Winter in northeast Ohio can make you question your sanity if you own livestock. We have experienced every weather condition from mild sunny days to arctic blasts which freeze waterlines.
In between, snow flurries and rain showers have created a muddy mixture in some livestock-feeding areas.
While we cannot always eliminate the muddy conditions, we can feed livestock using different methods that can minimize the mud and reduce the damage to our pastures, which will help the pastures recover and green up faster in the spring.
Heavy-use area
One option is feeding round bales in feeders or rings on a heavy-use pad. This is a great method if you have the equipment to place the bales and haul the manure to the fields.
Some of the drawbacks I see with this method are that you continuously need to go in with the cows, that the heavy-use area must stop somewhere, and typically, it is extremely muddy at the edge of that pad. And finally, cows can be crowded unless it is a large feeding area.
Stockpiling
Grazing stockpiled forage is my favorite way to feed mature beef cows. I refrain from grazing or making hay on certain fields during the summer and allow those fields to grow. I can then move cows to those fields once the grass has gone dormant. Unfortunately, we experienced severe drought conditions in our area and were not able to stockpile very much forage. Like a Cleveland Browns fan, “There is always next year”.
So, if you have any desire to learn more about stockpiling forage, contact me and we can discuss the options for 2025 winter feeding.
Bale grazing
Options that can still be implemented this year are bale grazing and unrolling hay. I utilize both methods for different reasons and under different circumstances. I like these methods because the cattle are not congregated in a tight area, and they spread the manure out for you. Another benefit of the bale grazing and possibly the unrolling is that you do not have to start a tractor every day. Let me explain.
With the bale grazing, I arrange two rows of round bales on an east-facing hillside approximately 25 feet apart and approximately 25 feet from a permanent high tensile fence. I then exclude the cattle from the rows of bales on the other three sides using pigtail posts and polywire (portable fencing). I provide the cattle two bales at a time, moving the fence once they have eaten most of the hay.
Feeding two (4 feet by 5 feet) bales per day without using bale rings seems to provide enough feed for 35 to 40 cows while allowing every animal to eat and not leave much waste. The only time I use bale rings is when I bale graze replacement heifers or bred heifers. The young stock tends to waste more hay than mature cows.
Unrolling methods
There are two methods I use when unrolling bales. I unroll hay with a hydraulic unroller on the back of the tractor. This method is good when the ground is either dry or frozen and I have specific areas where I want to feed in order to build up organic matter along with the seed bank.
The other unrolling method I use is to place bales on the top of a hill, remove the net wrap and exclude the cattle using the pigtail posts and poly wire again. Then, when I want to feed a bale, I lower the polywire and give the bale a shove sending it downhill, unrolling as it heads towards the bottom. I prefer this method when the ground is muddy and unrolling with a tractor will do damage to my pastures.
There are several things you need to remember when placing bales. Make certain that the bales are placed in the correct manner to unroll. When I remove the net wrap, the tail of the wrap is pointing downhill for the bales we make. This allows the bale to unroll like carpet while moving downslope.
The second item is to never attempt to stop a bale that is rolling downhill. A moving bale will flatten you like a pancake and typically leaving you picking “organic matter” out of your teeth.
Bale grazing considerations
When you are considering areas to bale graze or unroll hay, you will need to have a water source for those cattle. It can be a frost-free pressurized water facility or a spring development with a tire or concrete tank. A centrally located water source allows you to feed in different locations since the cattle will travel to and from the water. Even though the cattle will not consume as much water as in the summer, the water source still needs to be monitored so that consumption can remain consistent and avoid frozen water.
I know that readers will find issues with the methods described, such as wasting too much hay or people not having time to feed like that. These are valid reasons, but you must remember that there are life forms in the soil that need to be fed too so that hay is not going to go to waste.
It may take a little more time or a little dose of nitrogen fertilizer, but it will break down and make your pastures even better. Bale grazing and unrolling hay have become proven winter feeding and soil fertility building strategies for beef producers. With a little bit of planning and management, these feeding methods may be a way for you to survive winter feeding as well.
As a bonus to this article, the Columbiana SWCD staff is currently working on videos showcasing several of these feeding methods. These insightful and entertaining reels can be found on the Columbiana Soil and Water Conservation District Facebook page and should be available for your viewing pleasure by the end of January.
