I have been seeing folks bailing corn stalks. Aside from the fact that my animals wouldn't touch that unless it was really bad, like last winter, what kind of protein can something like that have? Just a guess? I don't know how much they are selling it for. I would like to avoid something like that if I could, but I did buy wheat hay last year and alternated it with the coastal I had left.
Bailed corn stalks
- Thread starter Lammie
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Bez?
Well-known member
Lammie":15l4g8rq said:
Bez?
Well-known member
dj":by77imxk said:
Corn stalks fed in this manner are still fairly fresh and maintain a high sugar content. Cows will fight to eat it.
Baled and stored stuff stuff is very dry and actually crunchy in a bad way. Most cows will turn their noses up at it unless very hungry.
Bez?
We bought the wheat last January, when there literally was NO HAY to be found around here. It was grown by a guy that had planted lots of wheat, I don't think it ever made because of the drought, and he just bailed it. It was crappy hay, too. But I used it to make my coastal go a little farther.
This is corn that is bailed into round bales. I can see turning cows out on a field that has be harvested. I was just wondering. People were buying everything last year to feed. Milo stalks, corn, wheat, peanut hay. I think that people are bailing everything this year in anticipation of another bad winter. Last year was pretty pathetic.
This is corn that is bailed into round bales. I can see turning cows out on a field that has be harvested. I was just wondering. People were buying everything last year to feed. Milo stalks, corn, wheat, peanut hay. I think that people are bailing everything this year in anticipation of another bad winter. Last year was pretty pathetic.
rkm
Well-known member
Baled corn stalks when supplimented with grain can be a decent roughage. Heard a lot of oldtimers say they wintered their cattle on straw during drought years. Its the same thing only better. If the corn was well fertilized it has a lot of nutrients. Corn stalks also make good bedding. It absorbs a lot of moisture.
Bez?
Well-known member
rkm":22spn0yu said:
Fed my cows straight straw for two years. Mineral and water plus some grain is important. Otherwise impaction may be an issue.
Straw has a surprizing amount of protein in it.
Bez?
Arnold Ziffle
Well-known member
Lammie, you have to watch that baled up corn stalk "hay". Lot's of corn in Texas droughted out this year and made no ears whatsoever and desperate folks are baling it. But corn grown under drought conditions can have nitrate poison problems, especially in the stalks. Nitrate poison, unlike prussic, doesn't really dissipate over a short time, so if you consider getting any of it you probably should plan to have it tested before buying -- and be sure to get stalks in the test mix, not only leaves.
How do you bale corn stalks. What do you cut it with? How do you rake it?
I would try to get some but I don't think my hay cutter would cut it and i don't think my rake would rake it and I know the roller would clog.
I would try to get some but I don't think my hay cutter would cut it and i don't think my rake would rake it and I know the roller would clog.
we use a stalk chopper, and then rake it with a V rake. $12 to $18 for a large round net wrapped here. Put it through the bale grinder with some distillers and a little poor hay, and they eat it right up. we also run them on the stalks after combining. They go and eat missed corn, then go back and eat the leaves, last resort are the stalks. BT corn stalks must be tougher, they leave alot of those. The corn stalk bales make great bedding, and its a nice suprise when they find a whole ear of corn in there in the middle of January.
mnmtranching
Well-known member
Baled corn stalks aren't that bad, nothing like hay but it makes feed. Better then straw. Its short of protein and vitimins. You need to be able to buy it cheap to make it work becouse of the suplements you will need.
mnmt
mnmt
andybob
Well-known member
Average feed values of corn stalks and leaves grazed after harvesting;
leaves 9% metabolic energy 60% total digestibility 5.9%crude protien 2.5% digestable protien .
Stalks 7.3% ME 49% Tdn 3.2% DP .
Corn farmers routinely graze over their residue as a high quality roughage.
leaves 9% metabolic energy 60% total digestibility 5.9%crude protien 2.5% digestable protien .
Stalks 7.3% ME 49% Tdn 3.2% DP .
Corn farmers routinely graze over their residue as a high quality roughage.
Texas PaPaw
Well-known member
Lammie
What they are baling just south of you around Hillsboro is green corn that has not been harvested for grain. Due to the drought it would yield little grain so it was cut while still green, cured a few days and baled. Not sure of feed value but it should be better than mature corn stalks after grain was harvested. As previously mentioned high nitrates could be a concern. If nitrates are OK it should be decent hay for dry cows, but would probably need some protein & energy for lactating cows. If you feed this hay or anything else you are not familiar with, a visual check of the manure generated by the feed will give you an idea what it may be lacking. See Tod Dague's recent post on nutrition. It gives an excellent link on the manure consistency/feed quality relationship.
BTW-they cut it with a mower-conditioner like you would use for sudan, etc.
Good luck & happy trails.
Brock
What they are baling just south of you around Hillsboro is green corn that has not been harvested for grain. Due to the drought it would yield little grain so it was cut while still green, cured a few days and baled. Not sure of feed value but it should be better than mature corn stalks after grain was harvested. As previously mentioned high nitrates could be a concern. If nitrates are OK it should be decent hay for dry cows, but would probably need some protein & energy for lactating cows. If you feed this hay or anything else you are not familiar with, a visual check of the manure generated by the feed will give you an idea what it may be lacking. See Tod Dague's recent post on nutrition. It gives an excellent link on the manure consistency/feed quality relationship.
BTW-they cut it with a mower-conditioner like you would use for sudan, etc.
Good luck & happy trails.
Brock
Bez?
Well-known member
If I have a choice the last thing I will feed is baled corn stalks - the palatability is way too low and the cows have sore mouths after chewing dried out stalks. They are not designed to do this except in extreme emergencies. Thier mouths will get so sore they will only eat when very hungry resulting serious loss of body condition and breeding condition.
I love to graze corn stover - it is excellent - but it is not baled and dried - which makes PALATABILITY a serious issue. It is still moist and soft. One fact that cannot be ignored. Sore mouths can and will prevent an animal from eating.
A real good example of feed values can be seen here:
http://drought.wsu.edu/1100/1130.PDF
Oat straw is slightly below corn stalks but in my opinion - after feeding in a two year drought and all the things we tried - is a better feed.
We had less than 3 inches of rain over a 23 month period - hot weather and heavy winds. No snow in the winter. I KNOW how tough it can get!
Have a look at this before you make you final feed decisions.
Straw can often be hauled a lot further than hay due to price differentials.
Barley straw is a close second in my opinion but watch out for the bards in - sorry cannot remember - I think it is 6 row barley - they get real sore mouths after eating it for about a week.
Old starw is better than new straw - cows love 2 year old straw and tolerate new straw as feed. - Get the old stuff - it works - do not ask me why - it is a mystery to me.
I picked this report because it is out of Montana - some pricing may be out of date but the info is still relative.
For those of you in drought - it is tough but if you are lucky and God smiles upon you - you will pull through. If you are debt ridden through expansion or mortgages or equipment payments - sell everything you can now and bank it. The cost of keeping those animals over the long term will be far more than the loss you take when you sell your animals sooner.
Wait too long and you are now with the herd - and you take an even bigger loss. In fact you might not even be able to sell - and yes I have seen that happen.
Not sometimes, but most times - your first loss is your best loss. Be a herd leader, not a herd follower. Make your decisions early and stick to them.
Cattle can be replaced but life savings are often lost and never made up.
Thinking good thoughts.
Bez?
I love to graze corn stover - it is excellent - but it is not baled and dried - which makes PALATABILITY a serious issue. It is still moist and soft. One fact that cannot be ignored. Sore mouths can and will prevent an animal from eating.
A real good example of feed values can be seen here:
http://drought.wsu.edu/1100/1130.PDF
Oat straw is slightly below corn stalks but in my opinion - after feeding in a two year drought and all the things we tried - is a better feed.
We had less than 3 inches of rain over a 23 month period - hot weather and heavy winds. No snow in the winter. I KNOW how tough it can get!
Have a look at this before you make you final feed decisions.
Straw can often be hauled a lot further than hay due to price differentials.
Barley straw is a close second in my opinion but watch out for the bards in - sorry cannot remember - I think it is 6 row barley - they get real sore mouths after eating it for about a week.
Old starw is better than new straw - cows love 2 year old straw and tolerate new straw as feed. - Get the old stuff - it works - do not ask me why - it is a mystery to me.
I picked this report because it is out of Montana - some pricing may be out of date but the info is still relative.
For those of you in drought - it is tough but if you are lucky and God smiles upon you - you will pull through. If you are debt ridden through expansion or mortgages or equipment payments - sell everything you can now and bank it. The cost of keeping those animals over the long term will be far more than the loss you take when you sell your animals sooner.
Wait too long and you are now with the herd - and you take an even bigger loss. In fact you might not even be able to sell - and yes I have seen that happen.
Not sometimes, but most times - your first loss is your best loss. Be a herd leader, not a herd follower. Make your decisions early and stick to them.
Cattle can be replaced but life savings are often lost and never made up.
Thinking good thoughts.
Bez?
Texas PaPaw":leot00pn said:
I figured it was something like that. I think the guy I bought the wheat hay from last winter is trying soybeans this year, and they don't look good, either. At least I think that's what it is. He's the fellow just outside Grandview with the nice house. He has a nice spread. He also has a business that enables him to farm without going broke. Nice folks.
I hadn't any plans, Lord help me, to buy any of the corn. I was curious about the nutrition value and why people were bailing it so early. I hadn't been down 35 in a few weeks and I was startled to see that the corn had gone dead. Looked good the last time I saw it.
Pray to the Lord that it won't be as bad this year as last. I had to start feeding hay in October last year and I don't usually feed hay till around Thanksgiving. I had enough hay to get through an ordinary winter. Not last winter. I don't winter much of anything but my donks. I am selling my calves pretty soon anyway. I don't breed. Just had a few calves on the place.
Lammie":36j1sldf said:
How do you know your animals wouldn't touch them? I can't give you an answer as to the protein content, because I don't know, but I can tell you that our cows range on corn stalks every winter and stay fat and sassy with no other feed until the corn stalks run out. I can also tell you that any time corn husks blow into the runs (which is quite often as we have corn fields on 3 sides of us) the horses eat them like they were candy. I can't say this for certain, but I'm thinking corn stalks would have a higher protein content than wheat straw.
farmer-greg
Member
we do stalk bales for a few guys , what we do is use a V rake and just rake the leaves no cutting at all , a five wheel rake is best .
Lammie, here's what we figure in Iowa where we have a lot of corn stalks. We like to turn the cows out on them, and let the cows pick out what they want. On good standing stalks, we figure an acre, a cow, a month without supplementation. If it is getting pretty late, we adjust that down. If it is fresh out of the combine, we might adjust it up. You can gain extra time by supplementing protein for an extra week or so. In fact, when supplementing, some guys run the cows on stalks all winter. As far as feeding straight corn stalk bales, they are low in protein. Ohio State University, however, just completed a study where they were limit feeding cows gluten and ground corn stalk bales at a feed cost of about 1/3 of the traditional baled hay.
We will bale stalks to serve mostly as bedding to keep the feeder cattle clean if the lots begin to thaw (or before they freeze) in December. We generally try to mow them off with something, and then rake them into a windrow with the wheel rake. It can really be a bear. Last year we decided it was cheaper to just buy a few bales at $12/bale than bale them ourselves.
We will bale stalks to serve mostly as bedding to keep the feeder cattle clean if the lots begin to thaw (or before they freeze) in December. We generally try to mow them off with something, and then rake them into a windrow with the wheel rake. It can really be a bear. Last year we decided it was cheaper to just buy a few bales at $12/bale than bale them ourselves.
msscamp":2wqq4xe5 said:
Oh, I don't know that they wouldn't. They are kinda hard to predict. They turned up their noses at the wheat hay last winter, but then started to prefer it. I bought a big round bail of sudan in February becuase I ran into it for a reasonable price and they woudn't eat that at all. Someone told me it probably wasn't cut right and was mostly stems. Anyway, it sat out there for a month before anyone even started nibbling at it.
My donks are like cats. If one starts eating, they all will because they are greedy little piggies and they don't want to miss out!
Texas PaPaw
Well-known member
Lammie":36as2q0q said:
Yes, I know the guy and those are soybeans. He is originally from somewhere in the midwest & first planted beans in 2004 (the rainy year). He made a big crop that year & thinks beans are the golden crop. Surely after this year and last he will figure out why no one else in the area grows beans. He's an excavation contractor in the metroplex. Guess that makes enough to grow beans where it doesn't rain.
If you need hay for winter, I would suggest buying it ASAP as 3/4 of the growing season is past & the hay situation will get worse before it gets better. It will rain again but we are so far in the hole this year, it will be next year before forage growth can possibly catch up.
Good luck & happy trails.
Brock
