When Beef Cows Energy Requirements Increase

This winter will go down as being one of the most difficult, bitter winters of recent memory. Cow-calf producers have you increased the amount of feed to your cows this winter ahead of calving season?

Washington State University Extension Regional Livestock Specialist Dr. Don Llewellyn shares reminds beef producers that with the recent winter storms that have been experienced across the West, that your cattle's nutrient requirements increase during the cold weather.

Llewellyn: "When the energy requirements increases — especially when are we talking about diets with low quality forages. We're probably needing to feed some protein along with that. We've got to be thinking in terms that when the energy requirement goes up and we have to feed more feed in order to keep that diet balanced, we are probably going to provide more protein as well. The protein is in there with those low quality forages for really two reasons: to supercharge the rumen microbes so that those cows will maximize the intake of their feed and also be able to maximize the digestion of the feed that they consume. So the protein and the increase of energy go hand-in-hand and so we have to think of them both as these nutrient requirements go up."

You might consider additional sources of protein during these cold winter months, as well as increasing the amount forage you feed.