DeKalb Times

Early adopters find unique approaches to alternative cow housing systems

 Rising property prices, bad weather, and shrinking pasture acreage challenge Illinois ranchers and limit herd sizes. But what happens when cow and calf producers move cattle into open-air buildings for long periods? 

That is what University of Illinois staff and Extension researchers asked early adopters of alternative cow housing systems. Under-roof options, semi-confinement, or extended drylot housing of beef cows are not new strategies, but Travis Meteer, Illinois Extension commercial agriculture educator, says he was getting more questions about how it affected management and herd health.

“Many producers adjust cow housing during drought and limited forage availability as well as for winter feeding and during forage dormancy,” says Meteer. “The key differences from traditional management that we’re examining are how long cows are housed in the semi-confined areas and how the management needs change during extended periods in a building.”

Cows that are housed on pasture are subject to variable weather conditions and forage quality differences, while cows that are housed in alternative systems are generally provided with a consistent, balanced ration that supports their maintenance and sometimes over maintenance.

In the summer of 2022, Meteer and undergraduate intern Sadie Drayer surveyed 20 producers with herds ranging from 50 to more than 400 cows about housing design, technology, herd health, manure management, cover crop use, and feed storage.

Their results show that most farms are newer to using alternative housing. How long ranchers kept cattle in a building varied. Only 25% kept cows under a roof longer than six months. Some producers rotated groups of cows in and out of the building, while others housed other animals on the farm such as feeder calves or fed cattle. Many of these operators housed cows in pasture and on crop residue for the part of the year when they were not in the building. Most of the respondents, 80%, used cover crops for grazing, wet-baling, or chopping and bagging for forage. The ability to harvest forage from cover crops made them a commonly used strategy by the respondents.

Original source can be found here