Keeping animals well-fed and comfortable during wet and cold conditions is critical for their health and welfare.
Winter is an important time for preparation for the lactation ahead. Mammary tissue needs to recover, condition may need to be gained, an unborn calf is developing, and mineral levels need to be replenished so cows are ready to hit the ground running come spring.
Crops fed during the winter such as brassicas and fodder beet are an important winter feeding strategy for many farmers, however they do have their own unique set of nutritional challenges.
A good transition onto winter crops is critical and must allow time for the rumen microbes to adjust and reduce rumen acidosis risk. Using an accurate crop yield for crop allocation is important, especially when transitioning on. Don’t use average book values and instead test the crop for dry matter, being careful to collect a sample that is representative of the crop. Leaf and bulbs should be analysed separately for beet and the leaf to bulb ratio used to calculate nutritional levels.
Supplement such as straw, hay or silage is also an important part of a balanced winter diet and it is a good idea to test the supplement for quality to ensure the correct supplement can get directed to the right place on the farm at the right time to deliver the most balanced diet possible.
Fodderbeet is a low protein crop, so animals on beet should be given higher protein forage supplement to balance out this deficiency. Dry cows need a minimum of 12% crude protein (DM) to keep them ticking over during winter and fodder beet often comes in lower than this, especially as the leaf to bulb ratio decreases as winter progresses and frosts effect the leaf.
The highest protein silage on farm could be best saved for later in the winter as leaf decreases and animal protein requirements increase closer to calving. Protein in late pregnancy is critical for udder mammary tissue development, colostrum production, birth weight of calves and their skeletal and muscle development.
Fodder beet is also low in phosphorus, a mineral important for bone health, energy utilisation and unborn calf growth, so balancing out this deficiency over winter is important. Metabolic issues, in particular creeper cows, in early lactation can be a sign of phosphorus deficiency over the winter.
Kale and swedes can have more issues with non-nutritive compounds causing animal health issue such as nitrates, non-protein amino acid S-methyl cysteine sulphoxides (SMCOs) and glucosinolates. Avoid feeding flowering crops and ensure good transition onto crops to allow adaptation to non-nutritive compounds. Watch out for signs of issues such as dark pink/red urine (SMCO toxicity) or photosensitivity (glucosinolate toxicity). Selenium, iodine, copper and zinc often need to be supplemented when on brassicas to ensure optimum health of cows and their growing calf. Issues with calves born in spring such as goitre and poor suckle reflex can often be traced back to poor trace element supplementation over the winter when the unborn calf was developing in the womb.
Supplementing the diet with SealesWinslow winter crop-specific mineral molasses block can be a great solution for supplementing cows with the key minerals lacking in winter crops. By providing blocks in 25kg tubs or as 500kg blocks to cattle while they are grazing winter crops, farmers can be confident cows are receiving the maintenance trace element levels they require.
Winter Balance is a block formulated to overcome the nutritional challenges of feeding brassica crops and contains organic copper and high iodine levels.
Fodder Beet Boost provides two forms of phosphorus as well as copper, iodine, selenium and zinc to balance out fodder beets mineral deficiencies.
For farmers not wintering on crop, the Mega Magnesium Block is a good option for cows on grass over the winter to keep them topped up on magnesium and trace elements.
Talk to your local TSR or drop into a Farm Source store to find out more about winter feed options.