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Sebastian County Agriculture
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| Roughage Type | Dry, gestating cow | Lactating Cow | |
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| Low Quality Roughages (dry grass, straw, etc.) | ------------% of body weight------------- | ||
| Unsupplemented | 1.5 | 2.0 | |
| Protein Supplemented | 1.5 | 2.2 | |
| Energy Supplementeda | 1.5 | 2.0 | |
| Average Quality Roughages (Bermuda, native, etc.) | |||
| Unsupplemented | 2.0 | 2.3 | |
| Protein Supplemented | 2.2 | 2.5 | |
| Energy Supplementeda | 2.0 | 2.3 | |
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High Quality Roughages (Alfalfa hay, silage, green pasture) |
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| Unsupplemented | 2.5 | 2.7 | |
| Protein Supplemented | 2.5 | 2.7 | |
| Energy Supplementeda | 2.5 | 2.7 | |
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a Above 4 lb supplement, each lb of supplement will decrease forage
consumption by about 0.6 lb b Pound for pound substitution of supplement for forage |
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#3 Animal requirements. These are largely based upon sex, stage of production (lactating or gestating cow) and desired gains. These are found in the Nutrients of Breeding Cattle Table. Enter these values as pounds of required nutrients per day.
#4 Nutrient intake (From forage). This is the amount of nutrients (in pounds) supplied to the animal from the forage. To calculate this, multiply the forage intake (lbs) by the nutrient (%). Remember: When multiplying by a percent, use the decimal form (divide by 100). Examples: for 9% use 0.09 and for 12.0% use 0.12.
#5 Nutrient Deficiencies. Only positive numbers count here! This is the amount of a nutrient (in pounds) that must be provided to the animal daily in addition to what is provided by the forage. A negative number indicates that the nutrient is being provided by the forage in excess of the animal’s requirement.
Remember, this worksheet is a "best guess" for a snapshot in time. There are no absolutes when it comes to balancing rations. However, this should help you make educated decisions about supplementation for your cattle.
Determining the Amount to Feed
Now that you have identified nutrient deficiencies, how do we use these numbers to determine how much feed to put in the bunk? First, you must identify a feed stuff to use based upon the costs, availability, equipment, etc. Then you must determine how much feed, based upon nutrient content, it will take to meet those nutrient needs.
To do this, we must divide the needed amount of nutrient by the percent of the nutrient in the feed stuff.
Example: Let’s say we use a pelleted feed purchased at the local feed store that is 20% protein and 70% TDN. Let’s also say that you have calculated nutrient deficiencies of 0.6# for protein and 1.9# for TDN.
To meet the needs for Protein:
0.6 lb Protein (Needed) ÷ 20% (in feed) = 3# of supplement to meet protein needs
To meet the needs for TDN (Energy):
1.9 lbs TDN (Needed) ÷ 70% (in feed) = 2.7# of supplement to meet protein needs
Therefore, to meet both Energy and Protein needs, we must feed 3 pounds of this supplement to each cow daily. ( You will notice that in this example, we will be overfeeding TDN by 0.3 pounds per day.)
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