Winter Feeding
a Cowherd in
the Southeast:
Those Girls are
Expensive
By Chris Prevatt, University of
Florida extension
While the memories of the
2018-2019 winter feeding
season are still fresh in your
mind, let’s review winter feeding
costs for beef cows. Last fall, a
beef producer contacted me
after purchasing a truckload
of bahiagrass hay to feed for
his spring-calving cow herd
for the winter. The truck was
weighed loaded and again
after unloading to determine
that the average weight of the
hay was 894 lbs. per round
bale. The bahiagrass hay was
then sampled and tested to
determine the nutritional
value. The values were 84%
dry matter (DM), 51% total
digestible nutrients (TDN),
and 8% crude protein (CP).
Therefore, the producer
purchased bales of bahiagrass
hay that averaged 751 DM
lbs./bale. Unfortunately, the
energy value of the bahiagrass
hay was not adequate to meet
the nutritional needs of his
spring calving herd. Thus, he
also needed to provide some
supplement to his cowherd.
In this example, he fed whole
cottonseed on the ground as
his supplemental bulk feedstuff.
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