Reducing the amount of feed given to young female cows called heifers can result in more efficient use of nutrients for growth and reproduction, according to studies conducted by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) animal scientist Andrew Roberts and his colleagues at the Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, Montana, found that the heifers they fed to lower target weights than those traditionally recommended consumed 27 percent less feed over the winter months, and gained weight more efficiently throughout the postweaning period and subsequent grazing season.
According to Roberts, this strategy of providing less feed may reduce costs of developing each replacement heifer by more than US$31 and extend their lifespan, with important ramifications for lifetime efficiency and profitability. Feed represents 50 to 55 percent of total costs of developing replacement heifers. In their study, begun in 2001, heifers were divided into two lifetime treatment groups: The control group was fed according to industry guidelines, and the restricted group was fed (on a body-weight basis) 80 percent of feed consumed by their control counterparts for 140 days, ending when they were 1 year old. Read more...
This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.
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