Feeding Cows When Feed Sources are Expensive

Feeding Cows When Feed Sources are Expensive

When traditional feeds are scarce or expensive, stockmen must be innovative to find cost-effective ways to balance a ration and get cows fed. Janna Block, PhD, has done research on cattle feeds and was a Livestock Systems Specialist at the Hettinger Research Extension Center, North Dakota State University before she transitioned to the private sector, working as a Beef Cattle Nutritionist at Hubbard Feeds from 2023 until 2025. She is currently a Technical Services Manager at New Generation Supplements.

She says this year’s drought conditions may make it more challenging to get cows through winter and feed them adequately. “It helps to get a good inventory of the feeds you have on hand, their nutritional values, and try to complement those with what you purchase. Usually, the base ration will be hay—or forage of some kind. Figure out what you have on hand, and get a lab analysis if possible. You can use those forages more efficiently when you know exactly what you have,” she says. If growing and/or harvesting conditions were abnormal (too dry or too wet) the quantity and quality may be different than other years.

She has talked to many producers who had to deal with low-quality forages—with TDN about 50% and minimal crude protein level between 6 and 7%. If protein gets below 7%, the rumen microbes can’t function. “If a producer hasn’t had feed tests done in the past, this might be the year to start,” she says. Hay quality can’t be determined on visual inspection. It is important to evaluate hay by looking at condition of the bales, color, odor and other characteristics, but it won’t tell you everything. It might be green but still low in protein.

When hay is scarce, you can feed straw and a protein supplement, but some years straw is also scarce and expensive. “The rule of thumb: you can have up to 50% of the diet as straw for a mature cow in mid-gestation but still need something else to go with it and adequate protein to utilize the straw. The amount of straw cows can digest depends on several factors,” she says. It makes a difference whether it’s oat, barley of wheat straw, and how mature it was when harvested.

“About half the ration is the amount of straw a cow can digest in a 24-hour period. Make sure you are not overloading them with low-quality forage that won’t go through the digestive tract quickly. We want to avoid impaction; if cows don’t have enough protein, they can’t eat enough to meet their needs because it won’t be digested fast enough.” The gut stays full and they can’t eat more. This can also happen on low-quality dry, mature forage; cows can become impacted (sometimes fatal blockage) when they don’t have enough protein, especially if they are short on water.

Some people feel that after calves are weaned, they can coast dry cows through winter because their requirements are not as high, but this year they may need to feed higher-quality forages (especially if they’ve lost weight during grazing season) to provide some cushion going into winter – while their requirements are low. It’s hard to make up lost weight during cold weather.

Even if a rancher doesn’t have high-quality feed, strategic supplementation may help get cows into better shape and handle the effects of wind chill and wet, cold weather. We are not just thinking about the cow, but also the calf she is carrying. It’s not only protein that’s important, but also vitamins and minerals for the health of the fetus.

“Vitamin A is deficient in drought-affected forages. There’s not a very consistent or inexpensive way to test vitamin A levels; we just assume the cows are deficient and provide a vitamin-mineral supplement or injection—particularly during the last couple months of gestation. Then it will transfer to the newborn calf through colostrum. If the cow has inadequate levels, the calf will be deficient. In severe cases, we may end up with weak calves, blind calves, retained placentas and other problems,” she explains.

Some of the traditional supplemental feeds are in short supply or more expensive. “It’s not always easy to source distillers’ grains and other co-product feeds. Most suppliers want steady customers rather than someone who only occasionally wants to purchase those products.”

Dr. Karl Hoppe (NDSU Livestock Systems Specialist, Carrington Research Extension Center) maintains a website with a list of co-product suppliers across the state. This includes corn gluten feed, beet pulp, wheat midds, distillers grains, etc. “He tries to get prices and contact information so producers can know where to look for some of these co-products,” says Block. Producers can check with local Extension Agents to access this resource. Other states have similar resources for people to check.

When thinking about using a supplement, figure out the cost per pound of the nutrient you are trying to supply. “In a drought, we may be looking at all the nutrients (not just the protein) because some of our feeds are deficient in everything—energy, vitamins, etc. You can still look at the primary component and figure cost per pound of that nutrient. Add transportation cost, feed delivery costs, etc. when comparing various products. There are good calculating systems for this; just about any extension service will have a good feed-cost calculator that can help you look at this,” she says.

“Most people are familiar with protein supplements but energy must also be adequate. In some cases, we might be feeding the wrong type of supplement. This is where the feed analysis comes in, along with looking at the cows’ requirements.”

In some situations, energy may be the first limiting nutrient requirement that needs to be met, and then we fill in with protein. “In this situation, we’d feed a different type of supplement than if we were just short on protein. It’s crucial to get the right combination,” says Block.

If a person is buying low-quality hay (that’s all you could find or afford), it’s important to figure out how to supplement it. “Although corn is expensive, in terms of cost per pound of nutrient, it provides a lot more energy than hay. In some cases, corn might be a better buy. It depends on how much of the ration you need to make up with some type of concentrate.” As long as there is some fiber in the diet to keep the digestive tract functioning normally, you can often make do with something like corn. A nutritionist can help you figure out a balanced ration.

“I’ve talked with a few producers who decided to dry-lot their cows this winter and limit-feed. The key is good fences and adequate bunk space, because even though the cow’s nutrient needs are met, they won’t be as ‘full’ and want to find something more to eat,” she says.

One resource that is under-utilized in many farming areas is crop residues. Some farmers don’t realize that cattle can benefit their fields. If you can make arrangements with a nearby farmer to graze crop aftermath, this can be a win-win. A mature dry cow can often do fine on this type of forage, and some late-calving operators (with May-June calves) leave pairs together through winter and wean in late February or early March, and winter the pairs on crop residues. In these situations, you have to make sure their nutrient needs are met.

One option for supplementation on low-quality forage is ionophores. “These compounds alter rumen fermentation and increase feed efficiency. Most people associate those with feedlot diets, but we also use ionophores with grazing cattle. There is one brand approved for use in mature beef cows. It may be difficult to get cattle to eat the proper amount in a free-choice mineral mix, so it’s often best to utilize it in a pellet or some other commercial feed or a TMR. A person can include it in a custom feed mix that contains the necessary minerals, etc. For a few cents per head per day, you get more feed efficiency with an ionophore; cows can maintain body condition on 5 to 10% less feed.” Additional benefits of feeding ionophores include reduced incidence of coccidiosis and digestive disorders like bloat and acidosis.

Some producers feed urea, a non-protein source of nitrogen (NPN). “People need to realize that fertilizer urea and feed grade urea are not the same. A note of caution when dealing with low-quality forages—natural protein sources always work a little better. It’s hard for rumen microbes to utilize large amounts of urea when energy isn’t as high as it should be,” says Block.

“When buying supplements, read the labels. It should tell list amount or percentage of protein supplied by NPN. A rule of thumb is to not have more than 1/3 of the total crude protein supplied by NPN or no more than 15% of the total crude protein in the supplement. The cow needs enough energy to produce protein via the microbes with that ammonia. If energy is too deficient, we get too much urea in the circulatory system and it can become a toxic situation,” she explains.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX – There are a number of non-traditional feeds that can be used for beef cattle, according to David Bohnert, Beef Extension Specialist and Ruminant Nutritionist, Oregon State University. A ruminant can digest nearly any edible material. Cull onions, turnips, potatoes, carrots, dry beans and other vegetables are available in some areas. Vegetable waste from food processing can be useful, depending on where you are, and how you might feed it. The biggest factor in whether or not an alternative feed is feasible is how far it has to be hauled.

Bakery waste and other foods can sometimes be added into cattle rations if you’re near a bread-making factory, or a manufacturer of cookies or candy bars. “Food companies have to get rid of cull products occasionally and stockmen have fed these. You have to be careful how much you feed, and balance the diet appropriately, but these are all things that can be utilized. A nutritionist here in Oregon once created a ration using cherry pies, candy bars, and corn flakes as part of the energy base, and the cattle did fine on it,” says Bohnert.

“When looking at possibilities, we need to think outside the box. A beef cow has the advantage of a large rumen. As long as there are no toxins in feeds, rumen microbes can ferment and use nearly anything as a source of energy or protein. If a product is fed in appropriate amounts—and not so much that it might cause digestive distress—it can work. We can take advantage of the ruminant’s ability to digest just about anything. Cattle are also wonderful harvesters of low-quality forages that otherwise would never get used, but these often need to be supplemented with protein and/or energy,” he says.

“Some of the common alternative feeds in our region include grass seed straw, distillers grains (a good energy/protein supplement), and cornstalks. Cornstalks can be grazed, and some people bale them—to transport them—but there is a lot of waste with baled cornstalks,” he says.

“There are numerous things that can be fed. Some of the liquid (“syrup”) from distillers grains, or from making alcohol, can be useful if you figure out a way to feed it. One producer used old bathtubs. Just because you haven’t done it in the past doesn’t mean it can’t be done.” There are ways to use nearly any kind of feedstuff if you are creative.

“Alternative feeds can help lower feed costs. The main thing that limits their use is location; you must be fairly close to where they are produced or it will cost too much to transport them to your place, especially the ones that have high moisture content like cull potatoes or onions. Otherwise, you are paying a lot for hauling water,” he says.

A California rancher has often fed bell peppers during the summer. One of the local pepper processing plants hauled the cores and stems to their ranch to get rid of them. The ranchers were able to pick up whole peppers (culls) from a couple other processers nearby. The cattle readily eat the peppers. Early in the season it’s green peppers, but later they get some reds and yellows. Those must be a little sweeter because the cattle eat the yellow ones first, then the reds, and then the green ones.

When feeding peppers, they use an old feed truck and two trailers. The truck puts the peppers out in a row behind it. They modified the truck to feed out the back instead of out the side. The trailers dump, and they can spread the peppers in small piles out on the pasture.

They started using peppers to help stretch the pastures, which were planted to winter forage (a seed mixture that contains wheat, oats and barley) in late fall and then cut and windrowed for the cattle in May or early June. The peppers are fed on top of the windrows—so the cows have a lot of roughage to go along with the peppers which are very moist and palatable. One of their neighbors feeds cull artichokes, and the cows really like those, too.

SIDEBAR: COWS MUST ADAPT – Jay Davison, Crop Specialist, Nevada Cooperative Extension (University of Nevada, Reno), now retired but still consulting, says ruminant animals can eat about anything, once they get used to eating it. They are very adaptable.

“Cattle are neophobic, however, which means they are afraid of new foods,” he says. They tend to avoid anything they didn’t grow up eating. Calves mimic their mothers, and eat what she eats. If confronted with a feed that mama didn’t teach them to eat, they may refuse to eat it. Cattle preference is a learned behavior. If cattle will try it, and it doesn’t make them sick, they will usually eat a little more. The big thing is simply to get cattle to try a new feed.

Some people are looking at things they haven’t used for a long time, like kochia. “In most areas, this is considered a weed. Years ago, during the Depression, people in the Midwest grew kochia to graze or harvest early enough that it was fairly good feed. Now we have forage kochia which is different; it’s a perennial and typically planted in the fall. It is an excellent feed source if you already have it planted,” says Davison.

“Because it’s a perennial, it must become established before you can graze it. It should be part of a long-term plan rather than when looking at options for an emergency. Forage kochia is one of the most drought-tolerant and grazing-resistant plants we can actually buy seed for, so it can be an excellent choice for future, use” he says.

“Look around to see what options might be available. Some folks in California might be able to get almond hulls. You need to be close to the source so freight isn’t too expensive,” he says.

Regarding alternative crops, summer annuals are typically water efficient. “The pounds of material produced per inch of water applied are higher in warm season annuals like millets and sudan grass. But they still need water later in the season to get full production–a minimum of 50 days before you can graze them. If you get fall rains, you might try some of the brassicas or grazing turnips. These are usually planted in late summer and need moisture to get going. But if you get lucky and do get moisture, they grow quickly and produce good quality forage.”

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