cghoerichs":14vlnzmb said:
I'd love to try bale grazing but our winters don't seem to fit. I see you're in Canada. How do you get the posts in the ground in the winter and what about snow? Here in NW Iowa it's been double digits below 0 for quite a while and the snow drifted over the round bales out in the fields back at the end of November. I wouldn't imagine my cows would go over belly deep to get to the next set of bales or even respect electric because of the dry snow between them and ground.
I did a lot of fencing this year. About 2 miles can be attributed to preparing for this bale grazing. There is a difference, though. Most people advocate only doing a separate group with bale grazing or for a limited time. I am crazy though and always go into everything full tilt...no half way with me. I also like a lot of work in the summer, so I don't know when to stop. So in the end, I am feeding everything (~100 head), minus my bulls, this way. Anyways, long answer short, wooden posts were augered and set in Aug/Sept/Oct and then wire strung. 4' Metal rod posts are set into the centers of the bales.
Snow is drifting around my bales too. Don't worry about it. You won't get as much snow as I will this winter. People were telling me that bales would be completely covered in snow. In truth, when bales are separated apart, snow drifts around them, not over them. It is when you put multiple bales in a row, tight together, that you get the big drifts and 2' of snow on top of them.
Until lately, my cows respected one hot wire. Now, with a good 18 inches of snow underneath them, I have had to string a ground wire, 1' below the hot wire, moving both when feeding the bales. Respect for the fence has now returned. It has been a steady -35F without wind here for the last week or so.
