[poindexter145]

I know there has been several different forages or sources of dry matter used in drought conditions to get cattle through. I was just wondering if any one had some thoughts or concerns about different options. We have brought cows through on cornstalks and straw before. But whatis some other options?

 

[caroncrest]

we have used sugar beet pulp to make hay supplies stretch on our dairy farm. worked pretty well, the fiber is quite digestible, came pelleted so it was easier to work with

have also heard of soy and oat hulls working similarly. only drawback of all these is that the physical particle size is quite small: not much to chew on. It worked for us because it blended well into the ration through our tmr mixer...

 

[blanchfarm]

We are feeding drought supplement right now to our beef cattle, dairy herd still has heaps of feed because we tmr. The beef cattle a getting M8U which is molasses and 8% urea some whole cotton seed and three bales of straw a week.
Bloke down the road is feeding orange pulp and peels don't think cattle would take to that real well but if that's all there is I guess it will keep them alive.

 

[rickfly]

if you have access to some reasonable straw that is not bone dry, you could inject bales with NH3[ anhydrous ammonia], this combines with the moisture in the straw and becomes a protein additive. did it for years on straw,hay, and green feed. the bonus is that the critters like it even more,even sub par quality feed gets a boost in palatability. the cows produce more milk and less wastage was noted as well