Representing more than 50 percent of the input costs in U.S. cattle production, feed must be harvested, stored and fed properly in order for maximum nutrients to be passed onto calves in the feedlot or cows supplemented on pasture.

Quality feed is a result of proper planning through the entire year.

Fred Poss, owner of Poss Farms in Hugo, Colorado, is one example of a cattleman who has remained profitable by finding what works best for him during crop growth, feed storage and ration formulation.

Poss runs 400 cows on pasture, manages a 1,500-head stocker calf feedlot and grows 1,000 calves on wheat pasture in eastern Colorado along with his wife, two sons and one employee.

With routinely dry conditions, the team manages 24,000 acres of farmland and 17,000 acres of grass, so that they can grow feed to care for both the cow-calf herd, the feedlot and the pastured calves.

In an area where feedlots are uncommon and irrigation is minimal, Poss opened the facility in 2001 with a goal for profitability and an open mind for finding the best solutions.

“My goal was to do what feedlots in irrigation country can do,” he says. “You cannot afford to buy alfalfa, ship it out here and be profitable, so we need to grow our own feed.

We don’t irrigate, so we need to do things a bit differently. We knew from the start that the feed we grow has to be used wisely.”

Prior to beginning the feedlot, the Poss family primarily focused on the pasture-based cow-calf operation.

Calves were weaned and then grown on wheat stubble fields for optimal field utilization before being sold at 1 year old. Poss says he worked with a feedlot in Stratton, Colorado, when he began the feedlot.

“We thought the feedlot would be a good way to raise the calves from our cow herd,” he says. “We began to do well with those calves, so we started adding calves from our neighbors’ ranches to the feedlot.”

Poss rented additional acres and formulated a ration that worked best for his calves as he expanded to the current 2,500-head feedlot.

“The feedlot has been very good for us,” he says. “Without a doubt, in the last few years, our cattle operation has been very important to the farm. It takes the farm to run the feedlot, but it’s the feedlot that keeps us profitable.”

Financial success begins with quality feed stored so it’s available throughout the year. Calves in the facility average a 2.6 to 2.9 pound average daily gain with a ration of 45 percent corn silage, 25 percent wet distillers grain, 25 percent high-moisture corn and 15 percent dry land millet-sorghum hay along with a custom protein mineral mix.

“Since feeding this ration, we’ve seen good growth,” Poss says. “We grow all of our feed except for the wet distillers grain (which increases the protein in the ration), so we can adjust the ration based on our feed quality.”

Calves are fed to approximately 850 pounds before being sent to the feedlot in Stratton where they are fattened and marketed.

The quicker the calves reach the 850-pound weight, the more efficient the operation is, so Poss relies on quality feeds to accomplish that goal.

Growing crops in the dry climate of eastern Colorado without irrigation has also required adjustments.

Moisture contents are typically low in the corn silage and high-moisture corn when first harvested due to the dry conditions in eastern Colorado.

To boost moisture levels, water from storage tanks at the feedlot is often pumped onto the crop during harvest or mixed in as the producers roll the corn.

For high-moisture corn, Poss typically begins with corn at 30 percent moisture.

“In our area, the moisture can dramatically change in a matter of two to three days,” he says. “We’ll then add water as corn is being rolled to get the moisture content back to the 27 to 28 percent mark.”

Once the feed is harvested and the moisture content is adjusted, proper storage is essential to maintaining the quality of the feed throughout the year.

“Feed quality is important for our cattle and our finances,” Poss says. “Our silage is worth about $75 per ton, so we need to protect it from mold and mycotoxins from the time it is harvested until it is fed. We tried almost everything to keep our piles protected until we found what works best for us.”

Originally, Poss did not cover the feed piles. This strategy resulted in significant losses in feed. Next, he tried covering the pile with black plastic.

Poss says the loss on the pile was still about 12 inches (6 inches completely lost and 6 inches of poor-quality transition feed).

“That much loss adds up,” Poss says. “Plus, the quality of the feed overall is less when the feed is not protected.”

The feed protection option that has worked best for the operation is oxygen-barrier film. Poss began using it four years ago and has seen significant results.

“Each year since we started using [oxygen-barrier film] on the pile, there has been virtually no visible spoilage in the entire pile – from the time we start feeding to the bottom of the pile,” he says.

“When we uncover it, the corn silage and high-moisture corn looks just like the day we put it up.”

Poss makes two piles each year: one is corn silage and one is high-moisture corn. Each pile contains about 2,000 to 2,400 tons and is approximately 100 feet wide by 150 feet long and 12 feet tall.

“We try to get a pile covered [with oxygen-barrier film] as soon as possible after harvest,” Poss says

Efficiency in covering the pile is essential as Poss also plants wheat and bales hay in the fall.

“Once we get a pile covered and protected, we don’t need to worry about the feed,” he says.

“We can go out and uncover a week to 10 days’ worth of feed and the quality is the same as the day we harvested. The feed is the color that we like to see all the way through and there’s no mold.”

The sustained feed quality is a leading factor in the profitability of the feedlot and the cow-calf herd.

This year, Poss was able to feed high-quality corn silage and high-moisture corn to his stocker calves and to supplement the cow-calf herd with corn silage because the feed was stored and covered properly.

“At $75 a ton, it doesn’t take very many lost tons of feed to cause a problem,” Poss says. “In the beef industry, we’re feeding high-priced cattle high-priced feed. It makes sense to do as good of job as we can to protect our feed.” 

Jeff Hoffelt is a media relations executive at Filament Marketing, LLC.

For additional information on oxygen- barrier film, contact Silostop or call (866) 912-0358.

PHOTO
To properly store forage for his feedlot and cow-calf herd, Fred Poss builds feed piles measuring 100 feet wide by 150 feet long and 12 feet tall each year. The team covers the piles with oxygen-barrier film and measures virtually no feed loss from harvest to feedout. Pictured from left to right are members of the team: Scott Poss, Fred Poss, Karson Harryman and Eric Poss. Photo courtesy of Silostop.