Bale grazing article

[jamshundred]

A few decades back, folks bale grazing their cattle were often considered poor managers; not so anymore. “Particularly in the past 10 years, stockmen have begun to realize the benefits of this method,” he says.



Advantages of bale grazing

Many early bale-grazing programs involved hauling bales to a specific site, placing them in a grid pattern, and allocating a certain number of bales every 3-5 days by using electric wire. “But, the ultimate cost-saver is to graze bales on the spot where they’re dropped, rather than haul them somewhere,” Klein says.



Windrow grazing keeps plants at the stage of maturity they were cut, rather than becoming over-mature if they’re standing all fall and winter. Plus, bales do a better job of holding nutrient quality of forage (less weather damage), and are easier for cattle to access after heavy snow.



“Snow is a non-issue when bale grazing. Cows are large and strong; even if there’s a snowbank, they push through it,” Klein says. “And when the snow melts toward spring, as long as the ground is frozen, there’s no damage to the soil/plants.”



Some management experts advise ranchers against haymaking because of the expense, but Klein argues that most of the cost of hay isn’t in the cutting and baling.





“It’s what you do with that bale afterward – hauling it in and hauling it back out, or to another location. All wint



er long, you’re starting a tractor every day to move and feed bales. And, if you feed cattle in a pen, manure must be hauled out. That probably doubles the cost of the hay,” he says.

Another excerpt from an article I found interesting!   I am always hay poor.   One winter the snow was deep and I could not open gates to get to hay with a tractor or get it to the feeding areas.  I was forced to let the cows go to the hay.   I remember being surpised that they really did not waste more than they did around the single bales I put in different locations.  This hay was all stacked side by side in one area though.   

Link to the article;   m.beefmagazine.com/nutrition/0901-bale-grazing-cows-feed-themselves  

[lakeportfarms]

I've seriously considered using this technique for our winter grazing.  Since our herd is so well trained for managed grazing in the summer, it would be a simple process to do something similar in the winter months with them, only I was planning on still using a ring to roll to the bales when I'd take up the line to the new one.  We would have to cut the twine or net in the fall however, because otherwise it would be frozen onto the bale.  I'm a fanatic about picking up the twine and net wrap so they can't get at it.

This technique also works well when you are winter pasturing your cattle in your hay field.  With your final cutting, you just leave those bales on the pasture and slightly rearrange the location to work with your grazing.

If I didn't have a heated building to store the tractor, and had to plug it in or try to start it cold, I would have been doing this already.  We ended up going to the hay saver feeders,  and it's not too difficult for me to get at the hay bales (under roof).  With the really deep snow though, it gets very hard to move the hay around so that we disperse the manure and hay waste throughout the pasture.