Supplementing Beef Cows on Low Quality Forages

Date: October 17, Wednesday Time: 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Venue: Power Point illustrated telephone conference--participate anywhere by telephone. You are encouraged, however, to participate at a viewing location near you Presenter: Norman Suverly, WSU/Okanogan County Extension Director

Topics:

• What are examples of low quality forages?
• Why are beef cows ideally suited to utilize low quality forages?
• How does the nutritional content of low quality forages compare to the nutritional needs of beef cows?
• Supplements for low quality forages: what are they and how do they work?
  • Energy supplements–when, how, and why use them
  • Protein supplements–when, how, and why use them
  • Mineral considerations
• Strategies for supplementation: tubs, licks, blocks, grain, hay, co-products
  • Substitution and replacement
  • Protein to energy ratios
  • Economics of supplementing low quality forages
    

1. Download Norman's Power Point presentation here after October 12. It will be available in three formats:

• Power Point (1,056 KB) for viewing on your computer and(or) with a multi-media projector . If you don't have Microsoft Power Point on your Windows computer, you may download a free Power Point viewer by clicking here.
• PDF slides (167 KB) for those not wanting to fool around with Power Point but still want to view the presentation on a computer or multi-media projector
• PDF handouts (Color, 131KB or Black and White, 169 KB) for those who want to print a copy of Norman's slides but may not want to fool around with a computer or projector during his presentation (or, for those who want something printed to take notes on and for later reference). If you need to download a copy of Adobe Reader for viewing pdf files, you may do so by clicking here.
• Handout posted on October 17 (pdf, 44 KB)

2. On October 17, dial into WSU's telephone conferencing system a few minutes before Norman's presenation.

• Dial 509-335-1700. Press ‘1’ to attend a meeting and when prompted for the meeting ID number, enter 3501 followed by #
• During the telephone conference, please mute your telephone when you are not speaking so that background noise doesn't disrupt the conference. If your phone does not have a mute button, press #5 to mute your connection to the telephone conferencing system, and then press #5 again to unmute it when you want to comment or ask questions.

3. If you plan to participate from a location not listed under viewing locations , please let us know so that we are prepared for your call (contact information below).

Related information (contact Tom if you would like him to place other links here):

• Fundamentals of Supplementing Low-Quality Forage, Cattle Producer's Library, CL317 (pdf, 43 KB)
• Using Grass Seed Residues for Wintering Beef Cattle (pdf, 26 KB)
• Protein and Energy Supplementation to Beef Cows Grazing New Mexico Rangelands, Circular 564 (pdf, 246 KB)
• Beef Cow Nutrition (html)
• Supplementation of Energy and Protein for Beef Cattle, A Literature Review, AG/Beef/2006-1 (pdf, 116 KB)
• Supplementing Winter Rations with Grain: Good or Bad Nutritional Stragegy? (html)
• Factors and Feeds for Supplementing Beef Cows, L5354 (pdf, 139 KB)
• Choosing the Right Supplement (html)
• Alfalfa for Beef Cows, Fact Sheet 93-23 (pdf, 117 KB)
• Cowculator Beef Cow Ration Balancer (html download site, Excel Spreadsheet)

Contact information: Tom Platt at 509-725-4171.