Willmore carmen
Extension Educator / University of Idaho Extension – Lincoln County

As fall sets in and feed prices continue to climb, I think we are all thinking about ways we can feed our cow herds for less. The first key to a cheap feed bill is to reduce the number of animals you are feeding. That means you only feed the ones you need to keep. Using pregnancy testing and ultrasound, you can ensure that the cows you are feeding over the fall and winter will give you a calf come spring. The next component to lowering costs is having your calves weaned and marketed. After the calf is weaned from its mother, the cow’s feed bill significantly decreases. A cow’s nutrient requirements are lowest during the post-weaning period, where she is not lactating and still in mid-gestation when her calf in utero is at its slowest growth rate.

The next couple of months are the “vacation” months for your cow herd. In mid-gestation and not having a calf at their side, their nutrient requirements are the lowest they will be all year. Now is the time to also be able to lower your feed costs or utilize your lowest-quality forages, especially for your cows that are in good to moderate body condition.

For a spring-calving cow, the fall months will be the time of year her nutrient requirements are at their lowest. For good-to-moderate-condition cows around 1,200 pounds, their crude protein requirement during that time will be 1.5 pounds per day. Most dormant fall pastures, along with some protein and energy supplementation, can provide her the adequate nutrients to maintain her weight until the start of the third trimester when her nutrient requirements will increase.

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The start of the third trimester is also when cows should be sorted based on their body condition. Body condition scoring cows at this time gives you enough time to help put weight on those cows that may still be underconditioned. This also gives you the ability to feed your higher-condition cows a lower-cost ration that can meet their needs but not cost as much as what needs to be fed to your underconditioned cows. One way to achieve this is to feed additional supplement to your low-condition cows while feeding a basic forage ration to those in higher condition.