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Nutritional needs still important

After a challenging winter, now is not the time to forget about the nutritional needs of beef cows.

And while it might be tempting to put cows on grass, John Grimes, Extension beef coordinator at Ohio State University says it may not provide what the cow needs.

“Across the country the number one month to calve is March and second is April,” said Grimes so depending on the age of the cow, you’ve got maybe 2-year old cows or young cows that are coming through the winter in less than ideal body condition, they’ve calved, they’re starting to lactate and hopefully we can get them in shape to get them bred really quick and then we’re probably not giving them everything they need if we’re just depending on grass.”

Grimes says that hopefully producers have done a good job of managing their hay and still have some good quality hay to feed.

“Because if you’ve got lesser quality hay now I would be very concerned about that meeting the needs of the average cow out there,” said the Extension beef coordinator. “So we may have to do some supplementation whether through grain, by-products or keeping them more confined and making them eat some hay just to meet their needs.”

Grimes says the overall goal is for cows to have a Body Condition Score of 5 to 6 during critical production times.

Audio: John Grimes, Extension beef coordinator, Ohio State University (3:45 mp3)