Bale Grazing

[ClinchValley86]

If one of your primary goals is to improve the pasture's fertility and grass growing ability, then unrolling is in most cases the best, most economical way to feed to achieve that goal across a lot more area.......... seems obvious right? Spread everything out across more ground, improve more ground faster. If you're buying in hay, you're bringing fertility from somebody else's acres and fertilization program and applying it to your acres.

If I was "buying and applying fertilizer" (meaning inorganic fertilizer) to make my pasture grow more feed, would I haul it out there and put it on a pile, or on "multiple piles", or would I try to spread it somewhat evenly across the whole pasture? Would I perhaps, in order to build up a specific area that's more deficient and in need of more work, potentially spread "more" fertilizer over that area... like is done with "variable rate spreading"? Absolutely... THOSE are the value-added benefits gained by bale unrolling, vs. bale grazing. But nothing is "free" in this world... that benefit comes with a cost in labor, fuel, and equipment.

If your goal of lowest cost to FEED the hay (labor/fuel/equipment/etc,.) is your primary goal (NOT the lowest cost for the fed hay itself, because of potential for waste), then bale grazing is your best bet. It can't compete with grazing stockpiled feed though, if you can accomplish that.

I feed whole bales on broomsage areas and the poorest of ground. I've tried unrolling on the poor ground. The improvement isn't nearly as drastic.

I think it's great either way.

 

[ClinchValley86]

As Littletom stated use your soil maps to determine which soil will respond the most to treatment. There is a limit to how productive a soil can be. Some soils will respond to a high level and some soils not so much. Feed the good soil more than the bad soil. Your soil maps will tell you where those soils are.

I think unrolling on good soil is best. And bale grazing on the poor soil give ya the improvement you need, on year 2. Just my 2 cents.

 

[ClinchValley86]

I always hope there are not any seeds. For us, that would be cutting too late.

Hard to make first cut here without seeds. I try to catch them early on though so they'll hang on through the baling process.

Nothing bugs me more than buying hay with the seedheads beat off. It's something that'll make me pass on buying that hay. I like to see intact seedheads and unshatterer leaves.

Yall get on it before it heads out in spring?

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Well, dairymen will start 1st cutting in May, but they green chop. We get 1st cutting 1st week in June. Should be in boot or just breaking boot. All put up baleage. RARELY, would have the weather to put up dry.
We don't have grazing until end of April -ish. 2nd cut in August, and generally put up some baleage and some dry....big rounds net wrapped and 2 wagons squares.

 

[ClinchValley86]

Well, dairymen will start 1st cutting in May, but they green chop. We get 1st cutting 1st week in June. Should be in boot or just breaking boot. All put up baleage. RARELY, would have the weather to put up dry.
We don't have grazing until end of April -ish. 2nd cut in August, and generally put up some baleage and some dry....big rounds net wrapped and 2 wagons squares.

I'd love to try making some baleage someday. Sounds fantastic.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Great feed. In Upstate NY, we rarely see 3 full days of sunshine other than maybe in July/Aug. If we want only dry, then we would end up with like you described all seeded out, low quality feed. My baleage is generally 15-16% protein. That's higher than a beef cow should need, but mine calve in Jan/Feb and heavy milkers and some have fall calves nursing, so this hay is perfect for my program.
I do not own ANY hay equipment except the front and rear spears on my tractor. My hay guy is a small dairyman. He does his first, then mine always same week each year.

 

[ClinchValley86]

Great feed. In Upstate NY, we rarely see 3 full days of sunshine other than maybe in July/Aug. If we want only dry, then we would end up with like you described all seeded out, low quality feed. My baleage is generally 15-16% protein. That's higher than a beef cow should need, but mine calve in Jan/Feb and heavy milkers and some have fall calves nursing, so this hay is perfect for my program.
I do not own ANY hay equipment except the front and rear spears on my tractor. My hay guy is a small dairyman. He does his first, then mine always same week each year.

Sounds awesome. It sure does not pencil out to own hay equipment unless it's older stuff bought cheap.

We tried cheap route, wasn't cheap for long.

 

[RDFF]

1) It was cleared a month before I started feeding hay
2) It was 6 pairs (fall calving, so wet cows) and 1 bred heifer. I estimated 8,000 lbs of live weight. I fed 70 bales. Last hay was fed in early May.
3) Yes, I did reseed. Fairly heavy.
4) I took soil samples from the area several years before. I have not taken one after yet.
5) Yes

The way I calculate for hay, it takes about one large round per cow per month, depending on how big the cows are... and that's with a young calf at side (fall calved). So if you fed for 5 months (in Kentucky, you really shouldn't need to be feeding that long...) 5x7 = 35 bales............... looks like you fed almost twice as much hay as I would. Not "wasted"... just feeding the biology in the soil. If that's your goal, it's not all bad.

 

[JJColvin]

The way I calculate for hay, it takes about one large round per cow per month, depending on how big the cows are... and that's with a young calf at side (fall calved). So if you fed for 5 months (in Kentucky, you really shouldn't need to be feeding that long...) 5x7 = 35 bales............... looks like you fed almost twice as much hay as I would. Not "wasted"... just feeding the biology in the soil. If that's your goal, it's not all bad.i

I have only a small herd after retiring early and I must be what's called a hobby farmer because my only profit is what I eat. But I'm having a great time and spend a lot of time collecting data and breaking it down for comparisons. I've looked closely at hay consumption and feeding out of rings I've found that a 900-1000# Angus cow will eat 40#s of high quality hay (14% Bermuda) with approximately 5#s of that wastage. My purchased bales from the same supplier each year weigh 950 - 1000#s so that's 25 days to a bale. 4 years ago I bought a winters worth of bad hay and they fed at a rate of 36 days to the bale. That was 27#s per day and I had to supplement with some grain. Now I pay $.05 a lb ($50 a bale) for hay so my cows are eating almost exactly $2.00 worth of hay a day X 5 months or 150 days is $300 per year. So every calf dropped already has a $300 price tag on him.

 

[RDFF]

Yup.... smaller bales AND smaller cows than what I'm feeding. I figured that was coming into play some. I'm feeding 5x6's.

 

[DNelson]

I have only a small herd after retiring early and I must be what's called a hobby farmer because my only profit is what I eat. But I'm having a great time and spend a lot of time collecting data and breaking it down for comparisons. I've looked closely at hay consumption and feeding out of rings I've found that a 900-1000# Angus cow will eat 40#s of high quality hay (14% Bermuda) with approximately 5#s of that wastage. My purchased bales from the same supplier each year weigh 950 - 1000#s so that's 25 days to a bale. 4 years ago I bought a winters worth of bad hay and they fed at a rate of 36 days to the bale. That was 27#s per day and I had to supplement with some grain. Now I pay $.05 a lb ($50 a bale) for hay so my cows are eating almost exactly $2.00 worth of hay a day X 5 months or 150 days is $300 per year. So every calf dropped already has a $300 price tag on him.

and thats just part of the carrying costs for the calf. calculate land, labor, vet, etc. and its a wonder how anyone can turn a few dollars on calves.

 

[Muletrack]

Has anyone had first hand experience bale grazing on old worn out pasture ground? I have been overrun with three-awn grass due to lack of fertility and desirable cool season grasses and am debating trying it out this winter. Would be curious to hear from those who have tried and liked it as well as those who would never try it again.

Thanks in advance!

I am increasingly using bale grazing. It is great here in the frozen north (East Central North Dakota). At times I just graze the bales where they fall. Very little waste. I've left quite a few on a rough hayfield last fall just so I can turn cows out to them next month when the yard gets too sloppy to feed. I may or may not use poly wire. Past experience says I don't need it. Will move herd to rye in May. Bale hayfield again in July or early August. Very little waste

 

[DNelson]

I am increasingly using bale grazing. It is great here in the frozen north (East Central North Dakota). At times I just graze the bales where they fall. Very little waste. I've left quite a few on a rough hayfield last fall just so I can turn cows out to them next month when the yard gets too sloppy to feed. I may or may not use poly wire. Past experience says I don't need it. Will move herd to rye in May. Bale hayfield again in July or early August. Very little waste

I'm trying to get bale grazing going for next year. I'm in north central MN. probably a combination of bale grazing and bale placement due to winters with lots of snow like this winter. I think it will work for late fall/ early winter and then again in spring when the big thaw is happening.

 

[ClinchValley86]

The orange in the background is the property line. Our field looked the same in 2016. This is the first winter ive fed whole bales on it. Usually just unroll. But it sure has got rid of the bs. This was on wet ground.

This is the amount wasted. Gave em enough for 1 day at a time. Every couple days delay giving more so they'll clean up the previous couple days waste.


This year I will set them out in fall, or every couple weeks set a bunch out. Really rutted up one section of the farm taking bales back there daily.

 

[anewcomer]

Excellent! 30 years ago, I did the same thing on different paddocks. Once you figure out how much they will eat in a given number of days, you can reduce the number of days you have to move polywire. I was on fixed paddocks and placed the appropriate number of bales out weekly. We had about 7 paddocks, so only had to crank the tractor weekly. Getting them to clean up is critical, and figuring out how many bales/ move is important.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

If thats what my ground looked like in winter I would probably bale graze and set out a week or 2s worth of bales and then move poly wire to allow them new bales as needed.

Currently we have about 4 feet of snow on the ground so moving polywire and getting cows to move thru the snow would be nearly impossible.

 

[Muletrack]

It is hard to get it through our heads that nothing we put out there is wasted. It becomes part of the soil. It's a good thing.

 

[Rmc]

Feed cows hay in pasture areas is one of our keys in increasing forage quality and number of acres of forage.
But we don't bale graze. Feed daily and spread it out . I have feed all sizes of bales that way. Everything from small squares, to round, 3x3x8 to5x6 ect.
all our cows do better when we feed that way as well , because all can find and eat rather then the feed being guarded by the dominants of the group.
In the spring we drag the fields to spread out the left over hay and the cow manure.

 

[ClinchValley86]

Feed cows hay in pasture areas is one of our keys in increasing forage quality and number of acres of forage.
But we don't bale graze. Feed daily and spread it out . I have feed all sizes of bales that way. Everything from small squares, to round, 3x3x8 to5x6 ect.
all our cows do better when we feed that way as well , because all can find and eat rather then the feed being guarded by the dominants of the group.
In the spring we drag the fields to spread out the left over hay and the cow manure.

I put 2 bales out daily for 65 ish head of all sizes. They all seem to get a turn.

They've been on about 30 acres all winter. Ive moved feeding areas daily, one side of the field to the other. This 30 acres of usually 4 separatefields, but i pulled the gates off and give em the whole thing. Its really helped me stretch my hay. Went into winter with decent warm season stockpile. But it was worthless from a nutrient standpoint after November.

Greened up in early Feb and they've been balancing themselves out.

In a couple weeks I'll start moving daily on ground that's rested since September. That will give this ground at least 30 or 45 days rest. Then will quickly graze and let rest a while again. It's got a heck of a warm season stand come June. I'm hoping lots of crabgrass from being beat up so badly.

Dominant animals eat at new bales first. Timid ones clean up previous days bales til there is room to get around the two bales.

I do occasionally place a third iut if they get short changed the day before.

 

[ClinchValley86]

If thats what my ground looked like in winter I would probably bale graze and set out a week or 2s worth of bales and then move poly wire to allow them new bales as needed.

Currently we have about 4 feet of snow on the ground so moving polywire and getting cows to move thru the snow would be nearly impossible.

I am so tired of mud. It's been a rough one. I'd trade ya for a winter just to see what snow cover is like. My tractor belly rubs the ground when I feed. Thought I was stuck the other day. I've ruined a 60 foot wide alley.