Jul 224 min read

Beefs Perfect Storm

By Owen Rees, Senior TRAC Ruminant Productivity Consultant

As I sit at the kitchen table writing this article, I look out the window to see more grass on my front lawn than in most of my paddocks. The summer rainfall in January was great with 70mm of rain within the month, but then the tap was turned off with little rain to follow. A dry autumn and a late break has created the perfect storm of light cattle and low pasture availability. With the depressed market prices on offer, many farmers have held onto sale stock waiting for the market price to increase. This extra stock ate into stored forage (Hay/Silage) or consumed what little pasture was available putting pressure on the breeding stocks body condition reserves. As autumn has progressed into winter, still with low levels of rain we have seen large amounts of light body condition score cattle hit the market and saleyards. In my opinion this wave of cattle being sold every week has kept a downward pressure on the market.

The last time I read a market report the USA numbers of cattle were at 71-year lows, which has seen the CL 90 indicator (grinding beef); which Australia sells into the USA market, increase quite substantially on the world market. We have previously seen the CL 90 indicator move like this in 2015-16 and again in 2020-21 both of which had good returns for beef farmers. From the start of July this year, we have seen some increases in the sale price of both, the trade cow market as well as the feeder market, but we have seen the biggest improvement in price in the fat cow segment.

So, what are the discussions I’m having with my clients at the moment? As we come into spring calving most cows don’t have any body condition to spare, so we are going to have to feed the cows all the energy they require to maintain their current body condition score. Pasture availability is still low, but it is growing in most areas after some much needed rain. We have about 3 weeks before most herds start calving. Around 16 weeks prior to calving the cow starts to make colostrum but the nutrition drain peaks about 2 weeks before birth. Colostrum contains twice the amount of solids compared with milk and has 400% more protein then normal milk. We know that colostrum quality and quantity is important for calves both for growth and to strengthen its immune system. Nutrition through late gestation will influence both the amount of colostrum a cow produces but also how much goodness is in it.

The last trimester of gestation is the most important for laying down fat and muscle in the calf. Scientists have found that a calf is born with its total number of muscle tissues, meaning that if a cow is compromised in late gestation, then we can expect a negative effect on the calves’ muscle content for life. Also, for the producers who are looking at IMF (Intramuscular Fat), research has shown that low nutrition in late gestation also has a negative effect on the offsprings marbling score. When discussing feeding the late lactation cows better, the first objection is always “we don’t want to grow the calf too big and cause calving problems”. I’m suggesting this year most of our issues are going to come from the cows running out of energy during birthing than the calves being too big, known as dystocia. When a cow dies at calving, we commonly lose both the cow and the calf and I’m yet to see a dead cow make money.

Body condition score at calving is the single most important factor determining when a beef animal will cycle. So nutrition for our late gestation cows not only affects their calf that is about to be born, but it will also affect her ability to get in calf for next year’s calf crop.

Late gestation energy demands for a mature cow are 80 to 100 MJ and their energy demand will increase to a peak of 120-150 MJ about 60 days into lactation. So, the big question is how do we fulfill these animals’ energy requirements? Currently hay supplies are getting to the bottom of the barrel. High in fibre and low in energy which means the cows will be full before we meet their energy requirements. So this year we need to think outside of the box as to where we can get lower NDF feeds with higher energy. The farms who have the ability to supplement their cows with grain are doing so, as grain is very high energy with low fibre. Other alternatives like almond hulls are being used as they have more energy per kg dry matter then the hay currently up for sale. Both feed ingredients have their limitations and need to be balanced with effective fibre to maintain a healthy rumen environment.

Market conditions are on the improve and as producers we need to have the numbers of animals to sell to help pay off the feed bills we’ve built over autumn and winter. The best way to make sure you are capitalising on an upward market is to have live calves on the ground as well as high pregnancy rates for next year’s calving crop. It is critical that we understand that the amount of energy fed to cows in late lactation will have an effect on both of these factors.

Getting some help to make sure you’re feeding your cows the right amount of energy but also at the best possible ration cost will be important this season. The Ruminant Productivity Consulting team at TRAC, have the knowledge of how to formulate diets to meet your beef cows requirements with this years trying forage conditions.

Make sure you give your local Expert In Ruminant Productivity a call

to ensure your beef cattle are on track for success this season and into next

on 08 8733 1888 or email us at info@totalresult.com.au