Management
The nutritional values of the
whole cottonseed tested at 92%
DM, 90% TDN, and 23% CP.
Table 1 identifies the bahiagrass
hay and whole cottonseed
costs and waste estimates. The
purchase price for bahiagrass
hay was $42 per bale delivered
or $94 per ton, while the whole
cottonseed was purchased at
$160 per ton delivered on a
bulk feed truck. An adjustment
was then made to determine
the feed cost per dry matter
ton. The total cost of feedstuffs
includes the purchase price,
transportation cost, storage
cost, and feeding costs. In this
example, both of the feedstuffs
were stored in a commodity
barn to reduce storage and
feed waste. Table 1 shows
that bahiagrass hay costs
$149/DM ton, or $0.08/DM lb.,
and whole cottonseed costs
$222/DM ton,or $0.11/DM lb.,
after adjusting for waste.
Now let’s evaluate the costs of
this producer’s winter-feeding
program for his spring calving
beef cows. The winter-feeding
period was from November
15 to March 15 (120 days). His
1,200 lb. spring calving cows
(gestating beef cows in their last
1/3 of pregnancy) required a dry
matter intake of approximately
24 lbs./day (2.0% of her body
weight), 54% total digestible
nutrients, and 8% crude protein.
Therefore, 19.2 pounds per head
Table 1. Bahiagrass Hay and Whole Cottonseed Cost and Waste Estimates
Bahiagrass
Hay
Type of Cost
Percent
Waste
Whole
Cottonseed
Feedstuff cost per ton $94 $160
Feedstuff cost per dry matter ton $112 $174
Percent
Waste
Feedstuff transportation cost per dry matter ton $0 0.0% $0 0.0%
Feedstuff storage cost per dry matter ton $5 2.5% $10 15.0%
Feedstuff feeding cost per dry matter ton $10 15.0% $10 15.0%
Totals $127 17.5% $189 17.5%
Total feedstuff cost per dry matter ton
adjusted for waste
Total feedstuff cost per dry matter
pound adjusted for waste
$149 $222
$0.075 $0.111
Table 2. Winter feeding cost of spring-calving beef cows.
DM lbs./
head/day $/DM lb. Dollars/beef
cow/day Days Dollars/
beef cow Total Dollars
100 cows
Bahiagrass Hay 19.2 $0.075 $1.43 120 $172 $17,177.83
Whole Cottonseed 3.6 $0.111 $0.40 120 $48 $4,794.61
$220 $21,972
Total winter
feeding cost
16 | MAY 2019
$1.83