Joe Davis is a man for details. And when it came to his South Carolina cattle operation, he was a stickler about everything. His health program, genetics and facilities were first-class. His Westminster pastures were gorgeous. They were soil-sampled, fertilized and practically weed-free. Davis' Angus-Brangus cross cows were knee-deep in lush green grass.
So why were the cows too thin? Why weren't they getting pregnant?
In 2004 his herd's pregnancy rate was 75%. By 2005 that rate had dropped to 65%. He feared it might just keep going down.
If you want to know how to do something right, talk to a guy who did it wrong and figured out how to turn it around. That guy is Joe Davis.
On forage quality
When I knew I was going in the wrong direction, I started researching. I read an article by Dr. John Andrae, forage specialist at Clemson University. Then I called him. He came out and brought Dr. Carl Hoveland, a retired forage specialist from the University of Georgia. They told me about the fungus in Kentucky 31 fescue and explained how it hurts cattle performance and reproduction. They explained that this fungus, or endophyte, concentrates in the seed head of the plant. Now, when fescue starts to head out, we clip it. We also started to convert pastures to Max Q.
On maximizing pasture
I learned that I should divide pastures. So I created 2- and 3-acre paddocks and began moving my cows every two days. There are usually around 20 cows to a group, plus a bull during breeding season. This lets me graze more cattle on the same amount of grass, and keep grass at maximum heights for the best energy.
On stockpiling forage
The next logical step was to start stockpiling fescue. We stockpiled all 80 acres of the Max Q and 35 acres of the Kentucky 31. It's a process that starts around the end of August. We graze or clip the areas we want to stockpile, and then we put out about 70 units of nitrogen. In October we sent forage samples to Clemson. The Max Q was 67% total digestible nutrients, the Kentucky 31 was 72% TDN. We wintered 60 cows on stockpiled fescue. We didn't feed any hay or supplement, and the cows were in the best body condition ever. Their Body Condition Scores were all 6s and 7s.
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| Davis' goal is a 95% pregnancy rate on cows and 90% on heifers. Photos By Becky Mills |
On nutritional needs for reproduction
At the same time I was working to improve grazing quality, I learned a mature cow can eat 32 pounds of grass a day, while a heifer can only eat 25 pounds. A heavy milking, 2-year-old heifer with a three-month-old calf needs 14 to 15 pounds of total digestible nutrients. At certain times of the year, grass can't meet their needs. So here I had bought all these young cows, and even though they had all the grass they could eat, their reproductive system was shutting down. It was because they didn't have enough total digestible nutrients. I started supplementing the first- and second-calf cows with corn gluten.
On getting the weight right
Replacement heifers are weighed every 45 to 55 days to track gains. We start this at weaning. Those that wean close to 650 pounds will get only stockpiled Max Q fescue. The others get 5 pounds of corn gluten three times a week. The goal is to get them all to gain at a steady rate that puts them at 65% of their mature body weight by breeding. Through the 45-day breeding season we supplement all of them with corn gluten. We also give them two shots, 10 days apart, of Lutylase, a prostaglandin, to synchronize them and get as many bred in the first few days of the season as possible.
On turning it all around
Last year it all began to come together. The pregnancy rate on our 110 cows and heifers was 87%. On the first-calf heifers alone it was 95%. This year we haven't pregnancy tested yet, but we've only seen two cows back in heat. This is with a 65-day breeding season for the cows and a 45-day season for the heifers. Weaning weights were up 100 pounds from September 2005 to 2006. When we vaccinated our calves this spring, some weighed 400 pounds at three months. Before, the only 400-pound-plus calves we saw were at weaning.
Where I go for information I rely on the University of Georgia and Clemson University, the University of Nebraska, North Dakota State University, Beef magazine, Google.com and NOAA.gov for its drought monitor. I also call on Dr. Doug Ensley, the University of Georgia large-animal veterinarian. And I use Cow Sense Herd Management Software by Midwest MicroSystems to help me make good decisions through the year.