how much hay to cut
- Thread starter trin
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Jogeephus
Well-known member
Depends on the type of grass you can grow for hay and the number of cuttings you can get. I try to figure 4-5 rolls per cow. I can normally get 4 cuttings a year. So in my area about 3.5 acres would do.
ArrowHBrand
Well-known member
The more the merrier. IMO you can never have too much hay put up for winter.
bigbull338
Well-known member
if it was me id allow 10acs of hay field to feed 10 cows.but thats just me.youd need 40 rolls a yr give or take.
grannysoo
Well-known member
All good answers above....... You might also want to factor in a dry spring like we had this year. Winter was over and there was no rain. We fed hay an additional 3 months this year.
ArrowHBrand
Well-known member
grannysoo":1dpm2s71 said:
Good thinking, this is why we bought some extra hay this year. We let cows out to pasture this spring and it was so wet that without the sun that grass didn't grow worth a hoot. We spent the summer playing catchup with pasture rotation. We plan on feeding our cows about a month longer this winter.
dyates
Well-known member
Depends on how good your hay is and whether you fertilize. We generally figure 3-4 5x5 rolls will get a cow through a normal winter. We also try to roll at least 30-40 percent extra to get us through drought years like this. We generally only make two cuttings per year on grass. Average 3 rolls per acre on first cutting, 1-2 rolls per acre on second cutting. Thank goodness we had leftover hay this year.
badaxemoo
Well-known member
trin":sm8btj2n said:
I usually cut it all and sell what I don't feed. ;-)
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
Another thing to consider is waste. I went to the vertical hay cradles, based on Caustic's input. I no longer use the rings. I get much less waste on my round bales. With the rings, once the rounds were eaten down, the cows would push the rings off of the stack and stomp the hay down into the ground, poop in it etc. They cannot do that with the hay cradles which probably makes them about 30% more efficient (guestimate on the 30%). 30% of 200 bales is quite a bit of hay.
trin":8bg7zcvu said:
NONE: Buy your hay it is alot cheaper than rolling just enough hay for 10 cows. Use your land for pasture and in a wet year let some one else cut it, if it needs it, or bank your grass for winter.
If you just got to cut your own hay, grow enough for 4 time what you need and you will just get buy in a dry year. You will need to sell hay in the wet years when hay is cheap and everbody has hay.
For 10 cows just buy it. Don't roll the dice on the rain.
Central Fl Cracker
Well-known member
I would like to see one also.
