EXTENSION NOTES Winter grass and culled vegetables for cows – Daytona Beach News-Journal

Wendy Mussoline, UF/IFAS Multi-County Agriculture Agent| The Daytona Beach News-Journal

The winter season is upon us, and that means just about everything except the ryegrass has turned brown. Ryegrass is the beautiful green patch that David Cleggs cows are munching on along the east side of County Road 305, just south of the 304/305 intersection in Bunnell.

Most beef cows are either pregnant or with calf and their nutritional needs are the highest this time of year. Without proper nutrition, pregnancies fail and lactating mothers cannot keep up with the required milk production to support a healthy calf. Successful cattlemen need to know how to grow forages all year round and so, as Walton Cowart admits, they are first and foremost considered grass farmers.

Some common cool-season forages grown in our area include ryegrass, oats, cereal rye, pearl millet and clover. Cattlemen that may be interested in reviewing UFs most recent list of recommended varieties should look up the EDIS publication titled 2020 Cool-Season Forage Variety Recommendations for Florida. Dr. Ann Blount is the lead author but contributing UF Forage Specialists from all over the state have provided their two cents. The document provides a description of each forage type, specific varieties recommended, planting dates, seeding rates and lots of practical instruction. If you are not computer savvy, you are welcome to swing by the UF/IFAS Flagler County Extension Office and wed be glad to print you a copy. Cool season forages should be planted around mid-October through mid-November, but its never too early to start planning for next year.

Another option for hungry cows in the wintertime is culled vegetables. An outstanding opportunity for local cattlemen is to fill their trucks with culled cabbage from the Hollar & Greene packing shed on County Road 305. When they are packing cabbage, the conveyor belt is designed to automatically dump non-marketable cabbage heads and excess outer leaves into a dump truck or trailer. Yesterday I was watching those trailers fill up in just a matter of minutes. The drawback is that cabbage consists mostly (90%) of water and cows often get full before they tap into the real nutritional benefits. With 90% water, that means that 10% is dry matter. Within the dry matter fraction, it contains lots of crude protein (24%) and exceptionally high total digestible nutrients (85%) compared with common forage grasses. While it should not serve as the entire meal, it provides supplemental calories and nutrition.

Another fantastic resource is the new Comarco Eggplant Processing Plant in Putnam County. They generate approximately 16,000 pounds of culled eggplant, skins and tops every week. The nutritional benefits are higher and more quickly accessible since eggplant consists of only 50% water. The dry matter component of the raw eggplant constituents has 17% crude protein and 70% total digestible nutrients.

For a list of other culled vegetables and their nutritional benefits for cows, consult the UF EDIS publication titled Utilization of Cull Vegetables as Feedstuffs for Cattle.

Read this article:
EXTENSION NOTES Winter grass and culled vegetables for cows - Daytona Beach News-Journal