Hay cost per cow

[randiliana]

Hey Randiliana, any chance you have some hay land attached to pasture? I've got 2 quarters of alfalfa on either side of my home pasture, and I'm going to string a fence around it. Come fall, I'm going to boot the cows out on it and let them find their own chow until the snow is too deep for them to get it. I think I'll be able to keep them on pasture until at least December, and the occasional year, January. For this area, thats fair long time since we get such heavy snows.

This year would have been perfect, since we didn't have enough regrowth on much of it to make second cutting worthwhile, but there was plenty of grazing out there. Even with a foot of snow on the ground, there are some tops out there for them, and most of my rangy Shorthorn cows aren't above rootin' through the snow to get what they want.

Rod

Nope, most of our hayland is rented, and the guy won't let us graze it. He's worried that it will cause it to produce less. We only have about 200 acres of alfalfa, and we grazed half of it for the summer, and the rest is grazed off now. Plus, froze off alfalfa isn't any better than crested wheat or brome...

But, we have rented a half section of farmland, with a big coulee running through it, and we won't likely have to feed until January. That is as late as we really want to let the cows graze since we calve in March, and they need some good quality feed so they can drop good healthy calves and have the colostrum and milk they need too. So far our biggest problem is water, since it is too warm and the holes are spring fed and way too soft. We have cows with mud halfway up thier sides. It is supposed to cool off though and then the ground should freeze up!!

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

But, we have rented a half section of farmland, with a big coulee running through it, and we won't likely have to feed until January.

Ah you lucky "sutherners" A big coullee up here would just fill full of snow and I'd be dragging idiot cows out of it with a rope and horse. :lol:

Rod

 

[Jogeephus]

I was too embarrassed to say, if I use my Brother's cost it could be $90 per cow which I thought was crazy. Hopefully we have an early and wet Spring. I was reading a book today by Allan Nations and he said hay or feed cost is 70 % of the cost to maintain a cow during the year.

I think that is cheap. You must have winter grazing as well. If so, how much is this costing you per cow?

Did you read in the book about stockpiling bermuda? Sounded interesting so I checked with a friend about this at the grazing station. He said they did some studies on it but the nutritional value goes down so much he thought I'd be better off rolling it and feeding it later.

Also talked to cattle econ guy. He said if you plant winter grazing such as rye or oats - you need to get at least 110 days of grazing to break even - otherwise you are in the hole.

So this leaves me feeding hay with no supplementation for a much longer period than three rolls will get me.

 

[randiliana]

But, we have rented a half section of farmland, with a big coulee running through it, and we won't likely have to feed until January.

Ah you lucky "sutherners" A big coullee up here would just fill full of snow and I'd be dragging idiot cows out of it with a rope and horse. :lol:

Rod

Hah, that could happen here too, wouldn't actually mind it, bu not until January ;-) . Actually we usually see snow like that once every 5 or more years!!

 

[Mosho]

What is the average weight of a 4X5 bale of hay? The hay we bought this year weighed 800 lbs. per bale. We paid 30.00 per bale for Argentine Bahia. I don't know if we got a good deal or not.

 

[Central Fl Cracker]

My brother ( Ricker ) also said we have to buy molasses which makes no sense since we are going to feed them hay during the winter. At this rate we are tapping into too much of the gross profits.

 

[Jogeephus]

My brother ( Ricker ) also said we have to buy molasses which makes no sense since we are going to feed them hay during the winter. At this rate we are tapping into too much of the gross profits.

What's the nutrient analysis of your hay. If its low, he may be right. If its high, he may be wrong.

 

[Tod Dague]

I wonder what reducing the number of head per acre to the amount where you could winter all the animals without feeding hay would do to the profit numbers?

I keep thinking that instead of buying hay , if I rented more land and spread my cattle out , I would be dollars ahead. The only problem is I am having trouble finding more land to rent.

That is basically what we have done. I have been able to rent land cheaper than I could buy hay. They graze on rye grass and burr medic from late Fall to mid April. I have recently found out that in some areas rye grass is little more than water so it may not work for you. We get our last productive rain fall around the end of June to early July and the grass goes down hill after that. I'm hoping that I have rented enough that I won't have to feed any hay next year but I will buy some just in case. Nothing like being caught with your pants down. ;-)

 

[Wewild]

We can support 2 cows per acre on our hay fields on average through the winter. We're at per cow $45 cut, raked and baled. $0 -$5 for chicken litter and roughly $11 in taxes.

We would be at $64 per cow per winter for hay without fuel, wear on the equipment, and time.

Depending on the winter it could be more.

Edit. I forgot to divide the taxes by 2 and the winter issue.