Wintering cows without hay

[JRGidaho`]

I had a request to begin a new thread on wintering beef cows without hay from comments I had made on the "Feeding hay" thread started by 'killingtime'.

When we ranched in northern Missouri we wintered on stockpiled pastures. A lot of the pastures contained quite a bit of tall fescue but we learned over the years we could stockpile almost anything. We ran both a base commercial cow herd and then we custom grazed different classes of cattle. The key to our success was we set our cow herd size based on what we could graze through the winter and consumed the excess spring and early summer flush with custom grazed animals.

A lot of people asked how much we had to reduce our cow herd to accomplish this. While we reduced the number of cows we carried, the annual stocking rate in terms of total animal units carried on the property increased by about 30%. This was because we changed the pattern of use to better match the forage growth cycles. Net return per acre also increased significantly.

Our custom grazing period was from early April to mid August. We used about 1/3rd of the farm for custom grazing each year and then those same acres are what we stockpiled for winter cow feed. We changed which third was used each year so we didn't come back to the same ground for wintering for three years.

We got to the point where we made no hay and fed very little or no hay. Occasional ice storms forced us to feed hay a few days most winters.

Then we sold out and moved to Idaho. Here we run one unit of a larger ranch. We are about 1000 ft higher elevation than the main ranch so we just have cattle here from April thru January. Right now we are grazing stockpiled pasture under a center pivot. Sometimes we graze swaths and sometimes just stockpile. The cattle go down to the lower ranch for calving in March-April. Too early as far as I'm concerned, but I'm not the one calving them out and I don't call the shots down there.

We move the cattle to a new strip of pasture or swaths every day using polybraid on reels and step-in posts. Right now we have 329 dry cows up here and it takes about 20 minutes per day to feed them.

As an aside, we use about 1 gallon of fuel per 100 cows per month.

 

[novatech]

I manage the quantity of stockpiled forage by the stocking rate. Rather than custom I can buy stockers. I do not have the pastures divided near as well as I should. If I managed the way you are with the electric fence then I am certain I could graze more cattle. The best part is that when the drought took all the grass I did not have to cull or then down the herd.
I do have winter grass and clover then provide a lot of forage but the are lulls between seasons where the stockpiled forge is used.

 

[JRGidaho`]

nova,

We chose the custom grazing route as a lower risk option. At that stage of the game we would have needed to borrow money to buy stockers. With custom grazing we had no cash outlay for the cattle. At different times we grazed stockers, replacement heifers, pairs, dry pregnant fall calving cows, and even horses. We liked critters other than the stockers because they all paid by the day or the month so we knew what our paycheck would be when the cattle arrived, not when they left.

I kow a lot of guys who buy stockers and get along well doing it. I know in the good years they made more money than we did custom grazing, but in the bad years they took a big hit that we didn't. I suspect in the end it balanced out.

JR

 

[novatech]

nova,

We chose the custom grazing route as a lower risk option. At that stage of the game we would have needed to borrow money to buy stockers. With custom grazing we had no cash outlay for the cattle. At different times we grazed stockers, replacement heifers, pairs, dry pregnant fall calving cows, and even horses. We liked critters other than the stockers because they all paid by the day or the month so we knew what our paycheck would be when the cattle arrived, not when they left.

I kow a lot of guys who buy stockers and get along well doing it. I know in the good years they made more money than we did custom grazing, but in the bad years they took a big hit that we didn't. I suspect in the end it balanced out.

JR

Nobody around here custom grazes. If I can't buy stockers at the right price then I would rather shread and freshen it up a bit. I will not borrow money on cattle. Stockers are a gamble but I would not do it without a sales contract in hand. I have learned a lesson or two in the past.
In my small operation I can afford to experment with out being hurt. Locals have made comments because of my low stocking rate. Most avrege 5 bales per cow per year. They all complain about not making money. The neighbor was once running over a thousand head. He baled his own hay. That was about 5 years ago. Today he runs about 500 head, sells his hay and no longer complains about profit.