"It's Been A Tough Winter For Cattle!"

 

by: Bobby McDonald

 

The onset of spring grass "putting out" is a welcomed sign for local beef cattle producers, as they have experience a long and hard winter. Cattle in Hopkins County and the entire Northeast Texas region have had it "rough" this winter....cold winds, intense mud and rainfall, and in most instances a poorer quality of hay and forage, even when it was available. "This has been one of the roughest winters that I can remember," expressed one local beef cattle producer. "Cattle have consumed more hay than normal and my hay wasn't the best of quality, because of the difficulty of getting it harvested and baled last fall, when the rains began!"

"We've had more mud and cold weather this past winter than I can remember in a decade or more," added another local cattleman. "The cattle have suffered all winter with intense mud and damp and cold conditions. Now, they're going into the calving season thin and needing continued nutrition!"

 

 

 

The new growth of spring grass has little strength and still needs additional supplements to go with it.

 

"Don't turn 'em out too quick!" advised one local agriculturalist. "There are signs of grass beginning to come out, the last couple of weeks, but with the large amount of rainfall, we've experience throughout the winter, the new growth of grass doesn't have any strength, and despite the short supply of hay, producers need to keep putting it an protein supplement out for their cattle. It's customary to let the cattle 'slip' a little bit, this time of the year, when spring grasses begin to surface, but this year, more than ever, they need continued supplement, to calve out and get ready to nurse the spring calf crop!"

 

The spring grasses are low in nutrition and in short supply, because of the intense and wet winter, and
cattle need additional supplements to calve and get ready for the next breeding season.

 

 

"I'm seeing lots of ol' beef cows with clean-out problems and in poor condition," expressed one local veterinarian. "It's simply because they've been through an extremely rough winter, with poorer nutrition than usual and the hay that most local producers fed them, don't have the mineral and nutrition values that they ordinarily have. The cattle look rough from wading mud and fighting for nutrition for what has proved to be an extremely long and hard winter!"

 

 

 

Cattle giving birth to a new calf must keep their body condition up, feed the calf, and get ready to
breed back in a couple of months, for next year's calf crop.

 

"I'd advise local cattlemen to keep feeding their range cubes and supplements for an additional two or three weeks, until the spring grasses have some strength to it!" continued the veterinarian. "It's going to pay-off with larger calves at weaning time and the cow going into the summer in much, much better condition, to raise a decent calf. Most of the cattle look rough and producers need to make certain that their nutritional needs are being met, for a bit longer. They need to make certain to worm their cattle, provided mineral and vitamin supplements, and keep pouring the feed to them for a little bit longer, to insure maximum growth on those newborn calves!"

 

Many of the cows in the Northeast Texas area are already suckling a calf and attempting to keep up
their body weight, to provide milk, and the nutrition to breed back, all on a poor plane of nutrition.

 

 

"It's tough on an ol' cow to keep her body condition up, calve, and then began producing enough milk to feed a growing calf, when she's endured a winter like we've just experience, and been fed less than quality forage!" explained the veterinarian. "You're just asking for trouble if you don't keep feeding her a little bit more, to make sure she's off to a good start of raising that calf. Cows that are in poor body condition likely won't breed back in a couple of months, when we're going to be asking them to get ready for next year's calf crop, if they aren't on a good plane of nutrition!"

 

 

 

Dry beef cows need to be in good enough condition, to calve, feed the calf, and breed back quickly for
maximum profits, in your operation.

 

"Most of the grass that is available now, is poor in nutritional value and full of moisture and water content," allowed another local cattle producer. "You can tell by looks of the cattle that they aren't gaining any weight and that it is going through them. The added fiber in their diet will help them to get any good out of the grass that they do consume, and help them to begin to produce milk for that new baby!"

"Short pastures are a haven for parasites!" warned the veterinarian. "And, many of our pastures are short now and parasites are just waiting for a host to come along and complete their life cycle, in the springtime. Now's a great time to get up you cattle and worm them with a quality product and enhance their health and nutrition!"

Thus, even though springtime has arrived, it still has its own set of problems for local cattlemen, especially when the winter has been hard and severe on our cattle!

 

And, don't forget to worm and feed your bulls extra, so that they will be in top condition for
the upcoming breeding season.

 

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