Grain Left in the Field
Estimating the amount of corn down in a field helps producers determine a grazing strategy. An 8" ear of corn contains about .5 pound of corn grain, therefore 112, 8" ears would equal 1 bushel. By counting the number of ears the amount of corn left can be estimated. If the corn is planted in 30" rows, count the number of ears in three different 100 ft. furrow strips and divide by two to get an approximate number of bushels per acre. Small ears and broken ears should be counted as half ears, while very large ears would count as 1.5.

If the corn is planted in 36" rows, then count the number of ears in three different 100' furrows and divide by 1.66. Any amount beyond 8-10 bushels per acre will require a well planned grazing strategy to ensure that too much grain is not consumed.

Grazing Cornstalks with High Corn Droppage

Now that the corn has finally dried down and producers are able to get cattle to cornstalks, we have had a few questions on how to manage stalks that have had lots of corn droppage. According to Staff at UNL, there are several strategies you can use when grazing Cornstalk fields with excess grain. These include...

-graze yearling cattle or calves first then follow with older cows

-graze cull cows destined for slaughter first, the follow them with the main herd

-short term graze (only a few hours per day)

-increase the stocking rate to reduce grain intake per animal

-divide the field into strips with power fence using polywire and fiberglass posts, forcing cows to consume some husks and leaves along with the ears of corn, this will reduce founder potential.

You can also fill the cows up with hay or other forages before allowing them to graze cornstalks.

UNL has put together a very good publication on grazing crop residues, you can find it at http://www.twinforksclinic.com/kevin/ec278.pdf Just copy and paste the link in your browser or just click the headline for this post and you will be directed to that publication.

Calculating Grazing Time on Cornstalks

Now that the corn is finally drying down, most producerers are getting cattle out to stalks.Here is a method of calculating the number of grazing days on a field of cornstalks. According to Dr. Rick Rasby at UNL, crop residue is related to grain yield. With high producing hybrids, there should be about 16 pounds of dry leaf and husk per bushel corn yield per acre.
Therefore, if a field produces 160 bushel/acre, then there should be about 2560 pounds of dry leaf and husk residue per acre. Now some of that residue disappears due to trampling and other factors so figure about 50% utilization, which leaves us with about 1280 pounds of grazable residue per acre.
Now we can convert our pounds of grazable residue to AUMs. An AUM (Animal Unit Month) is the amount of forage that is required to maintain a 1000-pound cow or equivalent for one month. It has been determined, that a 1000-pound cow will consume about 680 pounds of dry matter monthly. Therefore, this particular field will provide 1.88 AUMs/acre. If this field is 125 acres, then there is a total of 235 AUMs available for grazing in this field.
Now let’s assume we are planning on grazing 100 head of gestating cows on this field, we need to calculate the number of days that they can graze this field. Let’s assume the average weight of these cows is 1360. That means that each one of these cows requires 1.36 AUMs per month. Therefore, a total of 136 AUMs is required to feed this herd for a month. This field has 235 AUMs available for grazing so it should last about 1.72 months or 52 days.
Keep in mind that this calculation is just a starting point and is in no way a substitute for actual observation of residue disappearance. This calculation also does not figure in loss in stalk quality due to deteriorating weather conditions or just simply the natural deterioration that occurs over time.
There is also an Excel spreadsheet available for download online at http://agmanagerstools.com. Not only does this spreadsheet calculate the available grazing days using the same equation, but it also takes into account, the cost of the stalks, the cost of transporting the cattle to stalks, and the costs involved with checking the cattle and water. Kevin L. Cawthra, Animal Scientist, Twin Forks Clinic INC

Beef Reproductive Meeting

The Staff at Twin Forks Clinic would like to invite you to an educational meeting sponsored by Twin Forks Clinic and Pfizer. The topics being discussed will be centered around reproduction. Dr. Dale Grotelueschen from Pfizer will speak about “Biosecurity and Biocontainment Principles”. Dr Roger Ellis from Colorado State University, will speak about “Bull Management for Reproductive Success”.

This meeting will be held on Monday April 9th, in Wray at the WRAC center (700 Main Street), and again on Tuesday April 10th, at the Jaycee hall in Benkelman (across the blacktop, east of the vet clinic). If you are unable to attend your local meeting, you are more than welcome to attend the other.

Agenda:

12:00-12:15 Lunch is served!!!

12:15-12:45 Dr. Dale Grotelueschen “Biosecurity and Biocontainment Principles-reducing health risk related to reproductive performance”

12:45-1:45 Dr. Roger Ellis “Bull Management for Reproductive Success”

We hope you take the opportunity to join us for this meeting. We have gathered some good speakers and some good food. We know this is a busy time of year, but it is very important to plan now for reproductive success in the future.

Please reserve your spot for lunch by calling Twin Forks Clinic-Benkelman at (308)-423-2895, or Twin Forks Clinic-Wray at (970) 332-3116