Iowa Beef Center

by Denise Schwab, NE Iowa Beef Specialist

 The majority of Iowa beef producers understand the importance of grazing corn residue to control feed costs. Samples and McCutcheon (2002) suggest that, under positive weather conditions, 1 ac of corn residue can provide sixty days of grazing for a 1,000-lb animal (sixty animal-unit grazing days).  Mature cows in the middle trimester of gestation that are in desirable body condition typically maintain their body weight and may gain up to 1 lb per head daily. As the grain component is consumed and availability of husks and leaves declines, protein supplementation may be needed to maintain body condition.

However this year grazing cornstalks may have some additional risks due to the weather we’ve experienced – wind, hail, storm damage, drought.  As I combined this fall, we had an unusual amount of ear droppage, and other farmers in Benton County have shared this same experience.  This is an economic disadvantage to those of us who grain farm, but can be both a blessing and a curse to cattlemen.  While cows grazing these fields will clearly gain weight this fall, excess corn can lead to grain overload in cows.

A new publication on grazing corn residue will help you plan your grazing program.  But what steps do you put in place to prevent grain overload in cattle grazing corn stalks?

Cow-Calf Operations, Feed/Corn Coproducts, Forages, Hay & Grazing, Stocker/Backgrounder, Uncategorized corn residue, forages, grazing

Iowa Beef Center beef program specialists, with funding from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, conducted two studies that have been summarized into new four-page factsheets available on the Iowa Beef Center Web site.

The first study compared continuous corn residue grazing without grain/co-product supplementation to strip-grazed cornstalks with distillers’ dry grain (DDG) supplementation.

The second study evaluated the potential benefits and drawbacks to utilizing distillers’ grains to supplement declining pastures. The authors found, among other observations, that pasture consumption decreased at higher levels of supplementation.

To read more on both topics, as well as useful observations from these studies, check out the factsheets on the Iowa Beef Center Web site:

• Distillers’ grain supplementation study factsheet
• Grazing corn residue study factsheet

Additional information on each topic is also available from our Web site:

• Audio interview on corn residue grazing in the fall
• Report on the effects of corn residue grazing on soil
• Factsheet on using distiller’s grains in alternative cow-calf production systems
• Newsletter on storage of wet  distillers grains

Cow-Calf Operations, Feed/Corn Coproducts, Feedlot Operations, Forages, Hay & Grazing cattle feed, corn residue, DDG, distiller's grains, grazing, supplementation