Put Out My Last Round Bale

[dun]

Ended up buying one bale last week cause the girls were not out grazing like they should have been. They went to work on it right away but slowed down a few days later and took to grazing. Now, if it ever will dry up I'll get all the waste scraped up for compost.

What do you use to scrape or pile your waste hay up with?

I've tried a 5' landscape rake, 3 pt mounted straight blade, box blade, and backhoe front bucket, and can't say any of them work very well-----of those, the box blade with scarifier teeth all the way down seems to work best, tho the landscape rake might work if it were a lot heavier.

If I have to scrape any up I just lilt the loader bucket so that it's perpendicular to the ground, put a bit of down force on it and back up.

 

[cowgirl8]

I started rotation, no more hay feeding for us. Did anyone in 2009 get so much rain that baling hay was almost impossible...droughts arent the only thing that starts a hay shortage.

 

[M-5]

I have found that if I add 2 more pallet forks (total of 4 forks) on my loader it works very good at sliding under a hay pile and picking it up. I always pile it in a depression area in my cow lot. Its a mountain for about a year then its gone it is slowly filling it in.

 

[skyhightree1]

Burn it and drag it.

Burning works if the hay through and through is dry if not it will only burn the top portion that is dry. I am dealing with that now.

 

[Jogeephus]

I'm always jealous of you guys down south, and your warm season grasses. My WSG is a long way from being grazeable, but my fescue is really starting to come on. I have had so many failed attempts at rye and oats, that I finally just gave up. I had 45 acres of oats completely fail last year. I planted an acre and a half of rye just fooling around with it this year, and it was a 100% success. Not even sure if my bermuda will be able to come out because the rye is so thick.

I'm always jealous of you guys who can grow fescue.

Bigfoot, you touched on a point that has interested me for some time. Like M5 said, our grasses are different. Any better than yours? I don't think so. Though its true we have some grasses that will produce as much tonnage in four months as some of your grasses do in eight the bottom line is it pretty well shuts down completely when the temperature cools down. This fast growth comes with some major problems because as you know the nutrition drops after about 30 days and it will go rank and become very poor feed and is very washy when its growing fast. During the summer months when some of the faster grasses are at their peak it will require 6-10 pair just to keep the grass at a nutritious stage and this is problematic.

To remedy this, I've varied my grasses and use some of the slower more steady growing grasses to fill the gaps within the year and in so doing I'll have grazing for 8-9 months. 12 if I plant annuals but these are not really cost effective in a cow calf operation. IF, I could grow fescue, I am convinced I would never have to feed one bale of hay and life. This is why I envy you and your ability to grow fescue but in reality we both have obstacles, different as they may be but similar as well because we both are dealing with the Curse of Eve which adds validity to the old saying the grass isn't any greener on the other side because we are both cursed.

 

[Bigfoot]

I'm always jealous of you guys down south, and your warm season grasses. My WSG is a long way from being grazeable, but my fescue is really starting to come on. I have had so many failed attempts at rye and oats, that I finally just gave up. I had 45 acres of oats completely fail last year. I planted an acre and a half of rye just fooling around with it this year, and it was a 100% success. Not even sure if my bermuda will be able to come out because the rye is so thick.

I'm always jealous of you guys who can grow fescue.

Bigfoot, you touched on a point that has interested me for some time. Like M5 said, our grasses are different. Any better than yours? I don't think so. Though its true we have some grasses that will produce as much tonnage in four months as some of your grasses do in eight the bottom line is it pretty well shuts down completely when the temperature cools down. This fast growth comes with some major problems because as you know the nutrition drops after about 30 days and it will go rank and become very poor feed and is very washy when its growing fast. During the summer months when some of the faster grasses are at their peak it will require 6-10 pair just to keep the grass at a nutritious stage and this is problematic.

To remedy this, I've varied my grasses and use some of the slower more steady growing grasses to fill the gaps within the year and in so doing I'll have grazing for 8-9 months. 12 if I plant annuals but these are not really cost effective in a cow calf operation. IF, I could grow fescue, I am convinced I would never have to feed one bale of hay and life. This is why I envy you and your ability to grow fescue but in reality we both have obstacles, different as they may be but similar as well because we both are dealing with the Curse of Eve which adds validity to the old saying the grass isn't any greener on the other side because we are both cursed.

Your exactly right, in your reasoning. One of my "life goals" is to establish enough warm season grass on my place to hold all of my cow calf pairs from Mid July to late august. Maybe then, I could rest my fescue, during its dormant period. I may never get there. I can't help but think, if it was possible, more people would be doing it.

 

[Jogeephus]

I'm trying to do the same but at another time. Keeps things interesting and keeps the grey cells working. I don't think I'll get there either but no harm in trying. Am doing some homework on a couple of things but haven't stepped in the water yet but it looks like I can close my hole by another month. Baby steps for sure but a month is a month but I'm sure it will come with a cost but we'll see. No harm in trying.

 

[slick4591]

What do you use to scrape or pile your waste hay up with?

I've tried a 5' landscape rake, 3 pt mounted straight blade, box blade, and backhoe front bucket, and can't say any of them work very well-----of those, the box blade with scarifier teeth all the way down seems to work best, tho the landscape rake might work if it were a lot heavier.

I use the bucket on the FEL. Tilt it anyway I can get it in a pile it and get it in the loader.

 

[ddd75]

I'm always jealous of you guys down south, and your warm season grasses. My WSG is a long way from being grazeable, but my fescue is really starting to come on. I have had so many failed attempts at rye and oats, that I finally just gave up. I had 45 acres of oats completely fail last year. I planted an acre and a half of rye just fooling around with it this year, and it was a 100% success. Not even sure if my bermuda will be able to come out because the rye is so thick.

i'm in northern ky and my cows last year were 100% on pasture on march 20.

this year on march 12th they were almost completely on pasture. I'm feeding 1 bale every 2 days right now just because i have the hay and I'm letting the grass grow up. i could of had them on pasture on the 12th though.

 

[nobull82]

I wish my pasture was green and tall!

 

[M-5]

Well I'm not complaining but I turned 25 head in on 4 acres of oats, clover and common Bermuda 2 days ago and it looks like I won't move them till Sunday. A lot different story this year than last.

 

[greybeard]

Burn it and drag it.

Can't. Been one of the wettest winters in memory and if it were dry, I still couldn't. Natl Forest all around me---they've gotten really really hard to get along with in the last few years regarding smoke.

 

[Bigfoot]

Today, and yesterday, I've woke up to ice ice in my tanks. That'll slow grass down a bunch.

 

[dun]

Today, and yesterday, I've woke up to ice ice in my tanks. That'll slow grass down a bunch.

We didn;t have ice but i snowed yesterday and again this morning. Ah, spring!

 

[herofan]

I'm still feeding as usual, although I expect it to end soon. My other pasture isn't quite ready to turn them on yet.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Over a foot of snow this past week, and the temp was -11 this morning. Hopefully only have to feed hay for another 6 weeks or so.

 

[reeler]

Put a new bale out this morning, they all came running.Grass has come up, but still short.They still prefer hay, easy pickins!

 

[thommoos]

I put out my last bale 3 weeks ago, Lucky for me the rye grass was coming up with a vengance. Sunday it was 4 to 6 inches high. Good rain yesterday am and warm into the 80's this week. It took them 2 weeks to eat that one bale and they did not clean it up well at all.

Calves are now from 2 months to 1 month old. I am starting the creep feeder tomorrow. I am going through minerals real quick right now, about 40lbs per 10 head every two weeks.

very thankful for the rain and warm days, rye grass should take off, till warm grasses kick in.

 

[herofan]

I put out my last roll last week. I fed 86, 5ft rolls to 17 cows this winter. That's down from last year's 104 rolls.

 

[gizmom]

We started selling the hay we had left three weeks ago, and we had a bunch left. I think we have another 20 rolls to sell. We will harvest a couple of rye grass pastures and put it in the barn in a couple of weeks for drought insurance. We really didn't feed much hay this winter our winter pastures came in pretty good so the only ones getting hay were the ones not being rotated onto winter pastures. It was a good problem to have for sure.

gizmom