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A cow will eat between 2.5% and 3% of her weight in hay (dry matter basis) per day.

I've read some Wisconsin publications that say the best time to fertilize hay ground is in early June. The logic as I recall is that you will get the first flush of grass in May anyway, apply the N for a second and later cuttings. Early June you are still likely to get a rain to wash it in. P...

Thanks, BB. I'm looking at silage as a supplement. I still want the cows to do most of the work around here. Silage does produce a lot of feed per acre, just like my grazing corn. I think I will have some silage custom bagged each year. I can grow pretty good corn fairly inexpensively. I just...

My cows' annual output, how they earn their keep, is producing a calf. I have a goal of a herd of cows that wean a 205 day calf that weighs 50% or more of the dam's weight at weaning. And that is with no creep. Hitting close to that 50% mark is how I measure my cows performance. To do that...

I was in hay shock after the drought of 2012 and the late spring in 2013 extended the hay feeding season, delaying pastures. I was purchasing all of my hay needs and ran out. Begging people to sell you stalk bales at $65 or grass hay at $225 is an experience one does not soon forget. As...

I look at giving cattle access to some woods more for shade in the summer and shelter from the cold winds in the winter than providing grazing. I do have fences going through the woods however and they don't have access to most of my woods. It does help to have the cows trained to come when...

I have 3 pastures in my rotation with access to different areas of dense Wisconsin mixed pine and hardwood forest. My Herefords do a good job of cleaning up the edges of the woods but always have access to grass pastures in addition to the woods. When they are done it looks like you ran a...

If you have a good New Holland dealer nearby you might also want to look at the NH 1022 Procart V wheel rake. http://agriculture.newholland.com/us/en/Products/Hay-and-Forage-Equipment/ProCart-Deluxe-Carted-Wheel-Rakes/Documents/H5920.pdf It has the same way to use either or both sides and the...

I would never electrify a barb wire. For perimeter fences, 5 total wires, 4 Red brand Barb and one smooth hi-tensile on insulators as the middle wire with a 6 joule charger on it. Hot smooth middle wire keeps cows from pushing on the fence and gives you a place all around that you can use with a...

I have found it better to keep whatever sod I have and to use a no till drill to interseed whatever new forages I want to add to the sward. Any sod is better than no sod. Why chisel it at all? Jim

I think bale grazing with electric wire control is probably a good system if you have a lot of land. I tried it a few years ago and have yet to get a good stand of grass back in the area where the bales were located. I feed from cradles and rings in basically one spot all winter since our...

Thanks Mike. I am gradually developing a herd of moderate frame cows that do very well in my system and conditions, calve unassisted out in the pasture and wean a 205 day calf at least 50% of their own weight. They won't win ribbons at shows but they will produce some very good beef with...

The bales are netwrapped by the baler. I wrap them with the plastic over the top of the netwrap. I don't know of any baler that will wrap them with stretch plastic as they are made. The white plastic is a substitute for building a hay shed. As Steve mentioned I have precious little flat ground...

Jason, I use this wrapper: http://www.umequip.com/hay-handling/round-about-wrapper/ It's a nice simple tool. Takes a bit of trial an error on learning to operate it but really does a nice job. And getting the netwrap/plastic off in the middle of winter is one of the benfitsof wrapping. The...

I agree on the wrapping. People tell me i should build a hay shed but as you can see in the pictures, there are precious few nice flat places to build a hay shed, especially one that sits empty for much of the year. What you are saying about hay quality makes sense. My goal is to get the bales...

Thanks. Every one of them in the pictures above are raised females. One of my biggest problems is they are so docile its hard to get them to move out of the way so I can fill the hay feeders! They are generally pretty healthy and in good condition, especially considering the very cold weather...

Not having a hay shed, I have found wrapping dry 5x6 ft 1500 lb bales really saves a lot of hay in my climate. I took a couple pictures as I put two wrapped bales in feeders for a cow group this afternoon. This is not really the best wrapping can do because these bales sat out a month or more...

I read somewhere that the best time to fertilize pastures is in early June in the midwest, AFTER the first flush of grass. Then keep the cattle off of it until you have a good rain + some days.

+1 on the pigtails and aluminum wire. Although I think my aluminum is more like 14 ga than 17. Aluminum is light but does splinter like many braided poly I've tried. You can go with longer between pigtails and pull it tighter as it doesn't stretch and sag like poly. On another note - with the...

As Bez says above, just don't graze whatever grass you do get this year down too short. A very closely monitored rotational grazing system let's you maximize the grazing you do have but not destroy your stand for the future. As tempting as it may be, I never let my cattle graze a paddock...