custom grazing.

[smcgrath76]

grassfarmer, I think some of those input costs are there regardless of when one calves. My waterers are on all winter, I feed my cows all winter and their mineral requirements are met all winter regardless of when they calve.
I use more straw at this time of the year than I do in the winter. The only reason I would switch to later calving would be to avoid the risk of frozen ears, frozen butt because I am out in the cold etc.

[grassfarmer]

Emrald, The system many of us are advocating here does not involve these costs. My aim is for the cows never to be in the corrals apart from sorting, they winter grazed to New Year before going onto feed. They were on a 50:50 silage straw ration initially before moving onto a 66:33 silage straw mix - this is the only straw they see. Their mineral requirements are met all winter. I prefer to water with snow. They have been back on grass since April 3rd so they were on feed for 100 days. The cows are in better condition than they need to be, have spotless haircoats and will start calving in 10 days or so.

I'm prepared to bet anyone calving in January or February will have feed costs that approach double what mine were this winter. Matching maximum nutritional needs to the time of year when grass production is zero and our feed costs are always highest is not something I would consider. As smcgrath76 said "the fact others do is our competitive advantage"

[grassfarmer]

grassfarmer you may be right if you are comparing this past winter, but it was not a normal Alberta winter by any stretch.

I doubt that your cattle would swath graze and eat snow all winter in a normal AB winter and come through it in the same condition they are now.

[cswilson]

A june calving cow can come out of winter a little lean and mean and slick up quick on grass-'IF' she is the right type of cow-some of those hound gutted barley junkies can't cut it. We do our rations up for a 1200 pound cow-if that isn't enough for some cows they weed themselves out. Our cows have licked snow for 20 years and haven't suffered too much.

[cswilson]

wll that lets my herd out pretty fast I don't own a 1200 pound cow, my heifers weigh that when they calve, the cows around 1400, and they never see barley, and I would venture to say they aren't lean but don't have too much condition on them. I have some very 'easy keeping' cows that don't fall apart on poor pasture or after they calve. I don't feed my cows any better over winter than we used to feed when we calved in May. They get good hay, no grain and some greenfeed if I can find good stuff, plus good mineral and smartlic .

I don't feed silage but many of my neighbours do. There was no snow here until February so any cow that had to depend on it for their water requirements would have been out of luck. Nobody in this area chops water holes in the rivers or creeks to water, not only because its frowned upon but because of the logistics of it .

[cowman]

I think if I was a Buddhist I'd choose to be reincarnated as one of Emeralds cows instead of you old "nature boys" cows!

[cswilson]

You'd of got culled first swing of the gate anyways lol.

[cswilson]

you would likely be a pretty fiesty one cowman !!!

[grassfarmer]

Emrald, it's great what can be accomplished by a "can do" attitude rather than a "can't do". Conventional thinking says "you can't do that in my area...it wouldn't work" - the same conventional thinking that constantly tells us that you can't make money from beef cattle.
Having winter calving cattle that you are proud "hold up on poor pasture" indicates to me back to front thinking. Surely the pasture and grass come first - we are only utilising cattle to harvest the grass. The idea that we give winter calving cattle as much expensive feed as they want to maximise production then kick them out on poor pasture for a brief summer is clearly misguided.

Given that poultry and pigs can convert grain into protein a lot more efficiently than cattle I see the future for cattle being utilisation of grass / long forages as that is their forte. Allowing the cattle to harvest the grass themselves will always be cheaper than doing it mechanically.

I wonder if these "hobby genetics" will still be around in 20 years? The seedstock herds that by calving in winter are selecting cattle that can only perform in a feedlot situation.
Good for input suppliers, disasterous for producers.

[grassfarmer]

grassfarmer, I didn't mean to insinuate that my pastures were poor, but that some of my cows don't fall apart on poor pasture like we had in 2002.
It sounds like your operation is a money maker for you and thats excellent. Obviously winter calving is a choice that some of us make,it isn't for everyone but then again, its the diversity that makes the industry so interesting.