Every year my family and I show dairy cattle at ourcountyand regional fairs.It’s a lot of fun and satisfying hard work. It’s alsoanexcellentopportunity for the public to see our cowsin personand askquestions.One of the most common questions I hear is “Why do your cows look so skinny?”
My first response is that cows are athletes. Like athletes, theycome in differentshapes and sizes that fit with what they do.
A COW IS NOT JUST A COW
There are two main types of cows:dairy and beef.Cows come in hundreds of different breeds, just like dogs do. Different breeds look differentwith different attributes. A greyhound doesn’t look like a mastiff and vice versa.Greyhounds are well-known to beaerodynamicracers,while mastiffs are strongprotectors.
The same thing applies with cattle.Dairy cows are known for making milk, andtheyare lighter-set like a greyhound. They’realsolean-muscled, much like a sprinter.They’re not skinny;they’re fit!They use most of the energy in their feedto produce milk.Fun fact:theaverage U.S.dairy cowmakes about8 gallons per day or 2,500 gallons per year!
One of the most populardairy breedsis theHolstein (large, black, and white), whichgive more milk than otherdairycows. Another populardairycow istheJersey (small, fawn-colored)–mypersonal favorite,whichproducesmilk that is high in butterfat and protein.Jerseymilk isgreat for making cheese!
Beef cattle on the other hand are known for producing high-quality meat.Theyare heavier-set, like a mastiff. They arealsoheavily muscled, much like a power-lifter. They’re not fat;they’re buff!While dairy cows do producesomebeef, beef cattle are really good at converting their feedinto muscle with a bit of fat. Beef cows still make milk, but much less than dairy cows,atabout1 ½ gallonsper day.
One of the most popularbeef breedsistheBlackAngus(solid black), which are good mothers andextra efficient at converting feed to high-quality meat. Another popular beef cattle breed is the Charolais(white, or creamy white), which have highcold tolerance.
COW CHOW
Making sure cows have awell-rounded,healthy diet is a top priorityfor farmers and ranchers.Likeathletes,cows have specially designed diets to optimize health, well-being, and performance.Animal nutritionistsare the sports nutritionists of the cow world. Dairy cows put most of their calories into milk rather than fat. Our dairy cows eat a lot of feedevery day, but instead of converting this to muscle and fat like a beef steer, theyput this energy into making milk.
Not only areourcowsathletesbut they’realsosuperheroes. With the help of animal nutritionists, farmers are able to incorporate thebyproductsof other industries into the diet of their cattle. Cows are the ultimateupcyclers.They take inedible byproductsthat would otherwise go to waste and upgradethemintonutritioushigh-quality meat and milk. This helps to increase thesustainabilityof both dairy and beef cattle.
By-products make up a large portion of a cow’s diet.The Food and DrugAdministration(FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulate by-product feeds for safety and nutrition. Thesebyproducts oftenvary by region. Florida’scitruscommunityprovidespulp fromorange and grapefruit juiceproduction for cattle feed. Citrus pulp ishigh inenergy and calcium, and verywell-likedby cows.Other common by-product feeds include almond hulls, which are a great source of fiber,cotton seeds, from cotton production, brewer’s grains,and distiller grains, which are both high in protein.My dairy cows particularly like beet pulp, from sugar beet production with added molasses, which is high in niacin,fromsugar processing.
GETTING ENOUGH GROCERIES
How do we make sure our cows are not too skinny?My family owns both dairy and beef cattle, so for both,we use a tool called body condition scoring (BCS)to make sure our cows are at the idealweight for their body type. Body Condition Scoring is based on science to make sure we are feeding our cowsproperlyfor optimal health.Dairy cattle body conditionscoring goes from 1 to 5, with 1 being toothin, anideal score of 3, and 5 being too fat with increments of 0.25.Beef cattle body conditionscoring goes from 1 to 9, with 1-3being too thin, 4 being borderline, 5-7 being ideal, and 8-9 being too fat.
A cow that is too thin or too fat canmore easily runinto health complications.Obesity or being underweight can be problematic in both dairy and beef cattle, just like in humans.What is considered too thin or too fat differs between dairy and beef cattle.A dairy cow that looks like a beef cow is too fat,while a beef cow that looks like a dairy cow is too thin.Body condition scoring and working with our animal nutritionists helps to ensure that our cows are correctly nourished and in excellent health!
COW HAIR CARE
Another fun difference between dairy and beef cattle is how we prepare their hair for shows. We style their hair differently to emphasizewhat we are looking for in each.We train our beef cattle’s hair to poof.Beef cattle are very fluffy, which adds to their size to makethem look even bulkier. In dairy cattle,we give them all the equivalent of a buzz-cut, called body clipping. We leave the hair long along their top and style it into what looks like a mohawk to emphasizeangles and allow the judge to better see the cow.
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
We care about the health andwell-beingof both our dairy and beef cows. We take our ethical duties as the stewards of our animals very seriously. It’s important that we do right by our animals and by our customers because it’s the right thing to do.
Next time you’re at your county or state fair, take a trip through the barns. If you have any questions or concerns about how your food is produced, ask a farmer.We’re the experts in what we do.You could say we’re outstanding in our field.
All posts are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily represent the view of the Animal Ag Alliance.
