Grazing cornstalks reduces feed costs for cow herds

SPRINGFIEILD, Ill. — Illinois cattlemen have an abundant supply of low-cost feed available for their herds with the millions of acres of corn grown each year in the state.

“We have so many cornstalks with the 10.8 million acres of corn grown in Illinois,” said Travis Meteer, University of Illinois Extension beef specialist. “You need to figure out a way to use cornstalks.”

If a cattleman doesn’t own row-crop land, he said, this is an opportunity for them to work with their neighbors.

“We’re talking about a short-term graze and I think it is so important for us to utilize this resource,” said Meteer during a presentation at the 2025 Grazing Conference, Maximizing Every Acre with Managed Grazing, hosted by the Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition.

“One of the beautiful things about beef cows is they are selective grazers,” he said. “When they graze cornstalks, they first graze the grain, then the husks, then the leaves and rarely will they eat much of the cob or stalk.”

For spring-calving beef cows, they are in mid-gestation in October and November.

“That’s when they require the least amount of nutrients, which matches perfectly with cornstalks,” Meteer said. “Those dry spring-calving beef cows will need little to no supplement while grazing cornstalks.”

The target is to graze half of the leaf and husk that is in the field and leave the rest to keep the soil covered.

“A 1,300-pound cow will consume about 884 pounds of dry matter in a month,” Meteer said. “With 150-bushel corn, that equals about one acre to graze that cow for 30 days.”

It is important for cattlemen to scout the cornfield for down corn, ear drops or spilled grain.

“The last thing we want to do with a pregnant beef cow is to have her succumb to grain overload or bloat,” the beef specialist said. “If there is spilled grain, we want to make sure to avoid those areas.”

While the herd is grazing cornstalks, Meteer advises cattlemen to monitor the residue degradation.

“When we get a couple of rains, the plant matter is going to start to degrade,” he said. “And a lot of the newer equipment has attachments to chop up the cornstalks so that could potentially limit grazing days.”

Also, cattlemen should monitor the cow behavior.

“If we notice that the cows are a little less satisfied, then it’s probably time to reevaluate and see what’s left out there,” Meteer said.

Picking genetics that fit the environment is vital for successfully grazing cornstalks.

“If you go to the sale barn and buy a group of heifers, calve them out and kick them out on cornstalks and don’t supplement them,” the beef specialist said. “You may find yourself with some pretty thin beef cows or cows that are not susceptible to breeding back.”

Feed costs represent about 60% of the total costs of cow-calf operations, Meteer said, and most of that comes from the feed during the winter.

“So, if we can reduce the amount of feed in the winter, we can have a direct impact on the profitability of our beef cow operations,” he said.

Many cattlemen use the rule of thumb that they need one round bale of hay per cow, per month.

“A 1,300-pound cow that eats 2% of her bodyweight equals 26 pounds of intake, plus 30% waste in hay, that’s 34 pounds of hay per day,” Meteer said. “Over a month, that equals 1,020 pounds of hay, and if a bale weighs 1,000 pounds, that’s pretty close.”

Renting cornstalk fields at $10 per acre, plus distillers grains at $150 per ton, supplemented at 4 pounds per head per day, plus labor to feed the distillers grains and move the fence, equals 64 cents per head, per day to graze cornstalks.

“For a 50-cow herd, grazing cornstalks for 60 days, even at $40 per bale of hay, we’re still saving over $2,000 just by grazing cornstalks,” the beef specialist said. “And at $50 per bale of hay, we’re saving over $3,000 by grazing cornstalks.”

One of the unforeseen benefits of grazing cornstalks is it allows cattlemen to stockpile fescue for future grazing, Meteer said.

“So, if we could add 2,000 pounds of forage with stockpiling, strip-graze it at 70% utilization, that gives us 1,400 pounds per acre available forage for grazing,” he said. “Stockpiled fescue is pretty high-quality forage, so cows will eat roughly 3% of their bodyweight or about 40 pounds per head per day.”

Strip-grazing 50 cows on 40 acres of stockpiled fescue for 28 days, instead of feeding the $50 bale of hay, Meteer said, saves another $2,238.

“Add that to the cornstalk savings and you have saved $5,428 or $108 per cow in feed costs,” he said.

The Grazing Conference was held March 11-12 at the Northfield Inn, Suites & Conference Center in Springfield.