Winter's coming, and so is my hay.

The easiest answer to winter supplement is lick tubs. Throw them in the pasture, repalce them when they are empty. $/lb of protein, it is the most expensive way to go, but it's by far the easiest. They just had a special on them at the feed store for about $56/tub. I don't know how long they last...I'm too cheap to use them!

Why would your cattle not get full value of ground feed? I feed mine ground corn/soybean meal and they lick the bunk absolutely clean. You can feed shelled corn just for energy and it also helps in the protein department slightly. You can also just feed 1/2 pound of SBM a day to boost the protein and help with energy a bit. Cows love soybean meal...they will lick every bit of it up. If you add a bit of salt, it's not too bad to make up for a missed breakfast either.

Bulk feed is the cheapeast way to go, but you have to have somewhere to store it. I store soybean meal (and other things) in feed wagons. You can keep stuff longer in the winter than in the summer, when things tend to get moldy easier. Feed in wagons gets old fast....only way to get it out is with buckets and buckets and buckets and.....you get the idea!

Jena

I fed round bales of corn stalks last year. Supplemented with a bit of shelled corn and they did have some lick tubs. I was surprised as how long the lick tubs lasted through the winter but come spring the cattle went through them like they were candy. The cattle also had oatstraw, straw with the oats still in. They would leave a grassy bale and head for the oatstraw. I plan on using cornstalks and hay. I have not come seen any oatstraw deals thus far. Neighbors cattle will eat plain straw but then again they will pick stems of hay out of manure. He makes them clean it up and has a huge feeder on wheels which will hold round bales. We have a lot of cement and makes for quick moving of round bales. Do not have to fight mud just ice now and then. We have a 10 acre farm and dang near 2 acres of it is cement. Lots of open sheds which were converted to finishing hogs, cement walls go up to 36" inches plus. makes great for cleaning. Until you get a nimrod to bring in unvaccinated pigs and you end up losing 1/6 th of them to disease. Do not care to see another pig on the place. Never worked that hard trying to keep an animal alive in my life. Oh yea, we were talking about beef....