nutrition
Summer grass is nature’s gift to producers.
Producers can let native grass take off from
the summer sun and warmer temperatures,
and the herd will take care of mowing it
down. It seems to be an easier time of the
year for producers, as far as, nutrition goes.
“The winter is tougher,” Henry Hilscher, Ph.D.
a nutritionist at Livestock Nutrition Center
said, “but we mentally prepare ourselves for
winter feeding and sometimes do a lot better
job than during the summer months.”
Providing forage during the winter requires
planting a winter grass, and possibly feeding
hay and protein supplementation throughout
the season. Producers know they have to plan
ahead to ensure their cattle’s nutrition needs
are being met. Rather than
the summer, when the native
grass comes up on its own
and it appears to be enough.
“Winter time we know forage
goes dormant,” Hilscher said.
“We know we are going to
have to feed. We look out
in the pasture during the
summer and we see grass.
So, we think we are good, but
we aren’t taking into account
the quality of that forage.”
Just because nature provided
summer grass in the pasture,
doesn’t mean it is getting
the job done nutritionally
throughout the summer.
Depending on the region,
Hilscher explained summer
grass starts to make an
appearance late March
to early May, and then its
quality peaks June to July.
“After they peak, the summer
grass will start to fall off a
little,” Hilscher said. “At this
time, it is important to think
about the forage quantity
as the quality goes down.”
While, the amount of grass
in the pasture may be
about the same the cattle’s
nutrition requirements are
not being met as efficiently.
130 | JUNE/JULY 2019