Drylot vs grazing

It's that time of year when many cows are finding their way back home. But some cows never even g...  More »

It's that time of year when many cows are finding their way back home. But some cows never even got to the pasture. Ag Reporter Sarah Gustin has the story. It's a tradition. Late spring you turn your cows out to pasture...come fall your bring them back home. But just because that is the way grandpa did it...doesn't mean it's the best way of doing things when it comes to turning a dollar. (Breanne Ilse / Research Specialist) "The question is which is more economical? Having those pairs out on pasture and then bringing them back home for the winter and feeding them versus an entire lifetime on drylot." At the Carrington Research Extension Center they are comparing drylot feeding to grazing. Ilse says high land prices and low feed prices spurred the idea for the experiment. And it's a tough question to answer because every operation is different. (Breanne Ilse / Research Specialist)"The drylot comes with some conditions that are always a part of the production method. In that you have to be there everyday, you have to utlize your resources everyday, you need the pen space, the truck, the fuel to feed everyday, you also have problems or can have problems with disease in contact with animal to animal. In the pasture the same type of thing. You are dealing with an enviroment that is probably further away from your place, those cattle are further out, but really both production methods depending on your operation work very well." She says the drylot cows are eating between 26 and 30 pounds a day. She says they are feeding a cheap ration with a high nutrient value made of straw, distillers grains and corn silage. This is the first of the three year experiment. (Breanne Ilse / Research Specialist) "Our intial feelings is the pasture calves are doing extremely well with the condition of the pasture this year." Ilse says both groups of calves weaned off between 650 and 700 pounds. Ilse says she is excited to see the difference between the two over time At the Carrington Research Extension Center for KX news, I am Sarah Gustin. Ilse says they are retaining and finshing the steer and the heifer calves so they can compare calf performance on both groups as well.  « Less