What’s really in the paddock?

Where I’ve been lately, the dry summer grass is mostly all that is left, and the quality is terrible. It’s got an energy content of 5MJ ME/kgDM, Crude Protein of 6% and the Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) is 72%.  

Using the intake equation, a 400kg heifer can eat 6.6kg of dry grass.  This gives her a total energy intake of 6.6kg x 5MJ = 33MJ. She needs 45MJ to maintain weight, and a bit more than that for bodyweight gain. She’s also protein deficient on this grass.

A dry lick product will increase her dry feed utilisation by around 10%, which will get her intake up to around 36MJ, which is still below maintenance.

It’s time to decide what else you’re going to feed to your cattle, especially those that are growing, heavily pregnant or lactating. 

Some options for cattle that don’t require processing include cotton seed, or pre-processed pellets.  But if you’re leaning towards the grains that are already in the silo, you really need to consider processing the grains.

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