An accurate estimate of feed intake is a critical element in determining a cow’s nutrient requirements at different stages of production. It is also necessary to establish appropriate stocking rate and carrying capacity for a given land base.
About a year ago, I shared our group’s work to evaluate and update estimates of feed intake for beef cows. One of the popular sources for feed intake estimates is a table published by Hibberd and Thrift in 1982. I provided the original table in the September 16, 2024 Cow Calf Corner Newsletter.
In those guidelines, feed intake is expressed as a percentage of body weight and intake estimates are sensitive to diet quality, stage of production and cow body weight. As mentioned in the previous article, the 43-year-old Hibberd and Thrift guidelines overestimated feed intake of gestating cows by about 3 lb. per day. However, the estimates for lactating cows were reasonably accurate.
We used the more recent dataset, along with Megan Gross’s validation work, to refine the original estimates. The updated guidelines presented in Table 1 more accurately represent expected feed intake in beef cows under standard production conditions.
| Table 1. Feed and forage intake in beef cows | |||
| | | Dry matter intake, % of body weight | |
| Diet Quality | Diet TDN, % of Dry Matter | Dry, Gestating | Lactating |
| Low | < 53 | 1.8 | 2.1 |
| Moderate | 53 to 57 | 2.1 | 2.5 |
| High-Moderate | 58 to 63 | 2.4 | 2.8 |
| High | > 63 | 2.5 | 2.9 |
| Adapted from Hibberd and Thrift, 1982 and Gross et al., 2024 | |||
It is important to understand that the guidelines assume the diet contains adequate protein to maintain optimal microbial growth, rumen fermentation and passage rate. They also assume cows have unrestricted access to feed — whether that’s grazed forage, hay,or a total mixed ration—on a free-choice basis.
If you are interested in more details, or if you need a more specific estimate of average daily feed intake, refer to the paper published in Translational Animal Science.
