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Alfalfa

D

Denny

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 10, 2005
Messages
5,624
Location
Mn usa
I've never fed any and need to buy some hay I can buy it for $65 a ton in the 16 to 18% protein and rfv around 125 give or take. If I mixed it in my silage how many pounds per day do you guys think they would need. Or can I just feed they hay on the ground daily or every other. Or should I buy some better quality for more $$$

or they have some at 17.08 pro 90.91 rfv
and 12.6 pro and 85.61 rfv for $$40 a ton
 
I'm sure its 65% moisture.

How about 20.9 pro 180.55 rfv for $90 a ton. Not Necessary or spend the extra money?

These are at the hay auction prices just trying to figure what to buy. I can buy 136 bales @ $65 a ton local 1st thru 4th cut all been rained on I would test that before I'd buy it but its green and very leafy.
 
Sounds like a real deal at $65/ton. Hay around here is selling for 10 - 12 cents/lbs. Very dry growing season until August, so 1st cut was short and guys started feeding very early this year.
 
I haven't seen the hay, but I still like the $65/ton and if it hasn't been rained on, that's a plus. Grass hay doesn't bother
me if it has been rained on, but alfalfa is another story. It always affects the leaves, at least in our country.
How much of it do you want to feed? How much silage are you feeding per head/per day?
I would need to know this, if you don't mind.
 
Were feeding 40 #s of silage and 17#s of grass hay of which its between 9 and 5% protein silage should be at 8% protein. I was thinking 4 to 5 #s a day mixed in the tmr with the silage to give the leaves something to stick to.
 
I am not used to figuring silage, but everything is figured on a dry matter basis, because moisture contains no nutrition.
So here is what I came up with:

40# silage@35% DM (65% moisture)=14#DM x 8% Protein=1.12# Protein
17# grass (I gave it 12% moisture-just a guess)=14.9#DM x 7% protein (halfway between 5 and 9%)=1.04# Protein
5# Alfalfa (again I figured 12% moisture)=4.4# DM x 17% protein=.748# protein
Your total DM (Dry matter) is 14 + 14.9 + 4.4 =33.3# Good!
Total Protein is 1.12 + 1.04 + .748 =2.9# Protein (higher than needed in second trimester. Maybe try 3# of alfalfa, but at the price you are getting the alfalfa, I'd just give then the 5# as fed.
You have plenty of protein, but we are guessing here, better to be too high as not enough.
This ration more than meets the the requirements at 20 degree temperature. The lower the temperature and if the cattle are wet, the more the requirements.

Energy is important, but I have no way of figuring that unless I know the TDN. With that much protein, my guess would be the energy would be okay.

If the moisture is more than I have guessed, then that throws everything out of whack. Most hay in our country is 10-12% moisture, so that is a 'book value' more or less and what I used. Can you get the moisture content of the alfalfa and/or the grass hay? It would be interesting to know if hay in that area is higher in moisture than in our country.

I like the rfv being 125 in the $65/ton hay. More value for your money IMO. That hay here would be at least twice that.


Since I don't know about silage, I'm open to comments. Feel free. :-)
 
In that amount of silage I'd bet were at 10#s of corn in itself so I'm sure the energy is complete. We also have ALL the meadow hay they want. I just measure the better feeds. So if they need filling up they can rustle thru the ruff stuff or lay on it which ever.
 
Denny said:
In that amount of silage I'd bet were at 10#s of corn in itself so I'm sure the energy is complete. We also have ALL the meadow hay they want. I just measure the better feeds. So if they need filling up they can rustle thru the ruff stuff or lay on it which ever.
Click to expand...

Funny thing here this year Good Grass hay and bedding are worth near as much as Alfalfa.
 
Isn't the same deal, but we feed 5 lbs of 20ish protein alfalfa a day, figured by the cow. The rest they pick out of the corn stalks, when they get hungry, which is after it snows. We have an easier climate and don't raise bulls, yet, but that's our protein. It's not perfect, but they breed back, generally. I make sure they have 27 lbs total every day. Not perfect, but the baler can keep up. Snowed under, then the Hydra-Bed goes back to work.
 
I sell some bulls but I don't believe in the pampered cow herd to enhance the numbers. My cows are expected to make payments in a commercial setting and that's what they do. I think the bull selling is more of a savings account than anything because lord knows I'm not getting rich doing it but I like it and it's fun.
 
Well we got some bought the first load is

rfv 122.45 protein 18.15 dry matter 84.10 moisture 15.90 adf 40.54 ndf 43.55 $65 a ton 2nd cutting $210 delivery 26.92 ton

rfv145.46 protein 24.96 dry matter 86.00 moisture 14.00 adf 33.18 ndf 40.32 $75.00 a ton 3rd cutting $171 delivery 9.54 ton

I was thinking of feeding the 3rd cutting to my heifer calves mixed with the silage.
 
I think heifer calves do best with some long stemmed hay. It's good for them to chew on, which is good for the rumen. Can you give them some long-stemmed hay along with the 3rd cutting? We haven't had access to 3rd cutting hay for YEARS. I know bloat can be a problem if it gets wet.

If I am reading it right, the first you posted, rfv 122.45 has an ADF of 40 and is costing you $65/ton. Then 2nd cutting is $210/ton.
3rd cutting is $171/ton. Wondering why the 3rd cutting cost less? The 2nd cutting looks good enough for calves too. The ADF of 33.18 shows it is very digestible. The ADF of the first hay being 40.54 shows it is not as digestible, but we have fed hay that was ADF of 45. We just made sure they had plenty of it, as our cows were fed hay and mineral only.
 
Faster horses said:
I think heifer calves do best with some long stemmed hay. It's good for them to chew on, which is good for the rumen. Can you give them some long-stemmed hay along with the 3rd cutting? We haven't had access to 3rd cutting hay for YEARS. I know bloat can be a problem if it gets wet.

If I am reading it right, the first you posted, rfv 122.45 has an ADF of 40 and is costing you $65/ton. Then 2nd cutting is $210/ton.
3rd cutting is $171/ton. Wondering why the 3rd cutting cost less? The 2nd cutting looks good enough for calves too. The ADF of 33.18 shows it is very digestible. The ADF of the first hay being 40.54 shows it is not as digestible, but we have fed hay that was ADF of 45. We just made sure they had plenty of it, as our cows were fed hay and mineral only.
Click to expand...

no the first was $65 a ton plus $210 trucking this is second cutting

the other was $75 a ton with $171 delivery fee 3rd cutting

I only bought 2 loads of hay
 

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