Poor Hay Doesn’t Have to Equal Poor Livestock Performance

Dec 04, 2025

By Garth Ruff

We know that hay quality across much of Ohio is poor this year. Out of 180 samples submitted as part of an OSU eBarns program from 29 counties, only one of those samples met the energy or TDN requirements for a 1200 pound lactating beef cow. For sheep and goats, that means that the forage is poorer yet. As we head towards winter having a plan in place to maintain animals on pasture will be key.

I have these types of discussions with producers fairly often, and usually (not always) supplementing additional energy into the diet seems to aid in rectifying the situation.

As managers we must remember that livestock utilize nutrients in waste not, want not hierarchy. Think of an order of operations where Maintenance > Development > Growth > Lactation > Reproduction > Fattening.

Source : osu.edu

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