How feasible is growing grass to raise cattle? Methods and profitability analysis

AbstractYou can choose to grow 1-2 high-yield forage grasses, and supplement them with some other types of forage grass, such as high-protein alfalfa. Generally, harvest is needed when forage yield and nutritional value are maximized; over-harvesting and leaving grass uncut for a long time will both affect forage yield and nutritional value. The profit per head of cattle is about 2252 yuan. According to practical experience, growing grass to raise cattle has many advantages: it can produce high-quality and safe milk and beef, and combining planting with raising lowers costs and is more environmentally friendly.

I. Methods of growing grass to raise cattle

1. Generally, growing grass to raise cattle mainly involves letting the cattle graze by themselves after harvesting. If there is a large area of barren hills or grassland, forage grass can be planted to let the cattle graze freely. Cheap land is the first essential factor for growing grass to raise cattle, because growing grass on good farmland is not cost-effective, and there are many types of forage grass.

2. Since cattle raising requires a great deal of roughage, it is necessary to mainly choose high-yield forage grasses. Such grasses include sweet elephant grass, imperial bamboo grass, giant Juncao grass, Mexican corn grass, Sudan grass, Gaodan grass, etc. To diversify the feed and make beef cattle nutrition more balanced, you can choose to grow 1-2 high-yield forage grasses, and supplement them with some other types of forage grass, such as high-protein alfalfa.

3. There are many online sellers of grass seed, but it is recommended to buy from a local seed station, or buy grass seed that fellow cattle raisers are already growing and that has stable yield. Harvesting is mostly done manually or with a hand-held mower. Where vehicles can pass, grass can also be hauled by vehicle; where vehicles cannot pass, it can only be carried on people's backs.

4. Harvesting needs to be done when forage yield and nutritional value are maximized. Over-harvesting and leaving grass uncut for a long time will both affect forage yield and nutritional value. Fresh forage, apart from containing more trace elements, is not higher in nutritional value than straw feed, so it can only be used as roughage.

5. When feeding, it also needs to be fed together with concentrate feed. For improved breeds of beef cattle, a little more concentrate feed can be added; for native cattle, a little less concentrate feed can be added. When the forage has too much moisture, it needs to be properly dried in the air before feeding.

II. Profitability of growing grass to raise cattle

Generally, the base covers an area of 600 mu, with a building area of 6000 sq m and 600 beef cattle on hand. Fresh grass is the main feed for the beef cattle. Calves are 200 kg per head, and each head is fed 20 kg of green feed per day. After 460 days of fattening, they are sold at a body weight of 450 kg at a price of 26 yuan/kg, and the profit per head of cattle is 2252 yuan.

III. How feasible is growing grass to raise cattle

1. According to practical experience, growing grass to raise cattle has many advantages. First, it can produce high-quality and safe milk and beef. Grass is milk, and grass is meat. High-quality forage grass is the foundation for dairy and beef cattle to stay healthy and maintain good production performance. Generally, cattle are raised in barns mainly on grass with a small amount of concentrate, forming a “high-quality forage grass + low concentrate” diet structure, which is more in line with the physiological habits and nutritional needs of cattle.

2. Nutrients can be converted more into milk and beef, and combining planting with raising lowers costs and is more environmentally friendly. A cattle farm with supporting forage grassland can reduce or avoid transporting grass over thousands or even tens of thousands of li, help reduce the use of concentrate, greatly lower feeding costs, and at the same time more effectively absorb the manure produced by the cattle farm, forming a grass - cattle - manure - grass planting-and-raising cycle model.