FEEDING DURING DROUGHT CONDITIONS

by Robert L. Stewart, Extension Animal Scientist

The drought conditions in Georgia have forced many cattlemen to look for alternate feeds. Unfortunately, they are faced with purchasing feed at a time of year when the cattle normally have surplus grazing. Any money spent is an added cost of production. Therefore, the costs need to be kept as low as possible while providing adequate nutrition. The following information should be helpful.

These are example rations. The cost will vary, but will be between $60 and $100 per ton. They can be mixed on the farm or custom mixed. For best results, the corn should be cracked coarsely. The cottonseed may be blended whole. However, separation may dictate grinding of seed. You may have other feed ingredients available which will work equally as well. Contact your Extension Animal Scientist for help when formulating rations.

Cattlemen who have limited grazing and/or hay will be able to provide adequate nutrition by supplementing energy, protein and Vitamin A. Supplements which should be considered are:

1. Range Cubes - require no feed troughs, are convenient but expensive. Most feeding programs call for 3 to 5 lbs./day, but more can be fed if needed.

2. Liquid Supplements - are convenient but expensive. Most liquid feeds contain ingredients that will limit daily consumption to 1-2 lbs/day. Additional feed may be required if free-choice hay and/or grazing is not available. Do not feed free-choice to starving cows. Do not feed to cows eating soybean stubble.

3. Protein Blocks - same as for liquid supplements.

4. Whole Cottonseed (WCS) - are an excellent source of energy and protein. Apparently, there is a fair supply of seed from last year's crop. Feed up to 5-6 lbs./day.

5. Custom Mixes - will be the method of choice for many producers. Mixes should contain approximately 20% crude protein and 65+% TDN.

Examples are:

	% of Ration
Ingredient	Ration 1	Ration 2
Corn	74	88
Soybean Meal	26	10
Urea		2
	100	100
Add 3.5 million units of Vitamin A per ton of the above rations.

Many other ingredients may be used when custom-mixing supplements. Contact your Extension Animal Scientist if you need assistance.

6. Self-Fed Supplements - are designed to deliver the same nutrition as the ones in section 5 with only minor changes.

I. Dry Cows	w/o Urea	w/Urea
	%	%
Corn	33	50
Soybean Meal	33	16
Dicalcium Phosphate	3	3
Salt	31	29
Urea	--	2
Expected consumption: 2.5 - 3.5 lbs./day

Notes:

(1) Provide Vitamin A at the rate of 7,000 International Units per pound of feed (14 million units per ton).

(2) Cattle should be hand-fed for one week prior to self-feeding in order to adjust to these rations. This is most important with the urea-containing feeds.

(3) Do not feed the urea-containing supplements to cattle which have access to soybean stubble or hay. Death may result.

(4) Do not mix more feed than can be consumed in 3-4 weeks.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

(1) Supplement Vitamin A. Normally, summer forages which are actively growing will provide plenty of Vitamin A. However, drought stressed forage may be deficient. Make sure your salt-mineral mix is fortified with Vitamin A. The minimum level suggested is 200,000 units per pound.

(2) Deworm. Don't let internal parasites add an extra burden on your cows. Current research indicates that the best time to deworm cows is mid-summer. The parasite load in your cows is controlled and the chance for reinfection is slim because of dry, hot weather.

(3) Grazing Corn. Most dryland corn has been hurt severely. Cattlemen may want to salvage the corn by grazing. Be advised that nitrates can be a problem. A limited number of corn samples indicate that nitrate levels are safe. However, the largest risk occurs one to three days after a rain. If grazing corn and you get a rain, remove cows for three to five days.

(4) Cull Cows. Many cattlemen have saved extra heifers and/or kept a few old cows ("just one more year"). The good moisture years of '91 and '92 have helped that strategy. However, we now see many operations overstocked. A good rule of thumb is 3 acres for each cow. It is a good time to rid yourself of the three O's (old, open and ornery).