January 22, 2008

Adverse weather affects Iowa cattle grazing strategies

With heavy ice and snow that hit Iowa in December, the quality of cornstalks diminished, prompting cattle breeders to alter winter feeding strategies though diet supplementation and increased grazing acres.

This month, cornstalks that were coated in ice and snow finally were able to thaw as the weather gets warmer.

Some producers now allow their cattle to graze those cornstalks again, yet they need to beware that their quality has been negatively affected.

The damages caused by weather have been ''fairly substantial,'' causing the cornstalks' nutrient level and palatability to decrease, Daryl Strohbehn, a beef specialist with Iowa State University (ISU) Extension said.

Furthermore, ass cornstalks thaw, they tend to get pressed into the wet, muddy soil by the cattle, contaminating their taste. As a result, the cattle will not eat as much as they typically would.

Strohbehn recommends for producers to double the amount of land they usually allow their cattle to graze on per day. Typically, producers can expect to utilize 1-2 acres of cornstalks per cow per month. However, with reduced quality and palatability this month, breeders need to double that to 2-4 acres of cornstalks per cow per month. The exception to this is producers who are strip grazing their cornstalks.

ISU added that spring-calving cows, which are in their last 60 days of gestation, are at a crucial time to meet their nutritional demands.

The Iowa Beef Center announced to release more information in the coming days to address the nutrition of spring-calving cows.