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Saronville NE | Know alot of guys are using alot of cornstalks and WDGs to background calves, but how is the gain vs feedin more silage or alfalfa or corn. Im presently feedin a 2/3-1/3 alfalfa and a bean stubble/straw/crp grass mix, cane silage, and a 60/40 rolled corn and DDG mix and cattle look good and are gaining good, but this ration is not cheap. My question is if Im gaining 2 1/2 lbs a day with this ration, vs feedin alot more crap hay and high WDGs ration will they still gain that 2 plus lbs a day? My guy says no. They are actually wanting me to take the DDG out and just feed more corn cause per ton the DDG is higher then the corn is, my protein is good, but energy is a little low according to my test results of bunk sample. This particular pen is 625 weight heifers and is eatin 30+ lbs a day of ration. |
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| It is all a matter of what you feed ingredient costs are. I will take 2lb. adg over 2.5 adg if my cost of gain is half the cost. Sounds like the ddg is about the only thing you are writing a check directly for and it is more costlier than the corn, if you can get the protein you need out of the alfalfa and feed more of your home raised corn it makes a lot of sense on your cash flow statement. |
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New Mexico | keep in mind you said BACKGROUNDING, not fattening.
btw, any EAR corn available? Some ground ear corn is generally pretty tough to beat ( from both a net cost and ration quality stand ).
How many lbs per head per day of corn U feeding?
How many lbs per head per day of ddg's?
Keep in mind, U get that ration to hot and they'll get "greasy on you ( stop growing frame and start laying on fat )."
BEST if that does NOT start to happen until after another 300 to 350 lbs or so of frame and lean muscle growth.
Edited by Markwright 12/16/2010 22:42
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Saronville NE | I cant tell you the moisture for sure but its dry will blow away very easily. Its costin $192 laid in my yard. My ration is this on the on the 30 lbs, 7 lbs od the corn/DDG mix, and 11 lbs of cane silage and 12 lbs of alfalfa mix. The cane silage is dry its just about gone its left over from last year, then will be going to new cornsilage. They are not gettin fleshy really look nice. |
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North Cental Mo. | Well, I would agree to the more corn part... Do you know for sure you are getting that much gain? I'd be leary of them getting fleshy @ that much gain, but that is just me. I can't tell you if ration #2 will gain the same or not, but I like the sound of ratin #1 the best.
Roy |
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Saronville NE | No roy I dont know it for a fact that Im gettin the 2.5 lb gain. We are going off consumption and lbs of ingredients. But the numbers my guy is giving me seems to think Im anywhere between 2.25-2.5 gain. |
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New Mexico | might be best to NOT tweak the deal. Just keep on keepin on.
Seems to me like your corn/ddg mix is say in the $220 per ton range dry or 11 cents per lb in the bunk.
Thus your energy portion of the ration is say 77 cents per head per day as fed.
For simplicity sake perhaps figure your other feed etc is another 77 cents, thus $1.54 hard cog cost per head per day.
Say the cattle are gaining 2 to 2.5...works out to $60 to 75 cwt gain cost, add in another $20 cwt. as your yardage / overhead etc....
Heck total costs with management pay figured in for ya, plus feed shrink and markup for ya is say in the $90 cwt total cog range, WORKS.
Those hiefers come out weighing say 850 towards spring at 100 to $110 cwt. and your's looks to be a fairly well paid / profitable scenario.
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East River SoDak | Using the modified distillers (about 50% DM) we cheapened up our ration by about 25 cents/hd/day. You could take most of the alfalfa and about 2/3 of the corn out of your ration although you would up the corn silage a bit. On a 45 NE/g ration they should be gaining in that 2.5 lbs a day range. |
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N FLA | Why is this program Backgrounding, vs. Fattening. Would this program transition to some grain based program for fattening, for carcass quality, or what. Is there some weight where you would change up this program assuming you were doing it all inhouse, like if ahay was taking these to slaughter, when would he change, why would he change? Would it "quit" working and have to switch it up. I thought of backgrounding as hanging out on pasture or hay, gaining a little bit slowly. Just my perception.
Thanks. trying to learn. |
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New Mexico | once those have peaked ( probably be towards the 950 + range on a decent set of hiefers ) then one will probably blend the ddgs with say half corn to finish em.
SOO until then, since growth in today's cattle is pretty well built in and natural...they'll do that on a fairly cheap ration vs a finishing ration.
Also, feed em to hot a ration now and they will slow down frame growth and start laying on fat to soon.
The corporations which feed ( 3 packers have 3,000,000 + head of their own feeding capacity ) WANT those big feeder cattle ( 850 to 1,000 lb. ).
Corps are in general NOT setup ( nor inclined ) to start calves or light yearlings and put that 300 to 400 lbs of growth on em. Takes to long, thus ties up capital for to long.
Thus the opportunity for the smaller feeders is to do the backgrounding for em, and sell em those 850 to 10 weight feeder cattle.
Tends to be an efficiency feed boost to the 1/2 ddg and 1/2 corn mix on finishing rations ( kind of unexplained so far, but tends to be an approx 20% efficiency / cost savings vs using either product strait for finish ).
Edited by Markwright 12/17/2010 21:31
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N FLA | Thanks Mark, appreciate the lesson. |
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sw MN | If your paying more for wet cake then $5.50 corn, then you need to shop around. I just laid in a stock pile this week for $33/ ton delivered at 70 % moist. I never feed any corn to 600 weight cattle . It is too high priced to do now. At that weight I feed silage, wet cake, corn screening, and ground hay or stalks. Feed guys always want you to feed corn but they do not have to pay the bill. |
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sw MN | $ 192 / ton Your getting raped. Shop around. |
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| I have a pen of steers that really seem to be having problems with prolapsing. Been feeding 60% wet gluten with 15% ground straw and 25% shelled corn, and I think it is just too loose to keep them working right. Only had to sew one so far. |
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Saronville NE | Have called several different places $190 laid in was the cheapest I could find, and Im gettin it for $192 from coop mixed in with the corn for $2 bucks Im not takin a semi load. The wet is $55-58 a ton FOB the plant so in the $60s laid in, unless you contracted some it aint cheap anymore or at least around here it isnt. |
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sw MN | If your buying less than a semi load, your going to get bent over. DDG will keep a long time. No reason to buy small loads. |
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New Mexico | if that version of wet is say 50% moisture....$60 a ton wet is an OK deal.
Works out to say $120 per ton air dry then. |
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Saronville NE | Ya it will your right, but for $2 a ton that is so minimal its not worth looking into IMO. Plus it will have to be outside in the bunker and even if I cover it with some ground hay or something what I will lose to the wind will account for more then $2 a ton difference. |
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Saronville NE | Most of the wet in this area is more then 50% wet more like 60% plus or at least what I have ended up with in the past, now the modified will end up at 50% or a little less. |
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New Mexico | thus more rumen "broom" might just cure it? |
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Backgounding rations ?s
