While grass may be lackluster in some parts of the country and better in others, nutrition is always key when it comes to ensuring the productivity of your herd.
Even though producers test cattle’s forage and balance out their diets, a Texas A&M Beef Specialist says that water is too often forgotten.
According to Dr. Jason Smith, “We don’t, arguably as an industry, we don’t spend as much time as we should focusing on water, but it is the most important nutrient. It is not uncommon for there to be issues related to water quality. We often
think about water quantity, but not as much about water quality, and especially in situations where our surface waters or our dirt tanks, if they’ve dropped down in level, whether it’s because they’ve been drank or they’ve dehydrated because of drought. What we often see is this concentration of the things other than water in there and in certain situations, those can become problematic for cattle. And so, we do recommend, whether it’s we’re turning it into a pasture for the first time in a while or we’re going to be potentially using a new water source. Recommend some water analysts to first, foremost, ensure that it’s safe for cattle to drink, and then if not working with somebody to troubleshoot what the options might be to alleviate the issue or find out or identify that it is an unsuitable water source for the animal.”
He says that in times of drought, the types of forage you feed cattle become especially critical.
While warm season annuals have an increased nitrate and prussic acid risk in times of drought, that does not mean to avoid them entirely. It just means forage testing prior to feeding will be vital.
“I want to recommend that if, say for example, if we’re going to be feeding a hay that’s of a sorghum variety, we test that for nitrates and prussic acid to ensure that to try to prevent an issue before it becomes one,” he explains. “This is not, I want to be clear in saying this isn’t a reason to avoid those forages, incredibly valuable and useful forages for us here, especially in this part of the world. But, those are just risks that we need to be mindful of and manage them. Testing as a starting point for most of us in doing that.”
Dr. Smith says that you also need to be mindful of grazed forages, especially when animals are grazing near ground that’s received heavy nitrogen fertilization. He says that those conditions will favor the accumulation of harmful nitrates that may or may not be problematic for your herd this fall.
