They aren’t calico cows, and it’s not cotton candy. But many
Georgia cattle are grazing
cotton fields, quietly munching leftovers.

“With the market situation and low calf prices, we’re looking
for ways to cut our
production costs,” said Robert Stewart, an animal scientist with
the University of
Georgia Extension Service.

“One of the practices we recommend,” he said, “is to take
advantage of crop residues.”
Cotton fields, in particular, provide low-cost feed for beef
cattle.

Beef prices are just coming out of an 18-year low, Stewart said.
Because of that,
farmers must manage costs carefully to keep making a profit.
That includes using
alternative feed sources.

“Once the cotton is picked, there is quite a bit of residue out
there,” he said. “The lint
and cottonseed that’s left, as well as a lot of the grass around
the field edges, make
pretty good cattle feed for this time of year.”

One acre of residue provides enough feed for one cow to graze
for two to four weeks.

Field residue provides about the same nutrition as low- to
medium-quality hay, Stewart
said. So it does more than just fill their stomachs. It provides
enough nutrition for even
pregnant cows expected to calve later this winter.

Stewart tells farmers to use common sense when putting cows into
cotton fields. The
cows need access to a free-choice mineral block, he said. And to
know when they’ve
eaten all the good leftovers, just put a round bale of hay in
the field.

“When they eat up the hay,” he said, “it’s time to move them
into another field.”

Wilcox County farmer Don Wood put his cows into harvested cotton
fields around the
middle of December.

“It’s good feed for them,” he said. “And it comes in at a time
when the pastures are
going out and before we have winter grazing. So the timing is
excellent.”

Stewart tells cattle farmers to make sure the cotton field is
fenced to keep cows where
they belong. The cows also need a good supply of fresh water, he
said.

Many Georgia cattle farmers are choosing to keep their cows
until they will bring more
money at the market. Keeping cows costs about 50 cents to 70
cents per day for each.

If a farmer gets 30 days’ grazing (in a harvested cotton field),
Stewart said, he may
realize $20, and maybe as much as $30, savings per cow.

“There are some economic benefits to using these crop residues,”
he said. “The
primary benefit is to lower production costs by using feeds that
otherwise may not be
available.”