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Fall is catching its stride and both corn and beans are starting to come out of the field. When crop fields open up for grazing behind harvest, what can be expected from the remaining residue?
Both bean and corn stubble can provide grazing value for animals turned out on harvested crop fields, however, if forced to choose between the two, corn residue is the easy winner.
While beans themselves are high in protein and fat, the residue doesn’t live up to the grain. Soybean pods and stems are only four-six percent crude protein and 35-45 percent TDN, well below maintenance levels for even dry cows. Bean leaves are higher in nutrient value, but by the time harvest rolls around, most have been shed and are already starting to decompose. Those that aren’t are shattered and torn up by the combine and can’t be counted on to bring much to the table.
When grazing soybean stubble, animals will seek out the more nutritious beans. In small amounts, these can be a great source of protein and energy, but the high fat content we mentioned earlier can cause issues. Too much fat in the rumen can interfere with the digestive process, especially in young calves who haven’t developed full rumen function yet. Keep an eye out for piles of spilled beans and clean them up before allowing animals to graze. By comparison, corn residue packs a bit more punch than bean stubble. While crude protein content can be similar, around five-six percent, the big difference comes with energy. TDN levels of corn residue are typically around 50-55 percent, enough to provide maintenance energy for a dry cow under normal conditions. Add a bit of spilled or dropped grain to the mix and most cattle can be perfectly content on corn residue for a while.
To figure out how to stock corn residue we first look at the grain produced. Studies have shown that we can assume that for each bushel of corn produced, there will be 8 lbs. of consumable forage. For simplicity’s sake, if we have a 200 bushel per acre field, this will mean about 1600 lbs. of consumable dry matter. On lower quality forages like corn residue, we can assume an animal can eat about 1% of its body weight daily, so for a 1,300 lb. cow, about 26 lbs. If we put this all together, that comes out to 61 cow days per acre. We can make this even simpler, and use a rule of thumb that with every 100 bushels of grain, plan for 30 grazing cow days, per acre.
Just like with the beans, a bit of spilled grain in corn fields is a nice bonus, but too much can cause problems like acidosis. Clean up any large spills and if you have an area with a lot of downed corn, allow animals to only graze a bit at a time to limit intake. If an entire field has downed corn, work animals up to a high grain diet slowly to allow the rumen to adjust to the change in feed.
When it comes to crop residues, corn stalks are where the real value lies. Assume, roughly 30 cow grazing days per acre for each 100 bushels produced, and graze to meet your goals. Utilized right, crop residues canbe a key and relatively inexpensive part of feeding your beef herd.
—Ben Beckman is a beef systems Extension Educator serving northeast Nebraska. He is based out of the Cedar County Extension office in Hartington. You can reach him by phone: (402) 234-6821 or
