What is in this article?:
- Cattlemen stretching high-priced feed supplies
- Stretching available feed
• Short crop supplies and tight crop forecasts will play a critical role in feed inventory management for livestock farms.
Higher commodity prices are the result of very tight grain supplies with prices showing volatility seldom seen in our domestic grain business.
Livestock farms rely on growing all or part of their feed and forage needs each season. The remaining balance of the feed and forage needs are then purchased for their beef and dairy cattle.
These purchased feeds are becoming more of a challenge with tightening feed supplies.
Most cattle and livestock farms have been making adjustments to their feed rations over the past several months to take advantage of any and all feed sources that allow them to maintain production while lowering the cost of the feeds being fed.
One example, for many farms, is shifting some of the corn grain out of the ration and replacing it with less expensive wheat.
As harvest wraps up, we are currently seeing a major difference between the price of corn and wheat, of which either can be used as a protein and energy sources within nutritional limits.
Any farm shifting from one feed source to another should consult with a nutritional expert to stay within acceptable nutritional guidelines.