Alfalfa cubes

[TheLoneRanger]

In my area alfalfa bales (small) are now $18 each. $360 a ton. I can get alfalfa cubes for $250 a ton. Can i use the cubes in place of the bales till the grass comes in? I was thinking of soaking them before feeding to soften them up. Will it mess the animal up?

 

[dun]

Sort of depends on what the cubes consist of. The tings that look like extruded pellets generally contain junk. My neighbor in Ridgecrest used to make a cube that was square extruded pure alfalfa that looked like little square bales just 2 inches by 2 inches and ran from an inch to 5-6 inches long. Those were just like feeding straight alfalfa and had the necessary roughage so it wouldn;t screw up a cows digesive tract.

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Thank you i will head over there and take a look at them.

 

[TheLoneRanger]

well i went over there and looked at it. It is straight alfalfa. Shove a bail in and get cubes out.

 

[wrightwayangus]

When I was living in the panhandle of Texas those guys over there fed cubes all winter and those were some very good looking Angus cows. I have seriously considered using them on our place in the Northwest, but I feel like we would be the only ones shipping them up. Need to get some other folks to go in with us. Basically though they have proven that they can work. I even saw them throwing them out on top of the snow and the cows seemed happy and content.

 

[dun]

well i went over there and looked at it. It is straight alfalfa. Shove a bail in and get cubes out.

Those were the kind we fed. The smaller calves didn;t do too well wit hthem but weaners once they got used to them and on up to older cows did fine. The next part of the equation is cost.

 

[mlazyj]

What are you feeding them to? If it's to cows there is no reason to soak them , the cows learn to eat them just fine . Depending on if your supplementing or giving a full feed , depends if your going to want weigh it out . Alfa cubes are normaly lower quality hay , but make decent feed.

Cousin check with Anderson Hay company in Ellensberg , they might still make cubes , 25 years ago there was a half a dozen cube plants in eastern Washington . We feed 30% protein cake in the winter when it gets cold (that's down around 10-15 degrees day and night) to supplement hay .

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Cost for alfalfa is between $360-$500 a ton. Cubes are $250 a ton. This is what gets me, the hay barn has their own cuber on site and it is right next to the hay. I watched today as they grabed the #2 alfalfa bale and shoved it in. $18 went to $12.50 like that. I didn't ask why because I want to get my load at that price. It would be a feed with a forage mix. Winters are summers to most of you folks, we get below 30 for a week or 2 but stay around 40's at the low.

 

[dun]

Cost for alfalfa is between $360-$500 a ton. Cubes are $250 a ton. This is what gets me, the hay barn has their own cuber on site and it is right next to the hay. I watched today as they grabed the #2 alfalfa bale and shoved it in. $18 went to $12.50 like that. I didn't ask why because I want to get my load at that price. It would be a feed with a forage mix. Winters are summers to most of you folks, we get below 30 for a week or 2 but stay around 40's at the low.

I guess they;ve mastered making a sows ear out of a silk purse

 

[bigbull338]

alfalfa cubes are $400 a ton here an round bales are $90 to $175 for 4 by 5s an 4 by 6s .an you would need to feed 10 to 15lbs of cube a day plus some feed pre cow to get you by.

 

[TexasBred]

Cost for alfalfa is between $360-$500 a ton. Cubes are $250 a ton. This is what gets me, the hay barn has their own cuber on site and it is right next to the hay. I watched today as they grabed the #2 alfalfa bale and shoved it in. $18 went to $12.50 like that. I didn't ask why because I want to get my load at that price. It would be a feed with a forage mix. Winters are summers to most of you folks, we get below 30 for a week or 2 but stay around 40's at the low.

I would question anything considered "feed" that could be purchased for $250 a ton in today's market. What kind of guarantees do they put on the cubes?? Protein??

 

[TheLoneRanger]

good question worth asking