bale grazing problem

[farmguy]

I have been bale grazing and really like it. One problem is the hay left in the field come spring that the cows did not eat. I have tried dragging with a couple kinds of drags with not much success in the wet hay. By the next year there is no problem but the neighbors do like to point it out. So I have two questions.

#1 Has anyone found a neat way to spread that leftover hay?

#2 Obviously I am feeding too much. Any trick to tell when to turn the cows in to new bales? Thanks

 

[Aaron]

I have been bale grazing and really like it. One problem is the hay left in the field come spring that the cows did not eat. I have tried dragging with a couple kinds of drags with not much success in the wet hay. By the next year there is no problem but the neighbors do like to point it out. So I have two questions.

#1 Has anyone found a neat way to spread that leftover hay?

#2 Obviously I am feeding too much. Any trick to tell when to turn the cows in to new bales? Thanks

All you can do is drag it with a set of harrows, or something similar. Avoid leaving large clumps of hay that are a few feet in height - takes longer for them to rot down. You'll likely be better off to not touch it at all - absolutely nothing wrong with it. Remember, your doing this to grow your organic layer of soil, and you can't buy that at the store or from the fertilizer plant - so your actually adding considerable value to your operation.

Turn cows into bales when they are done the last ones.

Don't worry about your neighbors opinions. They aren't paying your bills or giving you a paycheck. And they certainly likely wouldn't want to do anything new or something that might require some actual manual work.

 

[Stocker Steve]

You'll likely be better off to not touch it at all - absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Aaron is right.. but if you need some more work or some more expense:

1) you can put the heavy clumps into a manure spreader (there is some benefit to mixing compost)
2) you can run through it with a chisel plow (also great way to find those missing plastic bale strings) :nod:
3) you can put the bales farther out where they can not be seen from the road ;-)
4) you can feed a better quality of hay to reduce waste (cows prefer this approach)

 

[M.Magis]

I push mine all into a pile and let it compost. Then I lightly disk the bare spots, seed and drag. By July it's the best pasture I have.

 

[Stocker Steve]

True believers do not see residue as a problem.
The thing you have to realize is it takes time AND moisture to break the big piles down.
A meadow location in my area will usually take one to two years, while the top of a hill will usually take 2 to 3 years.

I bale grazed a hill by a road last year, and it looked like crap in the spring. ;-) Did a couple hours with a grapple and a spreader, and then put it into corn. Folks could not figure out why it was better looking corn the the row crop guys raised ???

 

[Stocker Steve]

I push mine all into a pile and let it compost. Then I lightly disk the bare spots, seed and drag. By July it's the best pasture I have.

A lot of the N will leach down (for the new grass) before you make the compost piles.