Our tests on our hay, swath grazing and rake bunches came back.
The bunches were sampled using random hand grab technique in replicate.
Bunches were Meadow Brome/Alfalfa mix cut Sept 5th and bunched Sept 7th. Because of the frost in the samples the moisture tested a bit high, but on a DM basis the TDN was 56.8 at 10.7% protein. Cal
hos was just over 2:1. Based on the late cutting date, I am pretty happy with that.
A quick ration balance shows that our replacement heifers should pretty easily do 1 1/2 to 2 pounds per day on this (slow and steady wins the replacement race).
Our swaths were higher TDN ranging from a low of 62 to 64.5 TDN. Calhos gets screwed up on these over time as Phos goes up in long term swath grazing.
Our hay at 4:1 helps to offset this when used as a supplement. Hay ran 60% TDN, and even the straw samples ranged from 45 to 53% TDN.
The feeder calves are swath and bale grazing. My ration program predicts 2.5 to 3 pounds per day and I figure my cost of gain is currently somewhere just under $0.40/lb.
The bunches were sampled using random hand grab technique in replicate.
Bunches were Meadow Brome/Alfalfa mix cut Sept 5th and bunched Sept 7th. Because of the frost in the samples the moisture tested a bit high, but on a DM basis the TDN was 56.8 at 10.7% protein. Cal
hos was just over 2:1. Based on the late cutting date, I am pretty happy with that.A quick ration balance shows that our replacement heifers should pretty easily do 1 1/2 to 2 pounds per day on this (slow and steady wins the replacement race).
Our swaths were higher TDN ranging from a low of 62 to 64.5 TDN. Cal
hos gets screwed up on these over time as Phos goes up in long term swath grazing.Our hay at 4:1 helps to offset this when used as a supplement. Hay ran 60% TDN, and even the straw samples ranged from 45 to 53% TDN.
The feeder calves are swath and bale grazing. My ration program predicts 2.5 to 3 pounds per day and I figure my cost of gain is currently somewhere just under $0.40/lb.