Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 221: Feed Her or Sell Her: The Hard Truth About Winter Nutrition and Cow Numbers with Emma Coffman

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221: Feed Her or Sell Her: The Hard Truth About Winter Nutrition and Cow Numbers with Emma Coffman · CattleUSA Daily

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  In this episode with Emma Kaufman, we are breaking down
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  nutrition protocol as we go into these winter months and the
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  concept of it all starts in utero.
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  And what that means for us right now as we are looking at our
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  winter nutrition protocols and what that means for you and your
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  operation and some very practical decisions that you can
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  start doing right now to improve your operation.
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  Before we hop into today's episode, if you're watching on
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  YouTube, make sure that you take a second to go subscribe to our
• 0:30
  channel and like this episode. If you're watching on any of our
• 0:33
  other podcasting platforms, make sure that you're following the
• 0:35
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  All of those things just help us grow this podcast platform, our
• 0:42
  audience, and reach new people. So thank you for doing that and
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  taking the time to go do all of those things.
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  Without further ado, let's go ahead and hear from Emma.
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  Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast, your go to source for
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  the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the
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  updates 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 and connected.
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  Now let's dive into today's episode.
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  Emma, welcome back to the podcast.
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  I am so excited for today's episode.
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  You are currently in wonderful Las Vegas, though a little bit
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  jealous, I'm not going to lie, but it looks like you were
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  having a blast at the NFR. So grateful that you were able
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  to find some time to come chat with us today about our topic.
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  We're going to break down today. Yeah, thanks, Lauren.
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  I'm really excited. And I tell you, you just lose
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  all sense of reality out here. Like it's like daylight savings,
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  but it keeps changing on you every time you look around.
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  So but it's been a lot of fun. Despite the whole EHV thing,
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  it's still thriving out there. All the contestants at the
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  round, winners last night, everyone's doing well,
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  everyone's healthy. So yeah, we're just we're just
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  having a great time over here in Vegas and hopefully we all stay
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  healthy leaving Vegas. Yes, absolutely.
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  That's always the thing. Coming home, it's like, oh, am I
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  going to get the Vegas cred this year or am I going to be marked
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  as safe Because boy oh boy does it kick you on your butt when
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  you get home. I escaped it last year and it
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  hit me as soon as I got to the airport and by the time I landed
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  back home I was not well, I was not in a good.
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  Way so we're. Crossing our fingers, we're like
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  taking vitamin C, we're taking ivermectin.
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  So we're just, we're trying to stay ahead of it.
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  But yeah, so we're really excited.
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  Yes, absolutely. Well, do you want to break down
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  our topic that we're going to be discussing today and kind of
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  intro it? Yeah.
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  So, you know, we're starting in the cooler months, we're
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  starting to lose a lot of that forge that we had out in the
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  fields and people are starting to think about supplementing
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  their cattle with whether it's feed protein tubs or a lot of
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  time it's hay. And when we're talking about
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  feeding cattle, there's obviously a cost, like we need
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  to make sure that we're staying in a realm that we are
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  profitable at the end of the day.
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  And I know that can be difficult depending on how much rain you
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  got in the year, if you can stockpile grass, how much you
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  did. But we really want to make sure
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  that we're taking care of our girls during the winter months
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  because your next calf crop depends on how she is doing
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  during her pregnancy. And that starts from day one.
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  And so when we're talking about our females, there is a genetic
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  threshold that that calf has from DNA.
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  However, it will never meet that threshold capacity if you don't
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  give it the tools it needs to thrive and survive.
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  It's like AD one athlete. You can have all the genomics in
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  the world to make AD one athlete, but if you don't feed
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  it, it's never going to perform it.
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  He, she, whatever. Put that pronoun as you will,
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  but it's the same concept. But we're talking about cattle.
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  So when we're going into the winter months, really excited
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  about, you know, keeping our girls healthy and alive, also
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  speaking, keeping ourselves healthy.
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  But just know that your input for that cow as soon as she
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  conceives it will pay off in the end.
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  This is not the time to harsh budgetary cuts where you can't,
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  where you skimp out on the supplements you skimp out on on
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  the mineral program. She should be at calving a body
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  condition score 5 1/2 to 6 because as soon as she drops
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  that calf, she's going to start dropping body weight because
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  she's putting all of her energy into her milk production.
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  So if you have her at a deficit from the get go, you're you got
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  a lame horse in the race. Yeah, you absolutely do.
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  It's one of those situations that you're going to be playing
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  catch up the entire life of that calf and the entire rest of the
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  spring for that cow as well. Because if she puts out a calf
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  at a body body condition score of like a 4.5 or maybe like a
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  four or something like that, or even on the opposite end of
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  that, she's obese and putting out a calf at that time.
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  That is going to have a ton of side effects for not only her
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  nutritional as she continues to go forward, but also the
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  nutritional health that she's going to be able to produce
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  through her milk. Yeah, it is.
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  And you know, to put it into people terms, we've done a lot
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  of studies and a lot of research has come out talking about
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  Holocaust victims and when and how much that affected their
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  body and their ability to reproduce.
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  But not only their ability to reproduce, but those babies, not
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  only are they at a deficit from a growth standpoint, they're
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  also at a deficit of either immunity system.
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  So we're talking about what's the number one thing that we get
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  concerned about when it comes to respiratory BRD, right?
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  So why would you not here? Let me think about it this way.
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  If you skimp out on the beginning, you're going to be
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  paying it for the long haul versus giving all the tools that
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  you need for those cattle at the very beginning and maybe might
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  have a doctor here and there, but it's not going to be nearly
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  at the level that you think. So yes, I know prices are high
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  on feed. It's been high.
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  I get it. Is it going to come down?
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  I don't know. Probably not the way that you
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  think it would 1520 years ago. I don't think we're going to see
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  those prices again, especially on corn.
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  But it's so important for you to invest in your cattle.
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  And I'm, I'm at the perspective that if you cannot afford to
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  feed your cattle, you need to downsize.
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  It is much better to have a healthy herd of 50 than an
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  unhealthy herd of 100 because you're going to have higher
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  death loss, you're going to have higher treatment rates, your
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  cattle are not going to perform well.
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  And you know, I just, I think that when we're going into this
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  time of the year, I think it's almost like an afterthought.
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  You should have been planning for this in the spring,
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  summertime, which I get it. If you're looking up now and
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  you're like, that is not how my girls were supposed to look.
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  I get that, but better late than never.
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  But you got to feed them. You got to get them to a healthy
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  weight and maintain that weight. And to your point, don't get
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  them too obese because the same thing.
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  If they get too fat, well, they're going to have issues
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  calving. And that's where you get a lot
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  of pulled calves. And if it's not a genetic thing,
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  you also put that cow at a disadvantage as well, and that
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  calf as well. We also seen the, you know,
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  obesity talking about the Holocaust was falling to the
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  other side. A lot of obesity studies have
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  been done not just in humans but also in cattle as well.
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  So it's a fine line. But if you can get that cow
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  between a 5 to 5 to 5 1/2 to 6 is really kind of that sweet
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  spot, you're good. There's a lot, a lot of visual
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  tools out there for you to learn what that looks like.
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  But you know, I've, I've been to people's places that have 3 1/2
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  fours and those cows never bounce back.
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  Those calves stay stunted for life to the point where they're
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  not worth keeping around. Even if they're steers like just
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  get rid of them and see if and they're going to be bought a
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  discount, they're going to be bought a discount.
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  Especially if they're a year old and they look like 5 weights. 6
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  weights, that's a problem. Yeah, it absolutely is.
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  I think it's going back to the long term effects because it's
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  either pay for it now or pay for it twice later.
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  And markets are hard right now, margins are tight, all of those
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  things. But it comes down to pay for it
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  now or pay for it twice later. It's just going to come out in
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  different aspects. It's going to be in your weaning
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  weights. It's going to be in the price
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  that you're getting at the sale barn.
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  It's to be in different areas that you might not initial
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  correlate that to, hey, maybe we didn't properly supplement
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  throughout the winter. And I think a big thing was
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  supplementation that people often forget about as well of
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  we're in a world of marketing and there's a ton of different
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  companies that love to try and push their product to you, which
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  rightfully so. Most companies have a great
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  product, but that doesn't mean that their product is great for
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  you and your operation. That goes back to are you
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  testing your hay? Are you testing your forage?
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  Are you actually seeing what your cattle are nutrient
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  deficient in? Are you properly supplementing
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  because you know what, every pasture needs the same
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  supplementation. Either your pasture full of
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  breads that are going to be calving in the spring, they need
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  different supplementation than your pasture full of fall cavers
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  that have calves on them right now, or your bowl pasture or
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  anything like that. Every single subgroup is going
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  to be different in that as well. So making sure that you're not
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  doing a blanket nutritional policy, and I get it, every
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  company's going to try and push to you, but at the end of the
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  day, lean on the science, see where you're actually nutrient
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  deficient and use at supplement, how supplements are actually
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  meant to be used as a supplement.
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  Absolutely. And you hit a really good point
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  that I want to emphasize on is testing your forage.
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  So there is some companies out there that will offer to test
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  your forage for free. And I say do it and even pay for
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  it because if you don't know what kind of fuel you're putting
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  in your girls in your cattle herd, how can you expect to meet
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  her demand? If your crude protein you think
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  is going to be 6% and it's 2 or you think it's 6:00 and it's 12,
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  so you can overfeed as well. So you really need to go in and
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  you need a sample and it's not just one Bale.
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  I don't care if it's just from the same field and well, it's
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  the same cutting. Guess what, the land can change
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  drastically. I was in a well, I was in a
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  cotton picker the other day and you could see the difference of
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  the cotton bulbs just because the pH of the soil and how much
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  it changes and varies throughout that.
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  Just that one field. Your hay is the same way,
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  whoever you bought the hay from, same way.
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  Get your forage tested and also your mineral program.
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  You know, there's some people that back when I was working the
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  nutrition field they had, they said, hey, I got my, you know,
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  soil tested and I know exactly what I'm deficient.
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  And I'm like, no, you don't. No, you don't because it changes
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  throughout the year. You go through spells of
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  drought, you go through spells of heavier rain, you go through
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  a fluctuating conditional environment.
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  Now is that maybe like an average?
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  Maybe, but I doubt it. So if you, just because you get
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  1 something done once does not mean it's going to stay the same
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  way. The same thing like with storing
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  hay, you know what you, you wrap it, well, it's going to change.
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  Hay that you did or you cut and wrapped that year versus 3 years
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  ago. Also it's going to change.
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  So when we're looking at spending money because it's
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  expensive and I get it and like you said, the marketability of
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  people think, well, you got to do this, you got to do that.
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  Know what you have, look at your cards.
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  We're sticking with the Vegas theme, right?
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  Look at your cards, know what you have because the dealer is
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  going to try to win for the house.
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  You need to make sure that you are taking care of your
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  operation 1st and your financial situation first.
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  There's a lot of great products out there, but there's also a
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  lot of extra fluff. So if you know what you have,
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  you know what you need, then go forward and and shop around,
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  talk to different people. There is times that I did not
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  recommend the product that I was the company I was with because
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  it wasn't a good fit for the customer.
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  So if you're with somebody that's like a yes, yes, yes,
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  yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, that's not someone that you should
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  maybe listening to and maybe you should get a second opinion.
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  It never hurts to ask and talk around the extension services
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  here in Texas, but also across the nation.
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  Lean on those resources. And if when in doubt, call and
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  reach out because if that person doesn't have an answer, they
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  more than likely know somebody who does.
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  But to your point, yes, it's paying more upfront versus
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  paying twice later. That is a great summary of what
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  we're we're taking home. Hopefully the message today on.
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  Yeah, absolutely. And I really want to emphasize
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  the point of the extension services.
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  You were talking about free sampling.
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  A lot of our regional statewide extension services, wherever you
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  are, they want that data. So if you reach out to them, a
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  lot of those places will be able to put you in touch with the
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  right research institution that would love to come and sample
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  your operation for free and give you those test results or just
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  at a really low cost. Again, lean on those extension
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  services, lean on things that are in your area because every
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  single region is different. I could sit here and talk about
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  the state of Kansas all day long and how you could go to every
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  single corner of the state, every single county, and it is
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  vastly different, vastly different.
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  Texas is the exact same way. And so you really need to be
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  leaning on your resources in these times.
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  And again, like what you said, Emma, it's a little late
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  honestly to be talking about this, but it's better late than
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  never. I would rather someone start
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  making these decisions right now while we're in the middle of
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  winter Haines season. People are pulling cattle off of
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  grass finally. And we're starting to really
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  look at that supplementation and make the plan now.
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  Because I'd rather you make the plan now rather than be in March
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  and be like, oh, these girls are looking thin.
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  Like this is this was a rough winter or we're dealing with
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  some drought that I wasn't anticipating.
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  Like have that reserve, have that plan in place in those
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  different areas that you know what things are going to and
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  flow. We unfortunately don't have
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  control of what Mother Nature gives us.
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  And so be be ready for that, be ready for some potential drought
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  throughout the rest of the spring.
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  Be ready for some potential like, hey, do I have enough hay?
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  Do I have enough supplementation?
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  And am I truly kind of going back to our whole topic of it
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  starts in utero. It starts while that baby is in
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  utero. And that is going to provide the
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  success that you were going to see not only throughout the rest
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  of winter, but into next spring and into next fall and provide a
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  2026 for our farmers and ranchers out there.
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  Absolutely, yeah. And just think of it is if you
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  have the equipment, if you're healthy, going in to an
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  unforeseen, you know, climate issue or shortage of forage or
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  something changes you, maybe you lost that lease place.
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  You put them on a new place and it's just not the same quality.
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  If they have a good foundation from the get go, you're going to
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  also buy yourself some time. And time is of the essence when
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  we're talking about feeding cattle and just owning cattle in
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  general. You and I don't need to preach
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  this because the listeners know that it's not being in the in
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  the stage of catch up is not where you want to be and it very
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  rarely pans out and very rarely financially pays out.
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  With that being said, keep records of what you are buying
• 15:51
  is your true break even is probably not what you think it
• 15:55
  is. There's plenty of programs out
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  there and I won't list them all, but there are a lot of digital
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  programs out there. Even Excel.
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  If you really are going old school and you just really hate
• 16:06
  technology, do something. Because if you've got to keep
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  track of what you're spending in order to know if you were
• 16:13
  actually being profitable on on the end.
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  And unless you have a supplementary job that allows
• 16:19
  for you to lose some money in this game, if you're not
• 16:23
  profitable, you're not staying in it.
• 16:25
  Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Emma, thank you for your
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  time today. I really enjoyed today's podcast
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  episode. I hope all of our listeners did
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  as well. If you want any more info on
• 16:36
  things that we talked about today, get in contact with Emma,
• 16:38
  anything like that, All of those links are going to be linked
• 16:41
  down in the show notes for you guys so that you can go ask
• 16:44
  those questions or find more information for your area and
• 16:48
  what you need. Emma, as always, thank you for
• 16:50
  coming on to another episode of the Cattle USA Daily Podcast to
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  all of our listeners. We will see you all on another
• 16:56
  episode next time. Have a good one y'all.