letting cattle do the fertilizing ???

[rw77]

just wandering if winter feeding cattle on the pasture fields by constantly moving the bale feeders around in the pasture is good or bad , or just feed in one area and scatter with manure spreader ?
I'm sure this has been talked about on hear but I've looked .
id appreciate opinions on the pros and cons. thanks

 

[HDRider]

I tried that my first year. Tore the place up.

 

[Dave]

It depends a lot on your location and conditions. Over on the coast where we got 60 inches of rain I fed using a fenceline feeder and the cows on concrete. The manure got pushed into a bunk and spread in the spring. Here with 10-12 inches of annual rain and the fields frozen most all winter they all get fed on the hay fields which are irrigated in the summer. But nobody uses hay rings. Most of the hay is big squares. Slow moving truck or tractor/trailer with a flake kicked off every 15/20 feet. Those feeding round bales use those hydraulic spinners. Spin off small piles with 15/20 feet in between. The hay rings cause a lot of animals to spend a lot of time in one spot which causes damage. Also spreading it out allows everyone an equal chance to eat.

 

[sstterry]

just wandering if winter feeding cattle on the pasture fields by constantly moving the bale feeders around in the pasture is good or bad , or just feed in one area and scatter with manure spreader ?
I'm sure this has been talked about on hear but I've looked .
id appreciate opinions on the pros and cons. thanks

Unroll the hay in different places rather than using the feeder.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Feed on pasture as much as possible. Bale grazing, unrolling take your pick. Let the cows do the work of spreading the manure.

 

[M.Magis]

I’ve had good luck feeding on poor pastures, just moving the rings each time. It does require disking/dragging and some seed in the spring, but it really helped the soil.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I try and stay off pasture, but I usually winter my cows on corn stalks. They get hay on stalks, but come in every night for silage. Locked up over night. I clean the lot once a week and haul manure where I cut silage or places in crop fields that are low in P & K.

 

[alacowman1]

Don't think it will benefit you enough but ,I would definitely unroll it..feeding it whole in a ring .,they will chop up the ground around it..unroll it and it will reseed better..plus they're not stomping around in one spot,but are constantly moving ..

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Since I started unrolling 5-7? Years ago the areas I feed on have the best grass all summer. And during last summers drought those areas had the only green grass on the farm.

Scraping, piling, loading, hauling, and spreading manure burns way more fuel and time than it takes me to feed the cows everyday.

 

[chaded]

I have tried to bale graze and do the move the feeder thing here and it is just way too muddy. Between the cows churning up the ground and the tractor there is too much damage for me. I will say that i do see some benefit but it is two growing seasons later.

Unrolling with my utv seems to work out better. Everything is spread out better, not much damage to the ground, and the grass is growing well the immediate growing season after.

 

[1982vett]

I do both. I unroll when ground conditions are dry and not overly wet. Rings when weather and ground gets wet moving the rings every bale and feeding on less productive, hard dry natured ground.

Weather and the conditions it gives me determines how and where I feed.

 

[RDFF]

Unrolling is best for even manure and residue distribution, as long as, and whenever the ground will support it. You won't have the dead spots to deal with for a couple of years. Anytime you can get the animal to do for you what you otherwise would have to do with labor, diesel fuel and equipment, you'll be money ahead.

 

[Brute 23]

I prefer to unroll but it doesn't always work out if you are not there every day or couple of days to do it. Hay rings are more for keeping it "stored" while they eat it. I do move my rings across the pasture though every time I reload them. I rarely leave them in the same spot for more than one bale.

 

[RDFF]

With rings, you'll inevitably end up with dead spots, just like you will with "bale grazing", probably even worse. Too much manure and wasted hay and far too much hoof impact in one spot, to prevent damaging the turf, even in "perfect feeding conditions", OR even when the ground remains frozen. If the ground isn't solidly frozen, you'll have it stepped into the mud.

By unrolling, you'll spread out the hoof impact from ALL of the animals, all of the time, and you'll spread out the manure and wasted hay residue as well, so that the existing turf can survive, and more likely, even THRIVE much more fully across the whole field. Isn't that the overall goal... to get the animals fed during the bale feeding time, but to also as much as possible end up with a pasture where they are fed during the bale feeding time that then also can thrive more abundantly during pasture growing season?

The drawback of course is the investment in time and equipment to accomplish that goal. No one will deny that the manure can be a valuable resource for the next and future season's pasture, IF managed properly (spread evenly across the pasture so as to fertilize appropriately, instead of simply piled up... i.e. overapplied... in a few select spots at a level so heavy that the pasture is smothered/burned until the applied fertility is diluted and broken down enough by time). Few will fail to recognize the similar value in the wasted (uneaten) forage residues, again, if managed properly.

So it really is about how willing you are to invest in the management of your resources, in order to maximize the potential for return on that investment. The way I see it, you can spend time and equipment to properly fertilize your pastures with a resource that you already have (the manure and uneaten forage), or you can "manage less appropriately" that resource, and then spend time, equipment, and $$$$ to purchase it elsewhere......... the choice is up to you.

 

[RDFF]

One of my herds finding swaths that were unrolled before 11" of snow fell on it. Limiting their access with polywire. 150 head here. I generally prefer to time my unrolling to avoid covering it with snow, but they'll find it anyway, as you can see here.

This is the homemade unroller that I use, my son at the controls. This was a rare "really nice day" in December. About 30 degrees.

This is the result, taken right after unrolling recently. 5 new swaths, each 1/4 mile long. You can see the old swath from the previous unrolling, between the second and third new swath from the right. These are REALLY crappy bales of mostly giant ragweed stems, and that was unrolled about the same swath density as you see on the new ones here. They've cleaned up everything but that ragweed. I was going to be gone for a few days after unrolling here, so gave them more than I typically do, although it's not uncommon for me to unroll as much as 2 weeks ahead, and then just limit them with polywire. By doing this, you can pick and choose what days you want to be out there in (nasty weather, frozen ground vs. mud, heavy snow coming, etc.) Yes, they do lay on it some (if you're not limiting thier access daily with polywire), and they'll crap on it too some, but as long as it's staying frozen, the manure up here in Minnesota doesn't get alot of chance to spoil much hay........... freezes as fast as it comes out the back end most of the time, and then stays that way till they've cleaned up all the edible hay. This is "the other herd". 85 head here currently.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Feed in one area, scoop it up, and spread on your hay fields. Since that's where the manure technically came from. Unless you're buying it, then do whatever.

 

[wbvs58]

Do you have dung beetles that survive the cold that bury the manure for you in summer?

Ken

 

[Stocker Steve]

It is - 33 here. No damage today. No dung beetles either.

Aside from fuel and time and wear n tear - - you lose a lot of nutrients in a "dry" lot situation.

 

[Brute 23]

I don't get damage with hay rings if I move them between bales. Not sure if it's the koving or soil or grass or what. I don't over feed though either. They clean it up before they get another.

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

Happy cows