Fodder for livestock?

[Tyler520]

I'd like to set aside some land for growing fodder: something that grows quickly, reliably (is durable in many weather conditions) and is nutritious. I am leaning toward barley, but from what I understand - while it does provide much of the nutritional needs for many livestock - it needs to be supplemented.

Can anyone suggest other crops I could grow to supplement the barley, or other fast-growing, durable, nutritious fodder as an alternative to barley?

Also, what are thoughts on dry versus fresh fodder? (is loss of nutritional density of wet matter worth it?)

Thanks in advance,
Ty

[sammyd]

barley is good stuff if you can make baleage out of it.
Made at the proper time it can be very nutritious and is often used to supplement poorer quality hay.
Oat hay is pretty good stuff.
If you are in a dryer, warmer area sorghum/sudangrass varieties work well.

here is a nice read on small grains as forage
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/agr/agr160/agr160.htm

[rambler]

On this site people from different areas of the country see the word fodder differently.

Are you looking for grain, dry hay, silage, or something to graze to feed your critters?

Then, about what size of operation, 2 head, 10 head, 40 head.......

Paul

[arcticow]

In the right season, for general purposes, vetch and rye (the grain, not ryegrass) will make the most good feed... In hot weather, hybrid Sudan or hybrid millet and cowpeas...

[Tyler520]

Originally Posted by rambler

On this site people from different areas of the country see the word fodder differently.

Are you looking for grain, dry hay, silage, or something to graze to feed your critters?

Then, about what size of operation, 2 head, 10 head, 40 head.......

Paul

Ideally, I'd like to provide enough grazing land as to not have to keep buying hay, oats, etc - the prices have skyrocketed over the last few years - neighbors have been selling off animals because they cannot afford to feed them. So, I'd like the land to be as self-sufficient as possible.

Currently, I have 8 acres set aside for grazing, and 2 horses; I'd like to add a couple pigs, rabbits, chickens (no ruminants)

[geo in mi]

One of the questions in this equation is what is on the land you have set aside growing now? What is the soil type? What is your climate.?Most of the crops, barley, oats, rye, that you are considering are annuals, and will need replanting each year. Hay can take the form of grass mixtures or legume grass mixtures--perennials that would exclude grains like barley or oats....

I would suggest you go about learning the nutritional needs of the animals you are considering, and maybe go from there.

geo

[rambler]

Depending on your location, 8 acres of pasture can graze 0-8 animals most of your summer.

You can stockpile forage, fence it off and let it grow, the critters forage through it through the snow for a while.

Grasses with some legumes are often the best bang for the buck on forage pasture.

Barley, oats, rye, and such crops either make good silage just before they set seeds, or they make good grain when ripe. It is difficult to graze them, early on they are tender and fragile, later on they grow faster than can be grazed, become fragile again as you break them over and they die because they think they are mature.

Exotic stuff like Sudan grasses or ryegrass can fit certain needs, grow fast at times of the year other crops don't, and so forth. But, they need to be harvested right or they don't offer full feed value.

Your weather patterns, rainfall, soil type all play into the best plant to use to make use of what you have.

Most of the time, a grass mix with legumes, and subdividing your pasture into smaller paddocks and rotation ally grazing them offers the best long term solution.

You could do a mix of cool and warm season paddocks, as these different grasses grow at different times of the year, but warm season grasses are very hard to establish.... Think years....

Horses especially will graze new growth, and leave the old course grass stand. This means if you have 2 on 8 acres, they will ignore 6 acres of your pasture letting it grow up in bad grass and weeds, while overgrazing the same 2 acres, harming that tender grass that is better.

Rotational grazing, you put them on 2 acres until they now it all down, then move to the next paddock, by the time they come back to the first 2 acres, it is all nice even tender good growth.....

All depends on your climate and soil and rainfall and so on.

Paul

[FarmboyBill]

I didn't see where your from
Im wondering what your terminolgy for fodder IS,
In my mind, Fodder only includes corn, or milo after combineiing it. im not saying that others have stated could be used, Just stating my mind from where I came from in NE Kans. For instance, When dad had picked the corn field, he fenced it off with electric fence for the cows to get any fodder they could along with fallen ears. They usually picked the leaves clean and left the stalks. That was a form of corn fodder.
I intend to grow corn, and cut and bind it into bundles and run it through a husker shredder will cut up the whole stalk into bite size pieces of which the cows will eat it more readily than just the whole stalk alone. Other than the actual ears, that will be feeding the whole plant as fodder.

[FarmboyBill]

NOW, could you mean corn stover?

[Bearfootfarm]

NOW, could you mean corn stover?

Horses can't eat that

[plowhand]

Corn fodder filled a many a mule trough, and milk cow in my part the country. It's awful hot, itchy work.
I like to raise oats,combine for the grain, and then bail the oat straw. Horses, mules, cows,and goats will all eat oat straw. I have one mule that gets it instead of hay, cause hay fattens her to the point of turning into a ball.
I like to mix austrian peas in oats too, it makes good feed for chicken, hogs, etc. I'd be careful feeding to equines, but I use it for them to.
If I could find a binder in good shape, I'd bind oats and feed it staw an all. Wheat too.