lukelangford
Member
We've taken on a new enterprise with good results so far, thought i'd share. We purchased a flail chopper and forage wagon and have begun green chopping our beef cattle. I know this is normal gear in a dairy, but with seed and fertilizer what it is and will be for the forseeable future, this was an easy purchase to feed our beef cattle.
this is wheat and ryegrass mix, feeding roughly 40-50 lbs per cow per day, supplementing with hay for fiber. The chopper cuts the grass to 2-3 inch pieces, cows don't even chew, they just swallow. Even small calves are digging in.
We've fed 200 cows, 110 with calves at side with about 40 acres of grass. We're able to sustain year-round forage, so this equipment won't sit still much. They don't stomp, pull up, damage, etc. the grass, we cut it about 4 inches from the ground, regrowth is fast. It's a daily grind with the labor, but is showing to be well worth it. We'll start stocking calves on pearl millet come summer, will post performance data when i get it.
this is wheat and ryegrass mix, feeding roughly 40-50 lbs per cow per day, supplementing with hay for fiber. The chopper cuts the grass to 2-3 inch pieces, cows don't even chew, they just swallow. Even small calves are digging in.
We've fed 200 cows, 110 with calves at side with about 40 acres of grass. We're able to sustain year-round forage, so this equipment won't sit still much. They don't stomp, pull up, damage, etc. the grass, we cut it about 4 inches from the ground, regrowth is fast. It's a daily grind with the labor, but is showing to be well worth it. We'll start stocking calves on pearl millet come summer, will post performance data when i get it.
