Not that this hasn't been discussed before, but tis the season...well in about 4-5 weeks if the snow doesn't bury my last stockpiled pasture.
So I thought I would try bale grazing later this winter. I was looking for some thoughts on getting a few pastures set up for it.
1. Is adequate bale spacing 30 feet?
2. Would a 4 acre pasture be totally demolished after 120 days with 60 cows? (Plan on letting them have 3 days at a time available)
3. Would it be beneficial to aerate this field before putting bales out to allow for nutrients to infiltrate better?
Geographically we get 10-12 inches of precip a year, mostly snow in the winter, but if it doesn't start soon hopefully it comes as rain. The pasture I am thinking about is sprinkle irrigated in the summer so not sure how that would play into bale grazing, as far as any wasted hay is concerned.
We set every thing up for rotational grazing this year making daily moves with polywire and solid high tensile around the outside, so moving fence in winter wouldn't be bad, and if it were every third day, it would sure beat starting the tractor every day. I have been unrolling 2bales a day over the past couple years, which has worked good, but looking to incorporate a little more work for the girls than myself all the time.
So I thought I would try bale grazing later this winter. I was looking for some thoughts on getting a few pastures set up for it.
1. Is adequate bale spacing 30 feet?
2. Would a 4 acre pasture be totally demolished after 120 days with 60 cows? (Plan on letting them have 3 days at a time available)
3. Would it be beneficial to aerate this field before putting bales out to allow for nutrients to infiltrate better?
Geographically we get 10-12 inches of precip a year, mostly snow in the winter, but if it doesn't start soon hopefully it comes as rain. The pasture I am thinking about is sprinkle irrigated in the summer so not sure how that would play into bale grazing, as far as any wasted hay is concerned.
We set every thing up for rotational grazing this year making daily moves with polywire and solid high tensile around the outside, so moving fence in winter wouldn't be bad, and if it were every third day, it would sure beat starting the tractor every day. I have been unrolling 2bales a day over the past couple years, which has worked good, but looking to incorporate a little more work for the girls than myself all the time.