Cattle Chat Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Calving Season, Clostridium Perfringens, Starting Calves
Host: Brad White and the Beef Cattle Institute (BCI) Team
Guest: Dr. Billy Brown, Assistant Professor of Dairy Nutrition
Date: July 11, 2025

Overview

This episode of Cattle Chat brings together BCI faculty and guest Dr. Billy Brown to discuss three main topics relevant to beef producers: the optimal time for calving season, the complexities of Clostridium perfringens (overeating disease) in calves, and new research on starting calves, particularly with alternative protein supplements in starter feeds. The conversation blends practical beef management insights, research updates, and real-world challenges, all with a focus on improving outcomes for producers.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Best Time for Calving Season

(Segment Start: 02:30)

• No Universal “Best” – It Depends: The hosts and Dr. Brown note that the "best" calving time depends on many factors: forage availability and type (cool vs. warm season grasses), geographic region, weather patterns, management goals, marketing windows, and labor/resource constraints.

  • Dr. Phillip Lancaster (D): Advocates for matching calving to forage green-up and resource availability, cautioning against rigid dates and preferring fall calving in some regions and late spring calving in others.
    "My day of the year depends on, on your forage resource. So if you're in like a fescue belt… I like fall calving… But if you're in a warm season… then I like a late spring calving." (03:06)
  • Dr. Bob Larson (A): Suggests May 5th as ideal in tall grass prairie regions for weather and forage, but emphasizes that calving time must fit the broader production and marketing system.
  • Dr. Billy Brown (E): From a dairy perspective, November/December calving avoids heat stress in lactating cows, but acknowledges beef systems need a different analysis.

• Purebred vs. Commercial Breeders: Purebred operations may calve in January/February to sell yearling bulls with optimal age for spring breeding. For commercial herds, such early calving is harder to justify due to feed costs, weather, and mismatched cow nutritional needs.

  • "For a commercial producer, it's harder to find any reason to calve in January or February. We're a long way from really good forage production in most parts of the country." (05:06 – Dr. Larson)

• Tradeoffs in Calving Timing:

  • Early calving (late winter/early spring) may leave cows without sufficient grazing, increasing feed costs.
  • Late calving may improve cow body condition and rebreeding rates by aligning with forage peak, but could complicate breeding due to summer heat.
  • Marketing windows, labor (especially for crop producers), and animal health (weather, fly pressure) all figure into the decision.
    • “Everything was a trade off. … There's probably no one perfect time. But I think you have to look at productivity. So I don't, I don't want dead calves. I want my feed cost to be low, but I want to at least consider the marketing window...” (10:16 – Dr. Larson)

2. Clostridium perfringens (Overeating Disease) in Calves

(Segment Start: 12:46)

• Disease Overview:

  • Clostridium perfringens type C & D (overeating disease) is a clostridial infection, common in pastures everywhere. Calves typically harbor the bacteria in their gut, but problems arise when a calf consumes a large, rapidly fermentable meal (from high milk intake or creep feed).
    • “It’s called overeating disease because it appears that when calves have large meals… associated with herds that do a lot of things well, such as high milking females…” (13:27 – Dr. Larson)
  • The disease is frustrating—often hitting the best growing calves from heavy-milking cows, usually at 2–3 months of age.

• Factors & Prevention:

  • Sudden nutritional surges (lush grass, supplementing both cows and calves) can increase risk, especially if cow nutrition and milk output are higher than average (14:07–14:56).
  • The 7-way blackleg vaccine (covers several clostridial diseases) is standard prevention at branding or turnout (2 months old), but not foolproof.
    • “You can still see this problem in a well vaccinated herd, but [it’s] relatively rare, sporadic.” (15:59 – Brad White)

• Research/Experience Notes:

  • Dr. Brown shares research herd experience: multiple calf losses even with good management, noting better detection and intervention possible with close monitoring (research vs. ranch conditions) (16:06–16:52).

3. Starting Calves – New Research on Protein Supplements

(Segment Start: 17:43)

• Integrating Ethanol Byproducts into Calf Starter Feeds:

  • Dr. Brown describes research testing high-protein distillers grains (up to 50% protein from ethanol byproducts) as a replacement for soybean meal in dairy calf starter rations.
    • “These ethanol refiners… want to add value… so we’re seeing more byproducts promoted as high protein distillers grains up to 50%. That’s a really high protein corn product.” (17:43 – Dr. Brown)

• Study Highlights:

  • Greater Growth: Calves consuming the high-protein corn product had higher body weight and average daily gain compared to those fed conventional soybean meal-based starters.
  • Digestibility and Intake: The product, likely due to concentrated soluble (yeast bodies improving rumen environment), proved more digestible and supported higher intake among test calves (22:23).
    • “These calves did eat a little bit more, but I think what’s going on is that it was a more digestible product. So we did total tract digestibility… they were digesting more.” (22:23 – Dr. Brown)
  • Blood Markers: Calves on this diet had higher glucose and insulin, indicating robust nutritional status and energy intake (23:23 – Dr. Brown).

• Beef Producer Takeaways:

  • High-protein ethanol byproducts can be a “one-to-one” substitute for soybean meal as a protein source if price and supply are favorable.
  • Key is to ensure the product is not heat-damaged (look for minimal brown/blackness suggesting overheating).
    • “If the price is right and it’s a comparable protein source… and it’s showing up at your doorstep without indications of being overheated… there’s an indication of heating, excessive heating that would degrade that protein…” (20:52 – Dr. Brown)
  • Common-sense recommendation: Lean toward highly digestible proteins in calf supplements; soybean meal, regular distillers grains, or new byproducts can all work if diet is properly balanced.

• Amino Acid Balancing:

  • Unique to this study was balancing starter feeds for limiting amino acids (methionine, lysine).
    • “We actually balanced for methionine and lysine, which are two of the most common limiting amino acids in cattle production.” (20:02 – Dr. Brown)

• Future Research:

  • Dr. Brown is moving toward studying “developmental programming”—how supplements to cows influence calves’ future productivity, applying to both beef and dairy systems (24:12).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “My day of the year depends on your forage resource... So it could shift depending on where you are and what grass you have.” (03:06 – Dr. Phillip Lancaster)
• “If I was a calf, I think the perfect day to be born would be May 5th... in this... prairie area, that’s pretty good.” (03:38 – Dr. Bob Larson)
• “For a commercial producer, it’s harder to find any reason to calve in January or February... we’re months away from peak forage.” (05:06 – Dr. Larson)
• “Everything was a trade off… There’s probably no one perfect time. But I think you have to look at productivity, feed costs, and the marketing window.” (10:16 – Dr. Larson)
• “These calves did eat a little bit more, but I think... it was a more digestible product... So they were able to consume more and that helped drive that intake and growth.” (22:23 – Dr. Brown)
• “We actually balanced for methionine and lysine... probably the only study published out there with calves at this age that have kind of done that.” (20:02 – Dr. Brown)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:30 – Opening discussion on calving date preferences
• 03:06 – Calving season depends on forage and region
• 05:06 – Purebred vs. commercial considerations for calving
• 09:41 – Marketing and labor implications
• 10:16 – Trade-off analysis for calving dates
• 12:46 – Clostridium perfringens (overeating disease) overview
• 14:07 – Role of milk and nutrition in disease risk
• 17:43 – Dr. Brown’s research on high-protein corn byproducts in starter feeds
• 20:02 – Amino acid balancing in calf diets
• 22:23 – Feed intake and digestibility findings
• 24:12 – Future research directions

Tone and Language

The episode maintains an informed, collaborative, and practical tone with the hosts and guest taking a science-driven, real-world approach to answering questions and sharing research. The language is direct, occasionally technical but always tied back to actionable implications for listeners.

Summary – Takeaways for Producers

• Calving timing is a complex decision with no universal best choice – balance forage resources, weather, market, and labor.
• Overeating disease (Clostridium perfringens) is frustrating and often linked to high-nutrition/best growing calves, with vaccination (seven-way) as partial protection.
• Emerging protein feeds from ethanol byproducts are proving highly effective, potentially more digestible, and may be practical alternatives to traditional supplements in calf starters.
• Consult a nutritionist to tailor diets, especially when exploring new byproducts or feeds for young calves.

For questions, comments, or topic suggestions, listeners are invited to email bcisu@ksu.edu.