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272: The Science Behind Hay Testing for Your Cattle Operation · CattleUSA Daily

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  Welcome to the Cattle USA daily. Podcast.
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  Your go to source for. The latest livestock markets,
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  industry insights and the update shaping agriculture today.
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  I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a passionate advocate for
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  agriculture here. To keep you informed.
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  And connected. Now let's dive into today's
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  episode. If you feed hay and you don't
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  test it, you are guessing and guessing.
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  And ruminant nutrition is expensive and it's not always
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  obvious. It is a quietly expensive
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  compounding issue. Today we are going to dive deep
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  into the science of hay testing, why every producer should test
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  hay, what the lab numbers actually mean, where
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  deficiencies show up, and how those numbers connect directly
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  to reproduction, feed cost, and profitability.
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  Because this is not about simply checking a box on A to do list.
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  This is about understanding what you're actually feeding.
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  Let's start with the biological reality.
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  Cattle or remnants, Their entire system depends on microbial
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  fermentation in the rumen. Those microbes require energy,
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  nitrogen, minerals, and proper fiber structure.
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  If any one of those is deficient, the system
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  underperforms. Here's what research
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  consistently shows. Hay quality varies dramatically,
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  even within the same field visual inspection.
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  It does not accurately protect nutrient content.
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  Crude protein and energy values can vary by 5 to 10 percentage
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  units between cuttings. Mineral concentrations are
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  highly soil dependent and unpredictable without testing,
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  and two bales that look identical can have 7% crude
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  protein in one and 14% crude protein in another.
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  That difference is going to determine whether cows maintain
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  condition, whether room and microbes function properly,
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  whether reproduction stays on schedule.
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  And without testing, you are either over supplementing, which
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  is just wasting away money, or you are under supplementing and
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  therefore risking reproduction and calf performance.
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  There is no third option. So what are you actually testing
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  for? Let's break it up into
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  categories. When you send hay to a lab, here
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  are the key parameters and what they mean biologically.
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  The first thing we're going to be testing for is moisture and
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  dry matter. Hay should be evaluated on a dry
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  matter basis. So why does this matter?
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  Cattle intake is calculated on dry matter, not as fed weight.
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  If your hay is 88% dry matter versus 92%, that changes our
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  intake calculations. Most ration errors start right
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  here and correct dry matter assumptions.
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  The next thing we're testing for is crude protein.
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  This is nitrogen content multiplied by 6.25.
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  Protein is not just about muscle.
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  It fuels room in microbes. When crude protein drops below
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  about 7 to 8%, room in microbial activity slows dramatically.
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  When microbes slow, fiber digestion slows.
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  When fiber digestion slows, intake drops.
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  When we look at low protein hay, it's going to cause things like
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  reduced forage intake, poor body condition, delayed re breeding,
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  and lower milk production in late gestation and early
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  lactation. Most beef cows require 9 to 11%
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  crude protein minimum. Dormant native grass hay often
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  test between 5 to 7% and that gap matters.
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  The next thing we're going to be testing for is energy or RTDN,
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  adjustable nutrients. TDN is your energy indicator.
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  Energy is going to drive things like maintenance, fetal growth,
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  milk production, and reproduction.
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  Most mid gestation cows require 50 to 55% TDN.
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  Late gestation and lactation cows require 55 to 60% if not
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  more. Mature grass hay may test
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  between 48 two percent TDM. That's borderline or deficient
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  depending on what stage you're in.
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  Energy deficiency shows up as weight loss, lower milk
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  production, delayed estrous, and just by having open cows.
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  And it often happens slowly enough that producers miss it.
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  The next thing we're testing for is fiber.
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  You're going to be looking at your NDF and your ADF.
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  Now this is where we're going to get into the science a little
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  bit, so stick with me. NDF is our neutral detergent
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  fiber. This predicts intake.
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  Higher NDF equals lower voluntary intake.
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  If NDF exceeds about 65%, intake begins to drop significantly,
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  and this is where big cows suffer more because their
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  maintenance requirements are higher.
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  When we're looking at ADF, that is our acid detergent fiber,
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  this predicts digestibility. Higher ADF equals lower
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  digestibility, which equals lower energy availability.
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  High ADF is going to mean that even if cows are eating, they're
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  extracting less energy per pound.
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  The next thing we're going to look at is our relative feed
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  value or it can also sometimes be called our relative forage
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  quality, these combined fiber and digestibility to rank our
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  hay. Good hay is going to have an RFV
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  above 100, but below 90 is where we're going to start needing to
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  look for supplementation. But RFV is a ranking tool, not a
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  ration tool. It does not replace crude
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  protein and TDM analysis. We're also going to be looking
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  at our macro minerals. Here's where deficiencies
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  commonly hide. You should be testing for
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  calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and sodium.
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  Common deficiencies are going to lie within our phosphorus,
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  magnesium and calcium categories.
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  When we have a phosphorus deficiency, it is going to
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  impact your animals greatly and we're going to see that
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  infertility conception rate, bone development and feed
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  efficiency. We're also going to be testing
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  for trace minerals. This is where long term
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  reproductive and immune performance lives.
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  We're going to be testing for copper, zinc, selenium,
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  manganese and iron. Common problems that we're going
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  to see is when you have high iron soils, that is going to tie
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  up our copper absorption ability.
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  We're also going to see that selenium deficiency is common in
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  many regions and that zinc is often marginal.
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  When we look at things like a copper deficiency, this is
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  specifically going to affect the immune function of our animals,
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  reproduction and calf vigor. These deficiencies don't scream
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  at you, they are the whispers and commercial operations
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  deficiencies typically show up in three places.
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  Number one is late gestation cows losing body condition.
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  Number 2 is poor breed back rates and the final and third
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  one is weak calves or inconsistent milk production.
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  Most producers are going to blame things like the weather,
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  genetics or the bulls that you ran that year.
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  But underlying nutritional imbalances is often involved and
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  you can't fix imbalance without the data.
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  So let's look at the economics of testing.
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  It's obviously not free, but does it pay off?
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  A hay test cost roughly 20 to $30.
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  If you feed 200 cows for 120 days, that's thousands of
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  dollars in hay. A $2.00 per pound a day protein
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  cube mistake across 200 cows for 120 days is going to equal
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  48,000 lbs of supplementation. That's real money.
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  Testing prevents both unnecessary supplementation and
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  insufficient supplementation, so therefore it's paying for itself
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  immediately. So what is actually necessary?
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  The minimum recommended test package for beef producers is
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  going to include dry matter, crude protein, TDNNDFADF, macro
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  minerals, and testing for copper, zinc and selenium in
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  your trace minerals. That is your baseline.
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  If you're making mineral decisions without knowing what's
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  in the forage, you are shooting in the dark.
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  Hate testing isn't about being fancy, it's about understanding
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  the biology of the animal you're feeding.
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  Cows don't underperform randomly.
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  They respond to nutrients or the lack thereof, Pest your hay,
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  balance your ration, protect reproduction, protect your
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  margin because nutrition isn't a cost center, it's a performance
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  driver. This is the Cattle USA Daily
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  podcast. I'm your host, Lauren Moylan.
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  Thanks for listening to another episode.
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  We'll see you all next time.