NASCalf Demo – TMR

Welcome to this demonstration of how to create and use feed blends within the NASCalf system. Blends are often total mix rations that are typically blends of concentrate and forage ingredients. In calf applications, they’re often combinations of starter or grower feeds with dry forage, such as hay, or with mixtures of dry forage and silage. In this video, we’ll walk through how to build a TMR as a blend and then use it in a feeding program. Other blends might include blends of liquid ingredients such as whey, WPC, and others to create on-farm milk replacers. But that’ll be the subject of another NASCalf demo. 

Let’s begin by setting up the feeding program we want to use in our simulation. In this example, calves are fed colostrum on day one, transition milk on days two and three, and then move to waste milk. Milk intake increases gradually until weaning at day 70 or 10 weeks of age. 

Calves receive a standard calf starter beginning on day 3 and continuing through day 60. Starting on day 40, calves also have access to free choice wheat straw. We estimate straw intake to be about 6% of total ration dry matter during this period. Beginning on day 50, there’s a 10-day transition period where calves receive a combination of starter, straw, and a total mix ration. On day 60, calves are fully transitioned to the TMR, and by day 61, the starter and straw are discontinued, leaving the TMR as the sole solid feed. 

While we could attempt to build this program using the standard grain and forage matrices, a more straightforward approach is to create a TMR that is used as a single ingredient. To begin, let’s set up the feeding program. 

I’ll open the liquid matrix and adjust the feeds offered. We’ll feed colostrum at 22% Brix, transition milk at about 18% dry matter on days two and three, and then transition the calves to whole milk beginning on day four. We’ll set whole milk at 13% dry matter with 3.4% protein and 4% fat. 

With the liquid program in place, we can move on to the grain program. We’ll offer a standard calf starter, an 18% protein high starch starter, from days three through day 60. We’ll set the price at $450 per metric ton. 

Next, we’ll move to the forage program and offer wheat straw. We’ll locate the wheat straw in the feed library, set the price at $100 per metric ton, and offer it from day 40 through day 60. During this period, straw intake is estimated at about 6% of total ration dry matter when fed ad libitum. 

Now we’re ready to make the TMR. To do this, we’ll go to the Manage Feeds menu and select Make a Blend. This opens a window that allows us to create feed blends. In this example, we’ll use three feeds. 

First, from the Grains category, we’ll select the 18% protein high starch starter as the base of the blend. Next, we’ll switch the category to forages and select wheat straw. Finally, we’ll add corn silage using a typical corn silage feed from the library. 

For the blend proportions, we only need to specify relative amounts. In this case, we’ll use 80% starter, 10% wheat straw, and 10% corn silage. You can also right-click on any column header to display the cost per ton column. By entering costs for each ingredient, the blend will automatically calculate the final cost per ton on an as-fed basis. 

At the bottom of the window, we’ll name the blend McMaster Calf TMR, using the farm name for clarity. We’ll assign this blend to the calf grains category, so it appears alongside other grain feeds rather than in the forage section. 

Here you can see the resulting nutrient composition, about 83% dry matter, 18% protein, 34% starch, and roughly 26% NDF. 

Once everything looks correct, we’ll click OK and save the blend. The TMR is saved as a feed file and added to the local feed library. We can now return to the calf feeding program, add a new feed, and locate McMaster Calf TMR in the grain section of the library. Once selected, we set the appropriate begin and end dates, and the TMR becomes part of the feeding program. 

Well, I hope you found this NASCalf feature useful for preparing diets in your calf simulations. Be sure to visit the knowledge base to explore additional demonstrations and learn more about the capabilities of NASCalf. And thanks for watching.