Feeding Without the Feedlot

Jason GrossUNL ExtensionBiological System Engineering

Feed Calves without the Feedlot

• Reduce costs and infrastructure by not building pens, bunks, and waste treatment facilities.

• Reduce costs by eliminating baling, hauling, grinding, and manually spreading manure.

• Reduce mortality and sickness by keeping the cattle out of muddy or dusty conditions.

• Increase cattle numbers without expanding existing feeding facilities.

• Reduce environmental risk by having a grazing operation instead of an AFO or CAFO by having the livestock naturally spread their manure.

To Have All the Comforts of a Feedlot but Without the Feedlot We Will Have To …• House the cows or calves using permanent or

temporary fencing.• Use modern cross-fencing materials (polywire,

step-in posts, TumblewheelTM, A-Post, or Pivot Fence) can control calf forage intake.

• Provide a more dust and mud free environment than an open lot.

• Be able to leave residue for erosion control.• Achieve grazing efficiency in windrow grazing

up to 90%.• Minimize labor costs.• Rely on UNL research illustrates the

advantages of forage based grazing.

UNL Research Shows the Efficiency of Windrow Grazing

The Pivot Fence • Developed by UNL Extension to convert a center pivot into a moveable cross-fence

• Achieve the advantages of windrow grazing by only giving the cattle a daily supply of forage to graze.

• Move a quarter mile or longer fence in minutes by the push of a button or with GPS and wireless control, the fence can be moved by cell phone or laptop anywhere in the world.

• Have a portable fence without manually picking up and moving wire and posts.

• Simple and easy to install and remove.• No alterations to the pivot (drilling or welding).• Can be used on all makes and models of pivot.• Works on frozen soils.

Pivot Fence Components

• Truss Rod Hangers• Drive Pipe Clamps• Automatic Wire Tension System

Truss Rod Hanger

Stabilizes Wire Height In Between Towers

Wire Clamp for Pivot Tower Brace Pipe with an Insulator

Automatic Wire Tension System

Adjusts Automatically or Manually

Grazing Trials• Two trials in 2011, one fall oats and one cows on corn stalks.

• Two trials in 2012, one fall oats and another with feeder calves on corn stalks.

2011 Fall Oats• Oats planted in irrigated wheat stubble on August 8th (south half) and August 12th (north half)

• South half yield – 2.76 ton/ac dry matter

• Cost - $25.09 per ton dry matter• North half yield – 2.05 ton/ac dry matter

• Cost - $40.67 per ton dry matter• Quality –October 2011 – CP 8.5%, TDN 70.4%January 2012 – CP 6.0%, TDN 59.5%

South Half• 328 feeder calves grazed for 53 days• Calves grazed oats and volunteer wheat as a green crop or standing up.

• Calves grazed 47% of crop• Cost - $53.74 per ton grazed of dry matter

• Cost - $0.36 per head per day (land cost not included)

• Forage intake 13.46 lb/ hd/ day• Fence moved every 3 days.

Standing Forage

North Half• 328 feeder calves grazed for 52 days• Forage was windrowed on November 22• Calves grazed 83% of the crop• Cost - $40.67 per ton grazed of dry matter

• Cost - $0.39 per head per day (land cost not included)

• Forage intake 15.91 lb / hd / day• Fence moved every 2 days

Manage Forage Intake and Residue

Manure is already spread!

2012 Fall Oats• Planted on August 1st

• Yield – 1.79 ton / ac• Producer did not windrow. Grazed standing up.

• Grazing utilization averaged 67%• Waiting for production costs.• Moved fence every 2 days • Quality – October 2012 - CP 8.4%, TDN 75.5%January 2013 - CP 8.2%, TDN 73.5%

Calves Grazing Fall Oat after Irrigated Wheat

Corn Stalk Grazing 2011 & 2012• Pivot Fence was used to demonstrate the ability of the cross fence to limit grain intake.

• Limiting the daily intake to prevent founder and to stretch the downed grain to reduce protein supplement.

Corn Stalk 2011• 90 cows on 130 acres of irrigated corn.

• Start Dec 2nd and ended on March 6th.• Moved cross fence 10 times.• Maintained cows grazing grain up to March 6th.

• With enough of a daily intake of grain the cows didn’t need protein supplement during this time.

Corn Stalk 2012• 750 head of 600 lb feeder steers.• Irrigated corn 130 acres with 40 bu/ac of downed corn.

• Start November 27th

• Pivot Fence cross fencing started out well but when the pivot moved into some extremely rough ground, the producer gave up on maintaining the fence in the first of January.

• The fence proved its worth but showed its limits on extremely rough ground.

What Did We Learn• We can successfully house cows or calves with

portable fencing on forages.• If the forage is hayed properly and allowed to

cure in the windrow, the feed quality can remain though out the winter.

• Forage loss usually was where the windrow touches the soil. Minimize the number of windrows by raking.

• Give daily rations to minimize over consumption.• Intake improves with dry windrows.• Manure is naturally spread.• Introduce calves to grazing system in small

groups to keep them settled down.• Daily interaction from producer improves calf

disposition and behavior.

Question’s ?

Jason GrossBiological Systems EngineeringUNL Extension

(308) 865 – 1594jgross3@unl.edu