Which Lick?

There’s a sprinkle of rain on the roof but by and large, most of the farms we’ve been to lately have missed out on showers of rain and the summer grass is drying out fast in the hot summer weather. Clients are also chasing a bit better feed utilisation on their stubble paddocks. As a result, we are getting a lot of phone enquiries asking, “Which Lick?”

To answer this, it’s good to know a bit more about the feed situation. Generally speaking, even though the summer grass has a lot of bulk, even if it’s green, it doesn’t mean it’s good quality. Here are some feedtests that we’ve run lately on farms:

In summary, most of what’s been tested lately has been high in fibre, on the low side for energy, and low in protein. Not only is the animal probably doing it tough (or snacking on other volunteer weeds and plants to supplement their needs) but their rumen bugs are battling. You can tell this is happening by looking at the cow dung pyramids (rather than pancakes) that are being deposited on the paddock.

We know that if we sneak a little bit of readily fermentable carbohydrate and a little bit of rumen degradable protein (for example urea) into the rumen, we can fire up the rumen bugs and get them to work a bit harder for us, getting more out of the feed as a result. By having a healthy microbial population in the rumen, we encourage the population of bugs to multiply, resulting in more microbial protein being washed down into the small intestine for absorption and utilisation by the animal.

This technique works best in cattle. There is a vast array of lick supplements on the market and picking one can be confusing. If you’ve got one in mind that you’re thinking about using, give us a ring and we can talk through the merits of that particular product.

When supplementing using licks containing urea, beware of toxicity. The margin for error is small! Rather than mix your own, go and buy a suitable commercial lick that is blended correctly, will stay in suspension and follow the instructions regarding protection from rain etc.

Young or growing cattle may need additional bypass protein for survival and production. A protein meal, a complimentary feed such as cotton seed or a pulse grain might be just what these animals need.

Remember, it’s not all about protein. These rumen microbes are usually energy deficient as well.

Sorting out your farm calendar to try to match animal needs to feed on offer can be of benefit in the long term. We don’t want heavily pregnant or peak lactation animals on the farm during periods that are known to be a feed gap in the yearly pasture calendar unless we’ve budgeted on supplementing them each year.

Of course, we all hope it rains significantly in the coming days and we don’t need to talk about dry poor quality summer feed anymore. But hoping for rain is not a strategy for success!

Please seek advice on the best supplementation option before embarking on a costly feeding program.

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This information is the intellectual property of Animal Health & Nutrition Pty Ltd. No part of this work may otherwise be reproduced or copied in any form without the written permission of Animal Health & Nutrition Pty Ltd. The information is intended to be general in nature and you should seek information tailored to your situation and enterprise before making decisions.