Mitigating the Challenges of Grazing Lush Pasture

We all know that when it rains it pours, and that precious green grass comes with that rain. However, as the green feed comes, it can contain a poor balance of nutrients which are critical to maintain optimum health and productivity to animals; but it also can significantly reduce an animal’s ability to efficiently convert the available feed into meat, milk or wool. Unfortunately, lush pasture is not balanced, and lush green grass also presents nutritional challenges for cattle. So don’t let the green pasture fool you or your cattle during the summer months.

The poor nutrients may lead to conditions such as grass tetany (unbalance of Magnesium in the grass) and reduce the animal’s ability to fight off infections. Top Country offers a range of mineral and protein supplements to help balance the deficiencies of stock grazing lush pastures.

It all comes down to making sure your cows have what they need when they need it. If they’re not getting the complete nutrition they need when the pasture is at its best quality, you will likely see challenges develop in the coming months that the pasture nutritional value will decline.

Benefits of feeding in the green season

The benefits of feeding a supplement to your stock during the green/ wet season are that it can increase weight gain, reduce turnoff time, reduce scouring from green feed, helps prevent bloat, and increase the efficiency of energy available from all feed consumed by the animal.

Young growing animals obtain a large advantage from the Top Country green supplement range as the protein and nutrient requirement for a young animal is high. They are designed to help combat life-threatening nutritional diseases such as hypomagnesemia (grass tetany), hypocalcemia (milk fever) and others caused by deficiencies of calcium, magnesium and phosphorous in ruminant animals. Extra sulphur can be added to Top Country’s green season supplements when stock are grazing forage sorghum or similar, resulting in significant increases in growth rate.

Top Country’s green supplements range also contains magnesium which is required for the metabolism of carbohydrates, protein and fats, and the absorption of minerals. Deficiencies are sometimes found in lush green pastures and crops, resulting in grass tetany of the livestock. The magnesium in this range will help reduce the risks associated with lush crops and increase the herd’s productivity.

Another mineral that is included in this green season range is phosphorus. Livestock deficient in phosphorus will have a reduced daily dry matter intake, greatly decreasing productivity. Phosphorus deficiency is very common in Queensland. When pastures are lush and green, phosphorus is often the major limiting nutrient in the diet.

In summary, supplements are a low-cost way of boosting productivity and therefore give a high return on investment.

• They increase the populations of beneficial rumen bacteria. Increasing these bug numbers will allow the feed to be digested at a greater rate allowing for higher weight gains and better feed utilisation.
• Provides high levels of supplementary energy and bypass protein, stimulating optimum rumen digestion
• Help balance most limiting minerals in the pasture
• Increase intake of forage, not substitute it
• Increase energy and protein intake by the animal

What to feed in the green season

Top Country’s green season supplements contain a blend of quality protein meals, and macro and micro minerals. All of the following products are available with and without monensin. They are available in a range of palatability levels to achieve consumptions between 100-300g/head/day.

• Top Crop: is designed for ruminants grazing green crops or lush pastures. Lush green pastures and crops usually have adequate protein and energy levels but are often limiting in several minerals with the most common, including phosphorus and calcium. This product is high in both phosphorus and Calcium and increased levels of both sulphur and magnesium. This range has been formulated to target consumptions of around 200-300g/head/day to get 12g phosphorus per day into your herd.
• Top Forage is a mineral-based supplement specifically designed to reduce the risk of prussic acid poisoning and correct mineral deficiencies of cattle grazing sorghum forage. This product is formulated to boost the sulphur available to cattle while grazing forage sorghum. Sulphur detoxifies the prussic acid in the rumen and liver, and providing cattle with a sulphur supplement will minimise the problems that are associated with prussic acid. Also forage sorghums generally have low levels of sulphur. Since sulphur is needed to meet the cattle’s requirements and detoxify the prussic acid, there is a greater chance of cattle becoming sulphur deficient where high levels of prussic acid are present. Top Forage contains 8% sulphur. This allows sufficient sulphur to detoxify the prussic acid in the rumen and the liver and meet the cattle’s requirements. As prussic acid suppresses appetite and intake, feeding Top Forage will increase consumption and give greater weight gains while grazing forage sorghum. The consumptions is 300g/head/day
• Top Legume: is specifically designed to be fed on lush green pastures and crops, such as lucerne and clovers, where there is a high risk that productivity and health will be affected by bloat. Top Legume combines the benefits of slow breakdown protein meals and magnesium to slow down the rate of passage in the rumen and reduce scours, allowing the stock to make the most possible out of the highly productive pasture available to them. The consumptions is 300g/head/day

• Top Wet: is suitable for stock grazing green pastures (native) and some cereal crops. This product is ideal for females in peak lactation or growing cattle with high phosphorous requirements. Top Wet is essential for stock in phosphorus deficient country or where bone chewing is observed in cattle on lush green feed. It contains 9% phosphorus for mineral balancing in phosphorus deficient country. It contains low protein meals and is formulated specifically to replace skeletal calcium and phosphorus reserves in breeders and improve bone and muscle growth in young cattle. The consumptions is 100g/head/day

Top Country Green supplements aim to correct deficiencies that the green feed may have in relation to minerals and protein content and slow the passage rate through the rumen. You could expect weight gain up to 200 to 300g/head/day on top of what they would naturally be achieving on the pasture/crop.

As you can see, it is very affordable to supplement phosphorus during the green season with the added benefit of heavier calves at weaning, improved breeder condition and potentially higher conception rates.

Top Country will custom make your supplements to meet the needs of your land, stock, season and favourite outcomes. If you would like to learn more about Top Country green season supplements range, please get in touch with Top Country and speak to one of our qualified Livestock nutritionists today!

— Tamara Freitas, livestock nutritionist