Nutrition

OSU Extension Offering Hay Testing Program

– Garth Ruff, Beef Cattle and Livestock Marketing Field Specialist, OSU Extension

You can’t manage what you don’t measure, including forage quality!

“Make hay while the sun shines.” How many times have you heard that said throughout the years? We’ve had some sunshine this spring/summer, but making first cutting “dry” hay has really been challenging for most farmers this year. Getting two or more days in a row without rain has been rare in the spring of 2025.

In response to these challenges OSU Extension is offering a forage testing program with the goal of providing timely education regarding forage quality and winter supplementation and if enough samples are submitted, creating an eBarn’s county hay quality summary. Reach out to your local Extension office to Continue reading OSU Extension Offering Hay Testing Program →

Water, the forgotten nutrient?

– Dr. John Yost, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Wayne County, Ohio State University Extension (originally published in Progressive Cattle)

Figure 1: Mobile Vytelle SENSE (TM) weigh system with water as attractant used to record animal weight and water intake.

I have a riddle for you. If you have too much, or too little, you worry about it constantly but if you have the right amount you don’t think about it.

The answer is water.

We understand that water is the single most important nutrient to sustain life, yet most of the time we take it for granted. After all, have you ever been standing in front of the kitchen sink, watching your neighbor get a rain shower that you wish would move a half mile to the north to help your crops out? Our crops in the field don’t care about the quality of the water, as long as they get it. For our livestock, water availability and quality are crucial to their health and performance.

There are several factors that determine how much water cattle will need to consume. A cow’s body is estimated to be comprised of 58% to 81% water. If Continue reading Water, the forgotten nutrient? →

Using Baleage to manage your hay quality

– Jason Hartschuh, OSU Extension Field Specialist, Dairy management and Precision livestock

Baleage can help manage a challenging harvest. Photo: Gelley, 2023 SE Ohio Hay Day

Baleage can be an excellent tool to manage challenging harvest weather windows or as a storage tool when barn space is not available. The ideal condition for Baleage is to bale the hay between 40 to 65% moisture and wrap it within 2 hours of baling. This process uses anaerobic conditions and the acids produced in fermentation to preserve hay. Baleage fermentation is slower than in haylage, often taking 6 weeks. When forage is baled between 25 to 40% moisture, it will not ferment properly, and Baleage at these moisture levels should be considered as temporary storage. During such situations, preservation is primarily a function of maintaining anaerobic, oxygen-limiting conditions. Mold is more likely at this moisture; higher bale densities and more wraps of plastic are required to better seal out oxygen. If using a tube wrapper, bale uniformity is critical so that there is not an oxygen pocket trapped between bales. Baleage at this moisture level will not maintain quality for long-term storage, and thus, it needs to be fed as soon as possible. Baleage can be utilized as a plan or as a Continue reading Using Baleage to manage your hay quality →

Body condition scoring for beef cattle

– Jerad Jaborek, Michigan State University Extension

BCS evaluation should occur at weaning and calving.

Body condition scoring is a visual assessment of the animal’s body energy reserves. In other words, an estimation of the animal’s fat deposition or lack thereof. Body condition is scored subjectively on a scale from 1 to 9 for beef cattle, with 1 representing an emaciated animal and 9 representing a very obese animal (see Table 1/Figure 1 in Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle). Cattle with a body condition score of 5 to 7 is considered most ideal.

Body condition score (BCS) can be an effective tool to evaluate the health, nutritional status and economic value of your beef cattle. For example, cattle that are too thin are at greater risk from metabolic challenges, diseases, experience decreased milk production, lower quality colostrum, reduced fertility, dystocia and their offspring may experience reduced performance. Conversely, over-conditioning is expensive and can lead to greater risks of compromised udder development, dystocia, lameness and reduced feed intake.

Body condition scoring can be conducted multiple times throughout a year to implement and monitor changes. For cows, BCS evaluation should occur at weaning (60 to 90 days prior to calving) and calving. Assessing BCS at weaning allows . . .

Continue reading Body condition scoring for beef cattle

Fertilizing Pastures After a Drought: Ensuring Adequate Mineral Intake and Preventing Grass Tetany

– Ted Wiseman, OSU Extension, Perry County (originally published in Farm and Dairy)

Beware of lush early growth and tetany.

Spring is here, bringing lush pasture growth with April rains and warmer temperatures. Although many of our pastures may have gone into fall and winter in poor condition, do not be tempted to fertilize your pastures this spring. High levels of nitrogen and potassium in the soil can increase the risk of grass tetany. Cool season grasses during this time are often low in magnesium, an essential mineral for normal nerve and muscle function. Low magnesium in the blood can cause “tetany,” leading to muscle stiffness and potentially death if not treated quickly. Both feeding and management practices are needed to prevent this disease. Fertilizing in the spring will increase those chances Continue reading Fertilizing Pastures After a Drought: Ensuring Adequate Mineral Intake and Preventing Grass Tetany →

OSU’s Forage Quality Analysis Service

– Emma Matcham, OSU Extension Integrated Forage Systems Specialist

Forage testing packages beginning at $22.50

The Forage Quality Analysis Service at the Sustainable Agroecosystems Lab has updated their forage testing packages. They utilize near-infrared scanning technology to assess forage nutritive value, which provides consistent, fast results. This lab is run by Dr. Marília Chiavegato on Ohio State’s Columbus campus. The new package options include . . .

Continue reading Forage Quality Analysis Service

That First Calf Heifer is not a Mature Cow – So why would we treat her like one?

– Dr. Katie VanValin, Assistant Extension Professor, University of Kentucky

Figure 1: Nutrient partitioning for heifers and cows.

Developing and first calf heifers are not the same as mature cows. While that seems like an obvious statement, there is still a common belief that heifers should be able to “get by” under the same management as mature cows. The thought is that we are selecting heifers that match available resources when we should be selecting heifers that will become cows that match our resources. Because heifers still have additional nutrient requirements for growth, they require different nutritional management than cows.

In the beef industry we talk about selecting “heifer-acceptable” bulls all the time, because we understand the need for emphasis on calving ease in heifers compared to mature cows. If we are going to keep back our own replacements or develop heifers, we also need to think about Continue reading That First Calf Heifer is not a Mature Cow – So why would we treat her like one? →

Check for Contaminants in Hay

– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension

If feeding purchased hay, scout for toxic weeds before, during, and after feeding.

Making and feeding hay can be tricky business. After a long season feeding hay, livestock producers are getting a lot of experience judging hay by its appearance. The way hay looks and feels can be helpful for making assumptions about hay, but appearance, smell, and texture are just a few indicators of quality. It takes these factors plus a laboratory analysis to truly understand the nutritional value of hay.

Even with a hay test in hand, we should still use our senses of sight, smell, and touch to help evaluate quality because sometimes we can spot an unwanted contaminant in hay that a lab test would miss.

The following are hay quality indicators that we can pick up on using our senses to determine if hay is worth Continue reading Check for Contaminants in Hay →

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION: Improve Hay Quality in 2025

– Dr. Chris Teutsch, Forage Extension, UK Grain and Forage Center of Excellence at Princeton

Figure 1. Impact of stage of maturity at harvest on forage quality (Blaser et al., 1986).

Last fall we analyzed 1,127 hay samples as part of the Eastern, Central, and South-Central Kentucky Hay Contests. A summary of the results can be found in Table 1. Nutrient requirement s of various livestock classes can be found in Table 2. So here is what we found:

• Crude protein (4.6 to 26.7%) and total digestible nutrients (39 to 76%) varied widely
• 3% of the hay samples contained less than 50% TDN
• 1.4% of the hay samples contained less than 8% crude protein
• 283 samples or 25% contained enough energy to meet the requirements of a beef cow at peak lactation
• 777 samples or 69% would meet the protein requirements of a beef cow at peak lactation
• 1111 samples or 99% contained enough protein to meet the needs of a dry pregnant cow
• 1091 samples or 97% contained enough energy to meet the requirements of a dry pregnant cow

In general, a higher percentage of hay samples required Continue reading NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION: Improve Hay Quality in 2025 →

The Top Ten New Years’ Resolutions for Cow/Calf Producers

– Dr. Michelle Arnold, DVM – Ruminant Extension Veterinarian (UKVDL)

Figure 1: The UK Beef Cow Forage Supplement Tool can be found at http://forage-supplement-tool.ca.uky.edu/

The Top Ten New Years’ Resolutions, first published in January 2022, serves as a good reminder of the management practices that almost always need fine-tuning in cow/calf operations. As winter gives way to spring, try to incorporate one or more of the following resolutions, updated for 2025.

In 2025, I resolve to . . .

1. Improve the water the cattle drink: Water is exceptionally important, relatively inexpensive, and readily available but it is often the most ignored nutrient. Water consumption varies depending on age, breed, stage of pregnancy or lactation, and outdoor temperature and humidity, but it can reach as high as 25-30 gallons per day during hot weather. Water-related health problems are seldom due to what is in the water but rather the decrease in water intake because of the poor quality, bad taste and offensive odor. Decreased consumption is just as harmful as not having enough water available. When cattle do not drink enough, feed intake and milk production drop, heat stress worsens, and overall immunity suffers. If cattle are allowed to stand in their water sources such as in ponds, fecal and urine contamination will decrease water quality and certain diseases (for example Continue reading The Top Ten New Years’ Resolutions for Cow/Calf Producers →