WHO'S AFRAID of Winter Grazing??

AX- · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:39 pm Post subject:

I hadn't fed much before the blizzards and wouldn't have needed to feed until Feb. because I had them out on pasture. It is foolish to not have a hay supply if you are in an area that can have a bad winter or drought.

lazy ace · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:48 pm Post subject:

AX- · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:52 pm Post subject:

I sold some surplus hay in 2000. I got $50/Ton for Millet Hay and it never rained the next summer and couldn't grow any hay that year. There wasn't any dryland hay, so I had to buy back $110/Ton Alfalfa. Lesson Learned.

Lazy Ace - Hay will last a lot longer than 20 Months here also. They actually eat the Wheat and Haygrazer better if it is old.

IL Rancher · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:59 pm Post subject:

Hay will last a long time around here... If you store it inside, lol.. Outisde with ouir 38 inches of rain a year, not so good. We have feed Hay after it was out for two winters. Cows didn't do great on it but they were in first trimester basically so with some mienral and some protein or energy supplement they did fine. The middle was still nice and green, the outtside was a bit rought..

We have also had hay stored ins smal squares in a barn for that long and it look almost as good the day we feed it as the day we put it up there.. Smelled fine too... Now the straw from 20 years ago was a bit stinky.

sw · Rancher Joined: 14 Feb 2005 Posts: 1374

Doc is making everyone think again! Where we are, we are in the pine needles, so to graze during the winter, you have to have an open winter and you better have your cattle close by if it looks like it is going to storm. If we get a storm and your cows are out, I have seen people lose 1/3 of their calf crop from pine needle abortions. About the only way around that is to bring your cows in and feed them. That is one of the main reasons why we started fall calving. If your cows are either just starting the breeding season or in first trimester, the pines can be used to our advantage for shelter during storms. I use the same amount of feed now as we did when calving in Feb/Mar. We wean the calves in February and then the cows can be shorted some because they don't need much. If we can leave alot of old grass, we can stop feeding the cows late March if it is open so they can go out and graze.
When we were doing winter grazing supplementation studies at Red Bluff, we had cows that grazed out all winter and never got any supplement at all until after they calved in March. They were the control group so you could the the effects of the supplements that the other groups got. Some years those cows would actually gain weight and condition scores with absolutely nothing but white salt and range grass. Cows are amazing when people leave them alone to do what they were designed to do, graze grass.
This does show you how adaptable ranchers are and the different conditions you can see, all in the same business.

Badlands · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:37 pm Post subject:

I was guessing on how long it would last for you, AX-.

I figured most guys would have any hay fed up after two winters, ie about 20 months.

We've kept it longer, too, but even with 12" precip, you lose a lot to rot, even if they lick their lips when they see you coming.
Laughing

Badlands

BRG · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:22 pm Post subject:

We have been winter grazing now for a few years and the cows seem to be happier/more content and in better shape that when we were feeding them hay every day. They are in really good condition right now, even the younger cows. By doing this we have cheapened up our wintering costs by 50% or more. The downside to it is that we don't get to see the cows like we used to. They are up in the breaks 6 miles from home, and they are usually where we can't get to by pickup. But I don't think we would change and go back. It works great for us, the toughest part about the whole thing is keeping one of the family members out of the tractor when their is a snow cover. As long as it isn't iced over to frozen hard, the cows will dig through the snow and get that grass.

Badlands · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:09 pm Post subject:

Reservation lease, BRG?

Badlands

BRG · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:21 pm Post subject:

Both, reservation lease and deeded land. The better winter protection is in the lease ground and that is where the cows that are 3 and older will be after this pasture is done.

Badlands · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 6:46 pm Post subject:

Kinda what I figured, BRG.

Badlands

lazy ace · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:11 pm Post subject:

Badlands · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 8:17 pm Post subject:

As a kid, I remember that we used to run a layer of plastic over the top of the stack, then throw loose hay on top.

After the oldest kids left, we didn't do that anymore. Wink

No, we don't tarp it.

Badlands

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