Every story has a number: 30%

They impact everything from calf health and profitability to performance and final carcass quality.

But when you’re adding it all up, there’s another number that is “critically important” when it comes to nutrition, says Kim Vonnahme, of North Dakota State University.

30%.

“If we look at a steer from conception to consumption, approximately 30% of that steer’s lifetime is being spent in the uterus,” she says. The placenta accounts for almost a third of its total cumulative nutrition.

Stop and think about that for a minute.

A third of a calf’s nutrition has nothing to do with what you put in front of it. I hadn’t really thought of that until Kim mentioned it during a phone interview. Perhaps you hadn’t either.

Of course, that’s all based on averages, but it roughly translates to: Cowherd nutrition isn’t about the cows, or rather, it’s not just about the cows.

Last winter, Allison Myer, of the University of Missouri gave me a few other significant numbers on the topic.

It can be hard to keep up with the herds energy needs because in the last 90 days of pregnancy, fetal growth takes about 30% of the total requirements, she said.

“That is often when we’re also battling things like really cold weather and poor forage quality for spring-calving herds, or really hot weather and poor forge quality for fall-calving herds,” she said.

Hard, but not impossible. It takes planning ahead and preparing for emergencies.

And since many spring-calving herds are about ZERO days away (give or take, of course) from that third trimester, it wouldn’t hurt to give it some thought today.

May your bottom line be filled with black ink,

Miranda

We’re over halfway through our month-long blogging adventure, “Every number has a story.” Catch up here:

Day one: $6.93

Day two: 2.5 million

Day three: $204.10

Day four: 12.1 million

Day five: 11/13

Day six: 8 million

Day seven: 139

Day eight: $39

Day nine: 30.1%

Day 10: 120 million

Day 11: -2.26

Day 12: 12 to 15 minutes 

Day 13: 30%

Day 14: 32 million

Day 15: $154,000

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