Beef Magazine is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

See All Animal Health »

See All Our Events »

Denise Schwab, ISU extension beef specialist | Aug 11, 2022

It’s hard to think about winter feeding on hot summer days, but now is the time to begin that planning process. High feed costs coupled with high fuel costs makes extended grazing options important to consider. Many cattlemen in northern Iowa tell me winter grazing isn’t an option, but with a little planning now extending grazing a month or more can be done anywhere. Here are a few options to consider.

These are just a few options to extend the grazing season and reduce stored feed costs. Remember for every week we keep cows grazing offsets $13 per cow in feed at $100/ton hay plus the price of diesel used to deliver that hay. For many operations, that’s about a 2% reduction in total cow costs for every week grazing is extended. If you need additional help in calculating winter grazing needs, contact your regional beef specialist.

Related: When should I clip? Or shouldn't I?

Source: Iowa State University, who is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset. 

More information about text formats