The importance of suckler cow rationing is talked about a lot. However, the uptake of rationing by farmers is very variable across the country.

Whether the feeding system is outdoors on forage crops, deferred grazing, or indoors on slats or straw, there is real value in ensuring a plan to monitor suckler cow feeding to reduce waste and ensure cows stay productive and healthy.

When planning feeding for suckler cows, it is important to remember the group of animals being fed. Within that group there will always be variation in intakes and requirements depending on breed, liveweight and stage of production.

In addition, there are many environmental factors affecting intakes to consider such as feed space, weather, bedding type and water supply. The more that is known about the forage quality, the animal and the feeding system, the more accurately a feed plan can be devised to improve animal performance and reduce waste. Small oversights in feeding and feed management can, over time, add up to big changes.

In the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, he gives the example of a plane leaving Los Angeles bound for New York City.

If the pilot makes a small adjustment and turns 3.5 degrees south, the plane will end up in Washington, DC. The adjustment at take-off is barely noticeable. However, over time and distance, the plane is hundreds of miles from its destination.

The same applies to feeding cattle. Small errors may seem insignificant over a few days or weeks, but over a few months can result in cattle that are quite a way off their target weight or condition score.

An example of this could be a cow eating 1kg more dry matter than she requires of a 10ME silage. The extra 10MJ energy per day over a six-month period will amount to half a condition score of weight gain – additional costs for a cow that is already in good condition and an increase in the risk of calving difficulties that could be easily avoided.

Top tips to check rations are on track

Know the feed value of the forage (get an analysis done) and re-analyse when the forage changes i.e. changes in the pit or different stack of bales.

Ask a trusted nutritionist to formulate a ration based on the forage and system. Ideally, have them come out to look at the forage to make sure it’s as the analysis suggests, and see your feeding set-up and cow condition etc. If that is not possible, send videos.

Monitor the feeding to check cattle are eating what is expected – that they are not clearing up feed too quickly and that they are content. Check there is adequate feed space. It is okay for suckler cows to be without ad lib access to forage (as long as they have adequate feed space for all to eat at once). In many situations, restricted feeding is absolutely necessary. It does need to be well managed, especially closer to calving where feeding stress and disruption can cause metabolic issues at calving.

Monitor body condition and ask someone you trust (that doesn’t see the cattle every day) to look over the stock with you to assess condition. A second pair of eyes is really valuable!

The quality of forage used is hugely important for suckler cows. Forage quality affects how much an animal can eat – poor energy forages (low digestibility) have a lower intake than high-quality, very digestible forages. This is because high-quality forages pass through the rumen and are processed more quickly.

The hardest rations to formulate for suckler cows are high-energy silages. This is because they need to be diluted with straw to get enough dry matter intake to satisfy a cow’s appetite for welfare and contentedness, while not oversupplying energy through her pregnancy.

If silage is to be fed ad lib to suckler cows in good condition, it really needs to be around 9MJ/kg DM in energy to minimise increasing cow condition. If the silage is higher in energy, it will need to be restricted (unless cows are lean and needing to gain condition).

For any forage with an energy value below 8MJ/kg DM, cows will need to be supplemented to meet their energy requirements.

Care must also be taken to monitor the overall protein content in the ration. Dry suckler cow rations must be above 9% crude protein (in the dry matter) for good rumen function.

It is advisable to increase protein to around 11% as calving approaches for good colostrum production.

A nutritionist can help by checking the balance of a ration, matching this with cow requirements and their condition to make the most of the forages you have on your farm.

For more information, visit www.sac.co.uk/livestock