Eliminating costs is always better than reducing costs

[Ben H]

I'm kind of new to stockpiling, last year was the first time I've ever grazed until December 1st. I did notice the legumes like clover really start wilting in November. To answer your question, fescue is the forage of choice for stockpiling, it's the one that really has the strength to hold up. I'm not in the "fescue belt" and don't have any fields that are mostly fescue.

The other option I've been looking at for a while, conincidently there was a Bob Scriven article in the newest Stockman Grass Farmer, is a male-sterile variety of corn. As long as it doesn't get pollan from another variety at the time it tassles, you won't grow an ear. Without an ear, more sugar goes into the leaves. They are trying this for year-round finishing quality forage, even through deep snow. This variety should be 10-14' high and is sold by Master's Choice

[Denny]

[PPRM]

The thing I run Itnot with lae season grazing is if the cows loose too much, it is very expensive to put it back on them,

The wordt example was some swampy ground I had leased. There wasstill forage, but it had no feed value. The cattle I had there ended up loing wieght pretty hard all at once. I think i ended up costing me at breed back time.

I have had good luck grazing Alfalfa Fields late. It is nearlyimpossible to find if you don' own it. The guys realize you are taking next years start to some extent.

Part of my problem is I am still a renter, so if you stockpile, the owner starts getting antsy for you to get it grazed off.

Also.... What about waste vs cost of harvesting some of this? If I feed a cow 25 pounds of hay, it is what she will eat... If I leave it stockpiled, she will eat a lot more than that...

PPRM

[per]

We are blessed to have a large amount of Rough Fescue native pastures in the foothills of the Rockies. Lots of water, shelter and a variety of native plants including fescue is the ultimate for winter grazing. A snow eating Chinook or two helps as well. On our flat land it is still a learning experience. We bunch all the straw and chaff in small piles behind the combine in the barley. We have to enhance the protien on those fields using whatever is the cheapest form of protien for the year. We have several years of experimenting with swathing the second cut of Alfalfa with good success. That is a timing thing with the first cut and the year ending frost. Haven't lost any to winter kill from that Yet! Swathgrazing oats, triticale and barley is always consistently successful however timing is also a trick. As far a cool season grasses go, they all loose protien and either need to be swathed or some sort of protien enhancement. Sometimes you can only eliminate one operation but it has always been worth the effort here.

[rainie]

We usually get 3 to 4 feet of snow in my area. We've grazed corn for 7 years and have dabbled with swath grazing to a small extent. Grazing corn was a cheap source of feed. We quit using fertilzer after the 4th year because the cows had put enough back into the land that it wasn't necessary. The only problem with grazing corn was that all the nutrients from the cows was going back onto the same piece of land every year, which wasn't doing anything for improving the grass on our other paddocks. We turned the corn land back into hay and started bale grazing our land that is the farthest from home and on the poorest grass producing areas.Where we bale grazed is now our best producing grass areas. We can usually graze green quality grass well into December depending on the amount of snow.This froze green grass is like candy to the cows and they won't even look at a hay bale if this grass is available.I'm sure we can knock off close to two months of feeding, by producing this stockpiled green grass from bale grazing.It's just going to take time.I'm continually amazed at how much snow the cows will go through if they know there is green grass underneath. They won't touch the hay until after they have the green grass under the snow. I'm also not as hung up on alfalfa as I used to be because it is a high maintenance crop and has to be treated right or your stands get thinner every year. I'd rather spend my time, or the cow's time, increasing the soil fertility,which improves the quality of grass stands.

[joaker]

I'm always amazed at how guys around here love to make hay and haul manure. Got one neighbor that is convinced his cows won't eat corn stalks. He makes hay all summer and hauls it back to the farm and is all ready feeding. His corn stalks are just on the other side of his feeding yard. For some strange reason my 15 cows do just fine on corn stalks and a lick tub and will until well into november or possibly into december.

[PureCountry]

[Big Swede]

A common number being thrown around here is 25# of hay to be fed to their cattle. A 1250# cow eating 25# of hay is only getting 2% of her body weight in feed. Can a cow maintain condition with that much hay. I usually figure 3%. A grazing cow will surely eat that much if it is available and she has the capacity.

[Ben H]

I would say 2.5% is the average Dry Matter Intake you would want to figure on a cow, maybe 3% for a growing steer. 2% is going to be tough to meet those needs especially when it starts getting cold. If you want to maintain weight I'd say 2.5% but that is without waste, if you aren't using a feeder to reduce weight then you could be looking at the 3% range or more. On the other hand, some folks manage for "controlled starvation" in the winter. I don't really do it, but I beieve it really is a natural thing. Naturally, a cow would start gaining some of her condition back in the early spring, then she would have her calf and be at peak production durring the peak of the grass. Production is maintained through the summer and a second period of gain in the fall allows the cow to build a little condition for the winter. The cow eats what she can but slowly uses up some of that stored fat until the calf is practically self weaned and spring comes so she can start preparing for the next calf to be born.

I will say that my cows have to survive on hay once the grass is gone (dry and baylage), if there are any that get thin, they won't be seperated and fed a different ration, they will be on the cull list and I'll have a better herd without her. The only one I really have a problem keeping the weight on is one that is 25% Holstein/75% Hereford. She makes too much milk, therefore too much of her ration goes to feeding her calf. Last spring was her first time calving, but her steer had the best growth rate in the group and I finished him last month.

[Northern Rancher]

It might be easier to extend your season by grazing a bit earliar in the spring and a bit later in the fall rather than just trying to graze furthur into winter-I'm in an area alot like Rainie's winter can come in hard and fast and you are forced to feed cows-my apologies to Kit but when the deer and moose starve in winter the cows need a little feed. I've found that cattle don't really relish the grass on bale grazed paddocks that next summer-I think it might have too strong a taste. However as soon as the snow goes they will graze those paddocks with unabashed greed. Swath grazing works fine if you have access to equipment but I don't so it's grass and bale grazing here. We get our hay delivered to the cows mouth and hire it unloaded.

[per]

A fall crop like Rye makes for good early season grass. Milk fever and pugging are the biggest downsides.

[burnt]