Hay, January and Markets

Help Support CattleToday:

Banjo":20hyez0d said:
TennesseeTuxedo":20hyez0d said:
Thank you TB. I have a lot to learn about hay and nutrition.

What kind of grass/hay do you have? I'm guessing its fescue and orchardgrass and clover like I do, unless I'm mistaken.
Cool season grasses just get better as it gets colder up to a point. So up here, your fescue baled in the fall should be more nutritious cause it will be mostly blades, unless you bale it in the spring in the boot stage which nobody rarely does. One reason most people don't is because it is rarely hay weather the 1st of May....too damp too cool.
These fine people down south are baling mostly warm season grasses like Bermuda, bahai, etc. A horse of a different color in some ways.

Yes, similar to your hay fields.

Testing is something I need to start doing to the hay we buy off the farm.
 
TexasBred":3jz4m1md said:
inyati13":3jz4m1md said:
Are some of you saying that fertilizer will not increase yields? The laws of physics say you cannot get something if your input is nothing. If N is in short supply, how does a plant build protein when N is the key element in a protein? Plants need K and P to build cell walls and roots. For example, phosphorus (P) is an essential part of the process of photosynthesis. It effects rapid growth and encourages root growth. I wasted a lot of time in high school agriculture class if fertilizer does not affect yields.
Nobody said it didnt' affect yields. I hope you also studied some in agriculture about the value of water in growing grass....without it what happens to your fertilizer?? And your yields???

Yep. We are fortunate here. Rainfall is reliable. I agree also, that the quality benefits from the macronutrients N-P-K
 
kenny,
I've seen way too much grass hay that tested out at 2-3%CP and <30%TDN - and, as Nesi indicated, cows will starve to death eating all of it they can take in - especially if it's a bad winter.
Unless you're REALLY looking at the cows, you'd think they were fine - they have a huge belly - but may have dropped to a BCS 2 or lower - and often, they 'run out of gas' right at the end of the winter, with green grass just over the horizon.
 
I don't know what the numbers are on protein in my hay, but judging by the size of my calves at birth (100 lb average), I don't think they're short of it. I'm trying something new this year, I fed first cut alfalfa/grass from Dec 15th until now,.. Now they're getting an Oat/Barley/Alfalfa mix, I have 600 bales of that or so, which is about 6 weeks worth, which will bring me to the beginning of calving. I'll see what the birthweights do this year. Cows aren't fat, and aren't skinny except for a couple.. Weather is very warm here now, somewhere in the mid 40's for this week.
 

Latest posts

Top