Alternative cow-calf production systems: Opportunities and challenges

Abstract Text: The University of Nebraska is currently engaged in investigating alternative options to traditional cow/calf production systems. The premise is to research cow/calf enterprises that center around the large number of corn acres that are available in many mid-western and northern plains states. In our experiments, composite June/July calving cows are managed in a dry lot for 365 days. Cows are limit-fed a diet of distillers grains and crop residue (either ground corn stalks or wheat straw). Limit-fed rations meet the cow’s nutrient requirements and rations are about 19% Crude Protein and 80% TDN on a dry matter basis, but level of dry matter intake varies depending on stage of production. Initially we designed an experiment to investigate whether it is more efficient, from a feeding perspective, to early wean calves when dry lotting cow-calf pairs. Early weaned (EW) calves were 90 da of age at weaning and were fed the same diet as fed their dams and non-weaned cow-calf pairs. EW calves had a daily DMI of 4.0 kg/h/da from October through January when calves (NM) were weaned from their dams at about 205 da of age. This amount was adjusted weekly and added to 6.9 kg/hd/da DM fed EW cows to derive the total amount fed to the NW pairs. EW cows and calves consumed 11.0 kg total DM/da. NW pairs consumed 10.8 kg total DM/day. Approximately 8.6 kg TDN DM/da was supplied to both EW and NW treatments. As both DMI and cow-calf performance were relatively similar between EW and NW pairs, feed utilization was comparable and BCS was acceptable (≥5.0) prior to the beginning of the breeding season and in January and pregnancy rates have been acceptable. Our data suggest that early weaning does not reduce the feed energy requirements necessary to support the cow-calf pair. Therefore, decisions on early-weaning should be made on a management and forage availability basis as opposed to feed efficiency. We have also compared our confinement cow-calf system to extensive forage cow-calf systems when cows in the extensive forage system calve in either March or June. Total cow confinement systems are more expensive than extensive forage grazing systems. Our current objective is to test a winter management system incorporating winter cornstalk grazing on cow and calf performance for a summer calving cow herd.

Keywords: Beef Cow, Systems, Dry lot