As with anything, a fall calving season has its advantages and disadvantages. Ensuring effective pasture management, helping mitigate any effects of heat stress and providing your herd with proper nutrition is all important for a successful fall calving herd.
Optimizing Pasture Management
Effective grass management is important for both fall and spring cattle herds in order to ensure they have access to high-quality forage. Calving in the fall means the greatest nutritional demands land when temperatures are hot and water may be scarce. Producers must consider their forage types to ensure they have sufficient hot weather grasses, or annuals, to avoid the “summer slump” as they enter fall calving season. Being mindful of the rainfall is also important this time of year as both hot and cool season forages can have a hard time supplying in a drought. Additionally, early maturing forages during dry spells can rapidly reduce nutrition, requiring supplemental feed. Ensure you know what you have in your pastures by working with your partners at Kent® to do pasture sampling and supply calculations. Pairing forage with the right Framework 365® Mineral can support optimal reproductive performance and immune response for cows and calves alike. When proper forage is coupled with a high-quality mineral program, cattle can receive the necessary nutrients to support their overall health.
Mitigating Heat Stress
While producers may have to battle cold temperatures, chance of frozen ears and snow-packed pens during spring calving, fall calving can also come with its own set of challenges, such as heat stress. Heat stress can affect cattle in several different ways, from feed intake and milk production to calving.
Similar to humans, who tend to eat less during the heat of the day, cows too experience lower dry matter intake during heat stress events, seeing as much as 30% reductions in feed intake. Heat stress is well-documented to cause reductions in intake, “leaky gut syndrome,” and reduced feed efficiency that further contributes to immune challenges and reduced profitability. This results in lower energy levels, and if this happens regularly, it can poorly affect their body condition as well. Feeding cattle during the cooler parts of the day, such as the morning or evening can help ensure better feed intake. A reduction in feed alone can explain up to 50% milk losses, as well as risking digestive issues such as rumen acidosis.
High temperatures negatively impact milk production in lactating cows, affecting both the quantity and quality of their milk. Research has shown that heat stress may reduce lactation by over 25% in milk yield. A reduction in lactation also results in a reduction in calf growth, which is imperative for calves looking to grow as efficiently as possible heading into colder, high maintenance, winter months.
Heat stress not only can rob growth and efficiencies post-calving, but also during parturition. Heat stress induced low intakes prior to calving may result in an energy-deficient cow who may more quickly tire our and experience dystocia during calving.
To combat heat stress during the fall calving season, producers must keep their environment in mind, by providing adequate shade to ensure cows are able to escape the direct sun, such as trees or constructed shelters. In addition, cattle must have access to plenty of water, be mindful of the water supply, especially if your pastures rely on natural water sources like ponds or creeks that may dry up during hot, dry months.
Maintaining Body Condition and Meeting Nutritional Requirements
Whether it’s a fall or spring calving herd, proper nutrition is fundamental when preparing for any calving season. During the last 60 days of gestation, cows experience increased demands of nutrients that are essential for supporting fetal development and preparing for lactation. Proper nutrition during this period helps maintain body condition score, reproductive efficiency and milk production.
Meeting the dietary requirements of pregnant cows includes energy, protein and micronutrients like minerals and vitamins. If your forage supply is short or doesn’t meet the nutritional demand, consider supplemental feed like Rangeboss® cubes or tubs, particularly in times of late-summer or fall drought. Also ensure your cowherd has access to a high-quality mineral to support gestation, lactation and prepare her for reproduction with options like Framework® 365 Mineral Fescue or Framework® 365 Mineral Performance ADE. There is a product to help your herd reach full potential and fill any nutritional gaps for a successful fall calving season.
Optimizing pasture management, mitigating heat stress and maintaining balanced nutrition directly influences the health of both the cow and calf, aiding in a smoother calving process and healthier calf crop, which in turn enhances growth rates and overall herd performance. For questions on cattle nutrition or more information on Kent® products, contact our Inside Sales Team.
