Farmers encouraged to stop barn yard thefts

By Ken Johnston
Editor

While there were no flashing lights or sirens blaring, listening to guest speaker Tom Hamilton at the RRCA annual meeting last week, one would have thought they were witness to a crime scene.
Using a humourous approach to a usually mundane topic, Hamilton, a Beef Program Lead with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, told the cattlemen they may have criminal activity on their farms.
Hamilton alluded to cows being criminals; accusing them of stealing feed from farmers. In actual fact using research that he has done over the years, he discovered that some feeding practises and equipment result in lost or wasted feed.
Citing his first experience as an Ag. Rep. and a farm in eastern Ontario, he said as a graduate of the Univ. of Guelph Ag. Program, he felt he knew it all. “Using my computer I helped a farm calculate how much hay they would need for their cows over the winter.” After Christmas he received a call from them saying they were worried that they were going to run out of feed. “I said that was impossible, the computer says so.”
So Hamilton went to the farm and looked to see if someone had been there to steal the hay and they could find no evidence of that. Later he discovered that the steel round hay bale feeder was homemade and was actually the problem.
Cows are very good at sifting through their feed and picking out the best feed. The feeder on that farm allowed them to bring the feed out and drop the undesirable feed on the ground. They would then lay down on the wasted feed and pack it down or defecate on it after their nap, hence making it wasted food.
So using university students Hamilton coordinated some physical research. They observed cattle using four of the most common types of feeders and how the cattle reacted to them. They discovered a Ring Feeder with slanted feeder slots worked the best. It only had 3.5% wastage. The Cone Feeder had 6.1%, Trailer Feeder 11.4% and Cradle Feeder 14.6%.
Opposed to no feeder at all and putting out an entire week’s feed of an unrolled round bale saw as much as 43% wastage.
Hamilton said that if a farmer wants to put out the feed without a feeder the best option is to do a small amount every day. “That way the cows compete, seeing there is very little feed and want to get their share.”
He asked if the RRCA members know how much their cows are eating. He said that a 1,300 lb. dry cow, pregnant should eat about 27 lbs. of hay per day. “Beef cows need to eat about 2% of their body weight. I challenge you to figure out what they need versus what you are putting out.”
He said cows do not plan very well for the future, so it is up to humans to reduce feed waste. “Do your part. Stop Barnyard Theft.”