A common question for our beef team is: Should I wean early this fall? And the answer isn’t always straightforward, but it’s not as complicated as you might think.
Early weaning can benefit the calf and cow, and can help stretch forage resources, especially in drought or low forage conditions. Our team at Ag Partners can provide the resources your operation needs.
POSITIVE IMPACT ON FORAGE AND COW CONDITION: Use forage availability and cow body condition score (BCS) as your barometer to drive your decision-making on whether to wean calves early. Drought conditions with reduced pasture production and forage quality can result in lower body condition and milk production of the cows. If cows score less than five on a body condition scale, we recommend you consider weaning the calves.
Forage consumption can drop up to 30% when calves are weaned early, helping alleviate grazing pressure. In other words, for approximately every three calves weaned, you can save the forage requirements of one cow. Additionally, body condition scores are consistently higher for cows when their calves are weaned early because they have fewer nutritional requirements of producing milk. Body condition scores tend to increase by at least 0.5 for early weaning cows versus normal weaning cows with similar forage resources. A major advantage of cows scoring a better body condition going into winter is that it takes less forage and supplementation to maintain that good body condition until calving.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EARLY WEANING THE CALF: It’s essential when early weaning to provide an adequate supplement to forage that will replace milk, creep feed, and mineral. Purina has several options to meet the needs of the calf
and maximize on farm feed resources. Purina starters are formulated to meet nutrients needs of weaned calves by providing palatable feed. An added benefit of Purina® starters is that they feature RX3® Immune Support Technology®, which helps optimize calves’ response to stress and common calf health challenges, an important factor for early weaned calves with immature immune systems. Here is what is recommended depending on farm feed resources. Download the full article for descriptions.
- PRECON
- STRESS CARE 5
- STRESS CARE 1
We also recommend providing one Stress Tub for every 25-30 head during the starter period with all of these programs. Reach out to your Ag Partners location or nutritionist to discuss the options that best fit your operation.
