Creep Grazing vs. Creep Feeding: Which one is right for you?
As fall begins creeping in, so do thoughts about selling calves and wondering if you’ll meet your target weight. One traditional strategy cattle producers use during the summer is creep feeding to add additional pounds before weaning. However, another option that isn’t talked about as often is creep grazing. Mark Johnson – Professor of Animal and Food Sciences at Oklahoma State University – discusses the pros and cons of using creep grazing versus creep feeders as well as what producers need to consider before creep grazing during Season 7, Episode 34 of the Casual Cattle Conversations Podcast.
Johnson has a strong agriculture background as he was raised on a centennial farm in Missouri. His experiences growing up around cattle are what piqued his interest in helping beef cattle producers and led him to the career he has today. He is passionate about helping cattlemen and women reduce input costs and find ways to increase the value of the products they sell. That’s where creep grazing comes in.
The purpose of both creep feeding and creep grazing are the same – continue to provide a high-quality feed source for calves as grass quality declines in the late summer months. Johnson said, “Calves might have been able to gain really well in May and June. But as we get to later summer, the protein content of that grass drops. It's going to work for the cows, but if we did something for the calves that was a little better-quality forage, we could keep those gains up and permit them to grow a little better.” The key difference between the two methods lies in what this feed source is and how it is made accessible to calves. Creep feeding includes a separate feeder and typically grain as a feed source. Creep grazing requires fencing off a separate piece of pasture with high-quality forage and installing a creep gate. Providing access to high-quality forage for creep grazing can occur in several ways. It could mean fertilizing a specific part of the pasture, planting cover crops or planting other grass species that will naturally perform better during the late summer months.
Like any management practice, multiple factors impact the return on investment seen from both creep feeding and creep grazing. However, creep grazing tends to be the more cost-effective option for many producers. “There are exceptions to this statement, but I think anytime we are growing calves, and we can help them gain by using grass and forage that they are harvesting themselves, as opposed to feeding harvested forage or grain-based ration, we tend to be more cost-effective in about all cases,” said Johnson. Calves might not gain as much as if they were on a 14% growing ration, but they will still put on added pounds and the risk of them getting too fleshy is lower. With creep grazing producers also don’t have to worry about feed waste and spoilage from wind, rain, wildlife or calves. The main challenge that comes with creep grazing is the infrastructure component. While you don’t need a feeder, you need a fence and creep gate. Producers also need to be cognizant of how these management practices fits their current grazing plan.
If you are wondering if creep grazing is right for you, take an honest look at your calves and how they are performing this summer. Have you tapped into their full growth potential or could they use a few more pounds? Is this a pattern that occurs regularly? If so, creep grazing might be an option worth exploring by talking to your local extension expert, nutrition team or even local producers who have done it themselves.
