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OSU Extension - Fairfield County

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and the

OSU BEEF Team

Questions and comments may be directed to the BEEF Team or Stan Smith, Editor

Previous issues of the BEEF Cattle letter

Issue # 143

June 30, 1999

10 Reasons to Wait for 205 Days Before Weaning!

Number 10: Calves that are weaned later in life are less likely to grade 'choice' thus, being more attractive to the 'high yield' type markets.

Number 9: Seven month weaning instead of weaning at 2-4 months keeps the stocking rates of pastures down, thus eliminating the need for carrying more cows.

Number 8: Weaning at 7 months allows the calf to be hungry due to declining milk production by mamma, thus encouraging calves to consume more creep feed.

Number 7: Weaning later will reduce early calf growth, thus allowing for more 'compensatory' gain in the feedlot.

Number 6: Weaning later keeps cows thinner and able to slip through gates and fences easier.

Number 5: Later weaned calves will weigh less and as a result can be marketed later with everyone else's calves.

Number 4: Later weaned calves will weigh less and thus, should command more cents per pound than their heavier contemporaries.

Number 3: Later weaned calves can be creep fed to boost weaning weights. Since the feed conversion of creep feed is not very good, later weaning utilizes more cheap Ohio corn.

Number 2: Later weaning allows open cows to be culled in the fall with everyone else's open cows.

Number 1: Lactating cows require as much as 2/3 more feed than dry, gestating cows - weaning at 205 days will eliminate much of the abundance of hay that was carried over in Ohio from 1998.

EDITOR's NOTE: Thanks to OSU beef specialist Dr. Tom Turner for his contribution to this 'article.' OSU has been the leader in the research of the benefits of early weaning beef calves with supporting data going back for nearly two decades. In fact, Dr. Turner suggests that maybe weaning calves at 2-4 months of age might now be considered 'normal weaning' and 7 month weaning should be considered 'late'! The following article from Virginia Tech references more recent work from Oklahoma, Illinois and North Carolina that further supports this concept.

Early Weaning -- Should I Wean Now?? - John B. Hall, Extension Animal Scientist, Beef, Virginia Tech

The extremely dry spring and early summer are not making things look particularly good for the rest of the summer. Some parts of Virginia have received as much as 2 inches of rain in the past two weeks. However, much of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge Mountains and in the Piedmont areas is still extremely dry. In this situation, producers should ask themselves a few important questions:

* How can I most economically make it through the dry period?

* What are my feeding options?

* Even if I feed my cows, if I leave the calves on them what body condition score will they be when normal weaning time comes around?

Many cows in Virginia entered the calving season thinner than normal. The forage situation this spring and summer has not allowed many cows to improve body condition. The key things we want to achieve this summer is to keep cows in BCS 4 - 6 and have a decent calf to sell this fall or summer (if fall calving). The options are pretty simple either feed: 1) a lactating cow and let the cow feed the calf, or 2) creep feed the calf and minimal feed to the cow or 3) early wean the calves and feed the calves and dry cows or 4) sell calves and feed dry cows. For fall calving operations option 4 probably makes the most sense, but for spring calving herds option 4 would result in significantly reduced income.

Option 1. Feed the lactating cow and let the cow feed the calf. If you are in one of the areas of the state where adequate rainfall has occurred and the grass is coming back, this is a good option. You might also consider this option if you have hay fields to graze and your hay supply for this fall and winter looks good. To maximize calf growth, calves should be creep grazed in to high quality forage. If your pasture is limited, this is the most expensive and risky way to go. (See table 1 for diets).

Option 2. Creep feed the calf and minimal feed to the cow. If your pastures are in short supply, but you don't want to wean calves this is an option. Essentially, you are limit feeding the cow or feeding her more like a cow in late gestation rather than a lactating cow. Once the calves are worked up on a good creep feed you can begin changing the cow's diet to the limit fed diet. However, cows must be in good body condition because without weaning they will lose some body condition. "Creep Feeding Beef Calves" is a new publication that provides information on diets for creep feeding and managing creep fed calves.

Option 3. Wean and feed calves and dry cows. For many operations in Virginia, this is the best option if the drought continues as expected. Early weaning will keep cows from losing weight, improve value of the calf and help cows breed back faster next year. Perhaps, most importantly, early weaning will reduce your feed costs compared to trying to feed a lactating cow. In addition, early weaning will keep you from being forced to sell your calves when many other producers are selling their animals due to drought.

Table 1. Some examples of diets for 1200 lb cows with good milking ability. Hay in the following table is 50% TDN and 10 % Crude protein and $40/ton.

Production stage	Diet	Cost
Dry cow, middle trimester of pregnancy	26 lbs hay + free choice mineral OR 5 lbs. Hay + 19 lbs of a 80% poultry litter/20% corn mix and minerals for use with poultry litter	55 cents/day 52 cents/day
Dry cow, last trimester of pregnancy	22 lbs hay + 5.5 lbs soy hulls or barley and free choice mineral OR 5 lbs hay + 22-24 lbs of a 80% poultry litter/20% corn mix and minerals for use with poultry litter	65 cents/day 63 cents/day
Lactating cow, 1st 3 months of lactation	17.5 lbs hay + 14.5 lbs soy hulls or barley and free choice mineral OR 16.5 lbs hay + 13.5 lbs corn + 2.2 lbs soybean meal and free choice mineral OR 5 lbs hay + 24-28 lbs of a 80% pountry litter/20% corn mix and minerals for use with poultry litter	$1.19/day 78-89 cents/day 71 cents/day

The diets in this table are examples. Actual feed analysis of hay and by-products are needed to calculate actual feed required for a specific herd. In addition, a good estimate of cow weight is also needed. Contact your extension agent or nutritionist for exact diets for your herd.

Research from Oklahoma, Illinois and North Carolina demonstrated that early weaned cows were in better body condition at the beginning of the winter than normal weaned cows. The increase in body condition was related to the age of the calf at weaning. The younger the calf was at weaning the fleshier his dam was at the start of winter. Depending on the study, calves were weaned anywhere from 65 days to 150 days old. Early weaned cows generally gained 0.5 to 1.5 body condition scores. If your cows are BCS 3 or less you should early wean the calves now. Herds with cows in BCS 4+ should consider early weaning soon before cows lose too much condition.

Thin cows that are early weaned have a better chance at breeding back this year. If you are have a March - April or April - May calving herd, weaning your calves now could give you a big boost in pregnancy rates this fall. The percentage of thin cows cycling increased steadily in the weeks after early weaning. By the end of the breeding season, just as many early weaned thin cows were pregnant as good body condition score cows.

Overall in severe drought years, early weaning is a good option to keep cows in good body condition and increase pregnancy rates while lowering feed costs. Nutrition of the calf is very important in order to insure profitable weaning weights. Dr. Mark Wahlberg covers nutrition of early-weaned calves in next week's BEEF Cattle letter.

References:

Harvey, R. W. and J. C. Burns. 1988. Forage species, concentrate feeding level and cow management system in combination with early weaning. J. Anim. Sci. 66:2722-2727.

Myers, S E, et al. 1998. Comparison of three weaning ages on cow-calf performance and steer carcass traits. University of Illinois Beef Research Report. pp. 9-21.

Purvis II, H. T., C. R. Floyd, K. S. Lusby, and R. P. Wettemann. 1996. Effects of early weaning and body condition score at calving on performance of spring calving cows. Oklahoma Anim. Sci. Res. Report P-951. pp. 88-94.

Harvesting Drought Stressed Forages - Mark Sulc, OSU Forage Specialist

In most of the state, forages are under drought stress. New seedlings are most severely affected, especially late planted fields or fields where emergence occurred over several weeks due to early dry soils followed by later showers which germinated the seed sitting in dry soil. Seedlings less than 3 inches tall have been dessicating and dieing since May. There is really nothing that can be done in those situations, unless irrigation is available.

In established grass stands, growth has been slow at best. Established grass stands can survive through severe drought conditions and regrow once rains return. One notable exception to this rule is perennial ryegrass. We've seen that species lose alot of stand during droughts.

Deep-rooted established legumes such as alfalfa have been the "green" forage this year, maintaining very good growth up to this point on most soils. If the dry weather continues though, even alfalfa stands will begin to suffer. In fact, on lighter soils, established alfalfa already shows limited growth from lack of moisture. Alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil have good drought tolerance, while red clover stands can be reduced during severe drought and heat stress. Therefore, harvest management strategies are different for these legumes.

Alfalfa, unlike birdsfoot trefoil and red clover, can actually maintain production during short periods of dry weather (provided the soils allow development of a deep taproot). But with extended periods of drought and high temperatures, alfalfa growth will be reduced and flowering will occur on short, stunted plants. Cutting during these stressful periods DOES NOT WEAKEN ALFALFA PLANTS or cause stand reductions. If moisture is lacking after cutting, alfalfa plants go dormant until sufficient moisture is again available for regrowth.

During the initial phases of moisture stress, alfalfa stems stop elongating, but the plant continues to manufacture carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are stored in the root system since they are not being used for topgrowth. These energy reserves are available for regrowth after cutting and when soil moisture is recharged. So if there is enough harvestable forage to economically justify a hay cutting, then go ahead and harvest it. You still should maintain about a 30- to 35-day interval from the last harvest. This is especially important if an early first harvest was made. Even though the plants may be in full flower, the forage will probably be higher in quality than normal growth in full bloom. If fencing is available, controlled grazing of drought-stressed alfalfa stands is a very economical way to utilize the forage that is present.

Red clover is not as tolerant to the combined effects of drought and heat stress as alfalfa. Cutting during periods of hot and dry weather CAN WEAKEN RED CLOVER PLANTS and may cause stand reductions. If feed is badly needed, red clover stands can be lightly grazed during drought stress.

When cutting or grazing birdsfoot trefoil during periods of heat and drought stress, be extra careful to harvest when plants are at least in mid-bloom stage and leave a 3-inch stubble. During the growing season, birdsfoot trefoil maintains relatively low levels of reserve carbohydrates in the roots and crowns. Cutting or grazing when plants are well into bloom stage and leaving sufficient leaf area will improve the regrowth potential of birdsfoot trefoil.

Beef: Stagnant Summer in the Mid/Low $60'S - Brian Roe, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Ag, Environ., and Development Economics and OSU Extension, Ohio State University

The news from the most recent USDA Cattle on Feed report was not encouraging, but fed cattle prices should go no lower than the $60 this summer. Hopes of $70 fed cattle prices by year-end are beginning to evaporate, however. What's driving this pessimism? Placements of cattle on feedlots during May were above expectations as was the final count of cattle on feed nationwide. The total number of cattle on feed as of June 1 was 3% higher than last year. Even though marketings of animals from feedlots during May were less than expected fed cash prices never really threatened $70. Also, the recent predictions of another large fall supply of pork will not help support beef prices.

Some good news could be found in the 1999 trade numbers (available for Jan-April of 1999). The trade deficit in beef and veal closed a little bit during these months compared to a year earlier (by about 25,000 pounds). However, our largest foreign beef supplier, Australia, has shipped 26% more beef to the US during the first four months of 1999 than during the same time in 1998 while our biggest foreign buyer, Japan, was running about 3% behind last years demand during the same period.

Other 'good news' includes the fact that slaughter weights were down during May compared to April and have drawn even with dressed weights from a year ago. Cattle slaughtered in Ohio averaged more than 100 pounds lighter in terms of live weight in May of 1999 compared to a year earlier. Also, the nation's cold storage of beef remains below year previous and well below five year averages. Finally, keep in mind, the long-term replacement numbers still indicate that the number of animals available for marketing during 2000 and 2001 will be lower, eventually ushering in stronger farm-level prices.

Visit the OSU Beef Team calendar of meetings and upcoming events

BEEF Cattle is a weekly publication of Ohio State University Extension in Fairfield County and the OSU Beef Team. Contributors include members of the Beef Team and other beef cattle specialists and economists from across the U.S.

Fairfield County Agriculture and Natural Resources