Forage Matters: Resolutions

By James Rogers

I am not much on New Year’s resolutions. I have tried making some in the past and failed. I think the big reason they don’t work out for me is that they never become a habit. Nevertheless, it is a new year, and it is resolution season, so here goes.

My resolution this year is for us to look at forages as a valued commodity and feedstuff, not just as a source of bulk in a total mixed ration. Many already do this. They value forages as a source of nutrients that can meet animal nutritional demand and rumen function. They value growing, harvesting and preserving good-quality forage and how it can contribute to lowering cow herd production costs. To those folks out there, resolve to keep up the good work!

What led me down this path was when I received a call from someone with livestock. Their problem was refusal by the livestock to consume the hay on offer. There can be myriad reasons as to why this might be happening, and I started down the path of asking what class of livestock, what type of hay, feeding method, livestock condition, etc. Finally, I requested that hay samples and any available forage tests be sent to me.

A few days later, a pillow-shaped package arrived with three bulk hay samples. I opened the first one and was met with the odor of dust and mold. It contained grasses that were mature, coarse and dark colored. There was a forage test, and, looking at the numbers, the first thing that caught my eye was a crude protein content of 5%. There was an adjusted percentage of crude protein value of 4.6%, indicating that not only was this “forage” baled mature, it was probably also baled too wet, resulting in heating that bound some of the protein to carbohydrates (through the Maillard reaction) and a lower available protein value. A crude protein content of 7%-8% is needed for complete rumen fiber digestion. The reasoning for livestock refusal became pretty evident with the visual inspection and hay test results.