More and more producers are turning to winter grazing, but that increases the need to plan ahead.
“As Canadians, we’ve gotten more used to the idea that the cattle can do quite fine outside,” said Ken Ziegler, a beef specialist from Rocky Mountain House who spoke about winter grazing at a recent cow-calf economics meeting here.
Producers have long followed the European practice of feeding in the yard, but rising fuel, feed and machinery are making pasture systems and winter feeding a more attractive option, said Ziegler.
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However, winter grazing does involve risk and planning, and producers have to make sure they are not over-or underfeeding, he said.
“There’s a difference between substitute feeding and supplement feeding,” he said. “Substitute feeding is when you’re finding a quantity of feed that a cow could be grazing instead. Supplement feeding is when she’s eating as much as she can on her own. You’re feeding her what she can’t top up on her own.”
Supplement feeding usually makes economic sense, but that’s not necessarily the case with substitute feeding.
“Substitute feeding is an expensive alternative, considering that the cow could be doing it herself,” Ziegler said.
What happens during the summer affects what a producer can do in the winter and in early spring. Ziegler’s cattle graze 450 acres divided into 26 permanent paddocks that are further subdivided. He said a grazing program needs to be structured around summer pasture regrowth, not growth.
“Pasture is the only crop, other than second-cut hay, that we harvest as regrowth,” he said.
Swath grazing is becoming more popular and corn grazing is showing potential.
“Tonne per tonne, corn is typically more expensive and higher risk than a cereal crop and higher risk because of seed, herbicide and fertilizer costs,” he said. “The one time it really shines well is when you’re on a piece of land that’s high fertility.”
The height of corn is an advantage over swath grazing when the snow cover is heavy. Bale grazing is not very different from winter feeding, except for a lower yardage cost. The downside of bale grazing is that it can be wasteful.
“You offset the lower yardage cost with the utilization disadvantage,” he said.
Back and forth
Ziegler has grazed most of his cattle past December over the last seven years. He feeds them hay when it is really cold and windy.
“It’s not every day until the 7th of January that they’re out on the snow. They move back and forth,” he said.
When the snow is hard and crystallized, it can be harder for animals to push through it. Ziegler has noticed red spots on the noses of his cattle during the colder periods, so he allows them a resting period during extreme cold and wind. His cows are able to root through the snow to find pasture and can access about 60 to 70 per cent of the forage.
Animals have a difficult time cutting through churned-up hard snow and Ziegler keeps an eye out for animals that aren’t doing well. Cattle that are not aggressive about feeding, such as first-calf heifers, will sometimes be moved onto hay.
Having strong regrowth stored under snow will encourage the cattle to graze.
“I need to have enough quantity stored up so that when they go down there’s positive reinforcement for them to go through,” Ziegler said. “There’s got to be stuff there, otherwise they quit.”
Regrowth has to be of good quality so the cattle will want to make the effort to eat it.
“There’s a balance between quality and quantity that has to exist for this to work out,” he said.
Planning and stockpiling pasture for winter grazing is important.
Ziegler said he plans pastures that will be grazed in November and December during May. He said he believes in allowing lots of regrowth and letting a pasture rest so it has more volume available for the animals.
“I would rather bank on security rather than taking it down too far and hoping we get more rain,” he said.
His strategy is to give the animals a small area to encourage them to consume as much as possible. If he sees untouched patches, he knows he has given them too much. If the animals have churned up the entire paddock, it is likely they have been shorted, he said.
Ziegler stockpiles his forage for spring grazing and saves it under the snow.
“It’s really critical to time where these cattle will go into in April the season before,” he said. “Let the cattle graze to a certain date and then they’re pulled off of it and will not come back on there again.”
This practice ensures cattle will have young, lush and soft material to eat in the spring once the snow melts.
“It goes into the winter in that state, stores under the snow and when the snow melts away, that material is there,” he said.
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“AsCanadians,we’vegottenmoreusedtotheideathatthecattlecandoquitefineoutside.”
KEN ZIEGLER
BEEF SPECIALIST
