Adjusting your herd's nutrition for a wet summer season will help prepare your cattle for the demands placed on them through gaining and shipping or breeding and calving, dependent on your operation. With the unbalanced moisture happening across the United States, livestock producers in the southern states have been fortunate enough to receive above adequate rainfall, resulting in the need to re-evaluate their protein and mineral protocol.
Environmental factors all affect an animal's demand for nutrients. Adjusting mineral consumption to coincide with the recent changes from the weather and their environment is key for proper nutrition control and quality.
An unusual increase in summer rainfall plays a signature role in adjusting your nutrition program. Minerals and vitamins are vital to overall herd health and reproductive efficiency, so adapting with the change in environment is crucial to the success of your enterprise.
Change in moisture
A summer season with a surge in total rainfall creates feed sources that supply less protein, due to high moisture levels. In livestock, more energy is necessary when wet conditions are present. With this type of environmental factor, a producer should consider supplementing with protein additives.
Priority should first be placed on meeting the mineral and vitamin requirements to maximize intake and digestion. Supplementation is extremely effective for cattle grazing on protein-deficient forage, however using an energy supplement will not be effective if the animal’s diet is deficient in other key nutrients.
Selecting mineral supplements
With the increase of moisture, also comes the need to evaluate how much mineral livestock are receiving and if those ratios and proportions need to be adjusted. A producer can start regularly monitoring mineral consumption by keeping a record of animal numbers and feeding amounts to combat potential mineral intake problems.
Mineral intake is usually higher when lush forage is available and lower during the fall or periods of drought. Mineral content and forage digestibility declines with increasing plant maturity. Rapidly growing, lush forages have a higher availability of minerals compared with mature forages.
The actual mineral content of feeds, especially forages and by-products, will vary, so all feeds should be tested for actual mineral content. However, the mineral concentrations can be used as a guide when choosing a mineral supplement to complement a particular feed ingredient.
Salt is not stored in the animal’s body and should be made available continuously. Salt is the only mineral that cattle crave, and salt-deprived cattle will often eat soil, or woody material.
Influencing factors
Controlling intake at the desired level is very challenging because mineral intake fluctuates. Monitor mineral intake for several weeks prior to implementing any new management practices to alter mineral intake.
When cattle are over-consuming minerals, salt is often added to reduce the amount of minerals cattle eat. Salt level has a significant impact on mineral intake and is easily changed to control intake; however, you must account for the additional salt when determining the correct intake.
If mineral intake is inadequate, try adding a palatable feedstuff to the mix. Feeds such as cottonseed meal, soybean meal, dry molasses and distillers grains can improve mineral intake. In addition, changing mineral brands will sometimes provide a mineral that is more palatable.
Regularly monitor mineral consumption by keeping a record of animal numbers and feeding amounts to combat potential mineral intake problems.
Summary
Forage mineral concentration varies considerably and is dependent on many factors including forage species, soil mineral concentrations, fertilization, climatic conditions, season of the year, and weathering.
Mineral and vitamin nutrition is vital to overall herd health and reproductive efficiency.
If you're planning on adjusting your herd's nutrition for a wet summer season, Nutrition Plus can help your cattle thrive through our completely customizable protein and mineral options. Just give one of our team members a call or explore our more popular products!
Articles Cited:
https://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/ec288.pdf