I sure love the pictures. The coats make it look like the weather has cooled off up your way.
From what I have seen on here, it looks like you run a large operation that is very spread out. This brings to mind some questions about winter.
1)Do you feed hay in the winter?
Yes, quite a bit of it. Our Sandhill grasses tend to lose their luster by mid-January. Even if there looks to be grass left by then, my old spoiled cows think they should be getting hay. We also feed some protein in the form of 7/8 inch pellets, on the ground.
2)Where do you feed hay? It must be a long haul out on that range every day with hay.
We try to use up our farthest away pastures in the summertime, and drift the cattle closer towards home for wintertime use. This makes life easier.
3) What about snow? How would you haul hay in deep snow? We don't have any snow in Alabama to speak of.
For wintertime hay feeding, we use two different front-wheel-assist tractors pulling bale processors. One is a 2002 Agco Allis 115 (115 horsepower), and the other is a 1992 model Agco Allis 8630 (120 horsepower). They both get through deep snow pretty well.
4)Where do cattle get water in the winter when everything is frozen?
Our cattle water in the wintertime from windmills pumping mostly into 11-foot steel tanks. The constant pumping action when the wind is blowing keeps ice chopping to a bare minimum. These 11' tanks work better in cold weather than would 30' tanks. The big tanks freeze solid, all the way across and all the way down. The smaller tanks tend to stay open.
5) Do you roll your own hay?
We put up about two thirds of our hay, and hire the other third put up. The contractors that have put up this hay the past three years do a super good job. They arrive the last week of June and are usually done with their part by mid-July. I "justify" hiring this hay put up, for the fact that the quality of this early hay is at its peak. Then if we get July rains, this ground that has been hayed early comes back with great after-growth. We don't hay this again, but it makes wonderful grazing this time of year. Our selling calves and their mothers are put onto this after-growth, and the calves gain weight rapidly. Then we sell them right off the cow, sorting them away from their mothers on sale day, hauling them right to town. Shrink is usually held to a minimum.
Life is just one big gamble, and about all a person can do is stay on the same program every year and hope the averages play out to the best advantage.
