– Jason Hartschuh, Extension Field Specialist, Dairy Management and Precision Livestock, Ohio State University Extension and Garth Ruff, Field Specialist Beef Cattle and Livestock Marketing, OSU Extension
Managed properly, straw can be a feed alternative.
When it comes to feeding ruminants versus monogastrics, the feed stuff options seem to never end. In many areas of Ohio where cow-calf and small ruminant operations dominate, the most economical feed option is to use livestock to harvest the forage, and then to feed the stockpiled pasture and hay through the winter. However, I am constantly reminded that ruminants do not need to be fed alfalfa or grass hay. What they do need is the correct amount of energy, protein, vitamins, minerals, and enough fiber to maintain rumen health. This allows for many different by-products to be used in ruminant nutrition, making them excellent up cyclers. Testing forage for nutrient content is critical when designing feed rations to make sure your livestock nutritional needs are being met. Most local feed mills have access to a nutritionist that can help you make sure your feeding program will meet your livestock’s needs for their body condition and stage of life.
Straw or corn stalks as feed instead of bedding
Corn stalks are often used to extend the grazing season or as bedding but they can also be used to meet fiber, energy and protein needs. The nutritional value of baled corn stalks is lower than when grazed. Livestock selectively graze the most nutritious part of the dead plant eating the cobs, ears, and finding any grain that escaped the combine. When baled the grain is often lost in the field and the stalks are in the bale diluting the nutritional value. Corn stalks can have a wide range of crude protein from 3-7% with drought killed stalks having a nitrate risk. The TDN of corn stalks is about 50%. Corn stalk bales when supplemented with a protein source can often meet a beef cows energy needs until the last trimester of pregnancy. Supplemental energy will be needed to get the cow through late gestation and lactation. Many supplement options are available, but liquid molasses based supplements can make stalks more palatable to cattle. On average wheat straw has about 4.2% crude protein and a TDN of 45.2%. When mixed with a wet co-product, such as molasses or distillers wheat straw can become more palatable as well. Straw is often used in dairy rations to increase rumination or decrease nutrient density. Be cautious that straw and corn stalks are stored in a fashion that prevents molding when used as a feed.
What do I bed with if I feed my straw?
While wheat straw it makes nice bedding, it is actually one of our least absorbent crop residues. Wheat straw has an absorbency factor of 2.1 while baled corn stalks absorbance factor is 2.5 and soybean residue absorbency is 2.6. Neither of these alternative options is as friendly to bed with by hand, but both can be easily be spread using a tractor, skid loader, or bale chopper.
To bale soybean stubble the most economic method is to windrow the residue from the combine and directly bale that windrow leaving the leaves behind. Soybean stubble straw is often dusty and can cause issues with allergies while bedding. Most livestock have not shown any respiratory problems though with the soybean bedding. Other bedding options to consider are sawdust or chopped newspaper. Waxy paper does not make a bedding source.
Products to supplement hay
In the previous beef team newsletter Ted Wiseman wrote an article on preparing for winter feeding that began to address the options of limit feeding corn with a small amount of hay based on research from the early 90’s by Dr. Steve Loerch. https://u.osu.edu/beef/2024/09/04/drought-and-dust-preparing-for-winter-feed-shortages/. The table below illustrates the cost of limit feeding versus purchasing hay and various corn and hay price. The section shaded in red illustrates the corn and hay price combination where limit feeding corn is more expensive than purchasing hay.
Of the options we will be discussing this limit feeding approach feeds the least total dry matter, but it can be a very cost effective strategy this winter. Limit feeding can be done to match the hay supply that you have by working with a nutritionist to match the amount of corn and supplement needed to match the hay you have available to feed this winter.
Wet Byproducts or Coproducts
Wet feeds can be a great tool to make less palatable feeds more palatable. However, to be economically viable farms must be able to use a semi load every of feed every week in the spring and fall and every 10 days in the winter. Smaller farms have found success working with micro-breweries and distilleries, but their feeds tend to have more nutritional variability with the different products they are making. Many wet products are 80% moisture making trucking every expensive.
Researchers from Nebraska fed ground wheat straw and wet distillers grain in a 70/30 ratio to gestating beef cows. In one study, the wheat straw and wet distillers grains were mixed together with additional water to create a 50% moisture ration and bagged for 3 months before feeding.
In another study wheat straw and wet distillers grain was mixed fresh daily with 12.8 pounds of wheat straw and 5.5 pounds dry matter of wet distillers grain or about 18.33 pounds of 30% dry matter wet distillers.
With a straw price of $135/ton and a wet distillers grain price of $50/ton plus $15.50 a ton for trucking for a total of $65.50/ton bring the ration cost to $1.46/day. This feeding strategy was more expensive than the limit feeding diet but still less than buying and feeding hay. Both of these studies showed that this diet could maintain the cows body condition score and the calves body weight. Diets would need adjusted to include more energy during the last trimester.
Another study from North Carolina investigated feeding beef cows, hay and wet brewers grain separately. Cows consumed approximately 15 pounds of ground Bermuda grass hay and 33 pounds of 80% wet brewers grain. The study investigated feeding wet brewers grain daily versus 3 times per week. While cows preformed similarly on both strategies, the daily fed cows had healthier calves. Heifer calves from the cows fed three times per week also had delayed puberty. The ration cost for this diet with a wet brewers grain cost of $75/ton and a hay cost of $150/ton would be $2.36/day. This option is cost effective unless hay is over $175/ton or wet brewers grain can be obtained for less.
Dry byproducts
Dry by products can also make good feed ingredients but are also most cost effective in a bulk form. The cost of bagging greatly increases feed cost. Dry byproducts to consider are corn gluten feeds, dry distillers’ grain, soy hulls, and wheat middlings.
Soybean hulls
In a study looking at soybean hulls as a feedstuff, cows were grazed on stockpiled tall fescue and fed hay (tall fescue) ad-libitum when pasture became limiting. Feeding four pounds of soybean hulls from December through March saved approximately 625 pounds of hay per cow and less body weight loss (13 pounds) than feeding hay only (86 pounds). Estimating hay costs at $150 per ton and soybean hull costs (delivered) at $190 per ton, savings were only a little over a dollar a cow however if hay cost was $200 per ton the savings increases to almost $19/ton.
Soybean hulls, corn, and soybean meal along with a forage replacer program can be used when cattle are only limit fed a concentrate with no forage provided for roughage.
These byproduct diets can use many fiber sources including straw, corn stalks, hay, and other forages. To be sure your diet meets your cows needs consult with a nutritionist and use feed test to know the nutrient content of your feeds. Working with neighbors to purchase semi loads of any of these ingredients in bulk will always be a more cost effective strategy than purchasing them in 50 pounds bags.