How many can get through a winter with only pasture grazing
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Tod Dague
Well-known member
We can do it but we are in a totally different environment. We have very mild winters and very hot summers so we feed hay in the late Summer early Fall. I think it has more to do with your cow to acre ratio than anything else. If you do not have enough land to build up a reserve sell some cows or increase your acreage.
redangus":3kbo31xo said:
Where is Buffalo Creek?
Bob Evans, of the Bob Evans restaurants, has done extensive work in southeastern Ohio on stockpiling. Do a google search on him and you can find some interesting stuff.
We could run all winter without hay, but we don't. We run our cattle with my wife's uncle who is also a very large hay grower. We run on timothy fields in the winter that have grown back well after 2nd cutting. He always has a bunch of hay that won't go export so we use it up the best we can. But we don't feed everyday either.
regenwether
Well-known member
I wish I could graze yr round. Your cost of production would drop. I run my cows on hay stubble and corn stalks. Most yrs If don't get much snow I don't have to start feeding round bales until the end of December.
randiliana
Well-known member
We can't graze year round. The amount of land that would take here is beyond our scope. Tame grass wouldn't work since what grows here doesn't hold its value. And native pasture in this area will run at max 15 head per quarter, more often under 10 head per quarter. At $40 000+ per quarter it is cheaper to buy feed.
Herefordcross
Well-known member
Variables, Variables, Variables
Nowland Farms
Well-known member
My cows have been finnishing up on the Costal Bermuda Field until today when I turned them on on the green fescue field. They will graze green grass until sometime about the middle or end of February when I pull them off the fescue. I will put them on hay and the remains of the bermuda field. This will allow the fescue to get a jump start on greenup. I expect to be cutting hay before the end of May.
Dap
Well-known member
It completely depends on our stocking rate and the weather. The last couple of winters have been great, the winter of '02-'03 was horrible. We had lots of rain this fall and a late start to the cold weather, so it looks like barring major snowfalls we'll make it another year without feeding hay. Sure makes life a lot easier.
I'm tryin it this year. I've got 10 head on 30 acre lease( 3 10 acre fields) it took 8 weeks for them to go through the first one, turned em in the secound one a couple of days ago. the land hadnt been grazed in over a year so the grass is there. supplimenting with minerals and throwin out range cubes twice a week. jp
movin' on
Well-known member
Winter grazing to me is one of the most glaring reasons why we should calve in th SPRING. That does not mean late February....it means after March 21st. Dry cows that are gestating take less feed than lactating cows and their calves. Another huge plus is not having to worry about freezing calves, moving cows into a barn, or muddy, scour ridden lots. Those cows can calve out on grass all by themselves. They do not need us to hold their hand. I'm not saying there won't be the ocassional wreck that could have been avoided if you were watching your cows 24 hours a day, but compared to the cost of feeding all winter, it would be a minimal setback at best. Remeber, everytime you start the tractor to cut the hay, bale the hay, move the hay off the field, haul the hay home, stack the hay, unstack the hay, feed the hay, and finally, to haul the manure out of the lots, it cuts into your bottom dollar. I don't believe that slightly, if any bigger calves in the fall are worth the extra cost. I think this would hold true for nearly every area of the country, but I do not know that for sure. Around here we graze milo stalks, corn stalks, alfalfa ground, volunteer wheat and dry grass. With a little protein or some protein tubs on the side, that will provide PLENTY of nutrition for a dry cow. God made them nearly the ultimate foraging machine!
novatech
Well-known member
In 03 I fed hay 28 days and 04/ 18 days so I got close. I use mainly fescue. Run 42 cows and two bulls on 118 acres. It's crossed fenced with well water. Hay comes off the fenced land so it's grazed after haying and then use 42 acres for stockpile for winter. I can't make this work without the water and cross fencing.
Once I got this all set up I went from rolling 300-350 bales per year to 150 bales per year. At the end of the second year I had over 400 rolls of hay in sheds and under a tarp. Then came the dry summer/fall of 05 and dry spring of 06. Was feeding hay this past May and June. Glad i didn't sell any of that hay.
To graze year round it takes a bit of planning. Weather has to work for it too. A dry fall or spring can throw it all out of whack. The stockpile fields have to have some extra care as well. You can only get so much tonage from an acre. Grass has to have a rest too. The stockpile fields produce slightly less hay than normal. Grazing after haying is cut short from the rest of the farm. But grazed down by August and apply 150 of 34% nitrogen before mid Sept. it turns out some of the best grass of the year from Dec. 1st on in to March. This year we have some of the best stockpile in years. But we also have had plenty of rain since Sept.
The price of nitrogen is very high as we all know. But even with the high price it looks good this year. No hay to be found local and to have it shipped in is expensive. The 42 acres has about $1,250 of nitrogen on it. Cows have been on it grazing since the day before Thanksgiving. As of right now I see no reason not to be able to graze to the 15th of March. If I had to buy hay to feed that many days I think it would cost more than the nitrogen. Plus the grass keeps the cows in far better condition than hay would.
Been stockpiling fescue since the 50's here. Was done on a smaller scale then. Mainly because of ponds freezing. I was pretty much forced in to putting well water in for the cows. Had 5 drought years in a row. It turns out that it was money well spent. It gives a lot more control to grazing.
Like the other gentleman said. Tractors cost less to operate sitting under the shed. The cows can do it so much better. They were born to eat grass. I let them do it.
:lol:
Once I got this all set up I went from rolling 300-350 bales per year to 150 bales per year. At the end of the second year I had over 400 rolls of hay in sheds and under a tarp. Then came the dry summer/fall of 05 and dry spring of 06. Was feeding hay this past May and June. Glad i didn't sell any of that hay.
To graze year round it takes a bit of planning. Weather has to work for it too. A dry fall or spring can throw it all out of whack. The stockpile fields have to have some extra care as well. You can only get so much tonage from an acre. Grass has to have a rest too. The stockpile fields produce slightly less hay than normal. Grazing after haying is cut short from the rest of the farm. But grazed down by August and apply 150 of 34% nitrogen before mid Sept. it turns out some of the best grass of the year from Dec. 1st on in to March. This year we have some of the best stockpile in years. But we also have had plenty of rain since Sept.
The price of nitrogen is very high as we all know. But even with the high price it looks good this year. No hay to be found local and to have it shipped in is expensive. The 42 acres has about $1,250 of nitrogen on it. Cows have been on it grazing since the day before Thanksgiving. As of right now I see no reason not to be able to graze to the 15th of March. If I had to buy hay to feed that many days I think it would cost more than the nitrogen. Plus the grass keeps the cows in far better condition than hay would.
Been stockpiling fescue since the 50's here. Was done on a smaller scale then. Mainly because of ponds freezing. I was pretty much forced in to putting well water in for the cows. Had 5 drought years in a row. It turns out that it was money well spent. It gives a lot more control to grazing.
Like the other gentleman said. Tractors cost less to operate sitting under the shed. The cows can do it so much better. They were born to eat grass. I let them do it.
:lol:
novatech
Well-known member
redangus":228otszs said:
I do it. Not just with stockpiling but also with sustainable forage systems.
But down here I don't have to worry about snow.
Most people simply overstock. Fewer cows can mean greater profits.
