Year Around Grazing

[pointer_hunter]

I found a book for sale (can't remember the name right now) that covers the topic of grazing all year rather than making hay. It states that it is possible to do all through the US, even in the cold temps. I am probably going to buy it as the library doesn't carry it. I just wanted to know if anyone else had ideas or thoughts on this. I know that up in Canada, some farmers cut and rake the hay into long thick rows and just let the cows eat it through the snow.

[Curtis B]

Have you read the RG sticky above? I think it may be the same thing.

[springvalley]

I don`t believe it can be done on all types of cattle, beef cattle more than any, very hard to make dairy cattle go out and find their own food on the nastiest days of the year. Most beef cattle are a little more ruged so they may be able to do it. I just don't think it can be done in all instances. More later.... -Marc

[bruce2288]

Cold temps will not stop you from year round grazing. Very deep snow makes it tough and ice crusted snow almost demands feeding of cattle. As a general rule I feed hay for about 6 weeks mid march to may1 here in Nebraska. My ca

[rancher1913]

we graze cornstalks all winter and the only problem is deep snow, so you have to have a backup supply of feed just in case. some years we don't feed hay at all and other years we feed hay all winter.

[pointer_hunter]

I've read through that thread and found some good information regarding what types of grasses provide the necessary value in my area, however, most of the grasses drop their value in the coldest months. I am trying to go toward a grass based farm with no grains. I've thought about cutting and raking into the large windrows and just fencing off portions to let the cows graze it during the winter which would save a little money for me with the baler, but I can't determine if the loss would be eaqual to or less than that of round bales sitting in the field. I am just trying to see if there are any others with the same climate as myself (Mid-Michigan) that are moving away from having to make hay.

[Apryl in ND]

Wow, I really can't imagine doing that up here. Please keep us posted this winter though as I'm curious. What is this book called? The snow here doesn't really get crusty because the temps never get warm enough for any melting, but it can get deep. Last year we had a total snow fall of just over 6 ft. I've seriously considered fencing off small areas for each round bale though. We don't have a tractor to throw round bales in so we have to feed them by hand and nobody wants to be out when it's -50 degrees with wind chill factored in.

[ksfarmer]

A lot of winter grazing is done in my area, but mostly on crop residue such as corn, milo and bean stubble. However, in winters like the last one, early snows curtailed a lot of plans and everyone was scrambling to find enough hay to last the winter. Cattle can't fight blowing snow and 10' drifts to find forage. Even in a mild winter, grass and crop residue can't provide all the nutrition a beef cow needs to maintain herself, let alone produce a good calf. She needs to be supplemented with a protein source and a source of energy to cope with the weather and the poor quality of the grass and stubble available that time of year.

[springvalley]

O.K. I`m back, had to bale a little hay today myself, but we got rained out. As far as raking hay into long windrows and leaving them till winter will never work. You are going to get alot of rain and snow on it and it will just spoil. The ole timers use to put loose hay up in stacks, but you have to build them right also so they shed rain. You would be better off buying a small baler and stacking them and covering them with tarps. You should be able to buy a older small baler for a few hundred. And once again I say I`m not going to make my milk cows run through the snow banks looking for some hay to eat. It works for seven or eight months, but I will haul hay to them the rest of the year. Anyway good luck with your haymakin. > Thnaks Marc

[65284]

That sounds great, unless one thinks about it a little. It might work if there was no snow or ice and the grazier had either very few head of stock or a lot of land. Grass don't grow much in the winter so when your stockpiled grass is gone you better have some hay, or hope spring is here.

[Valmai]

Going by my understanding of what your climate (winters) must be like I am seriously impressed you would even consider that. Where I am, a couple of inches of snow on the ground for more than 3 days every 3rd or 4th winter is "doing it hard". I always have hay on hand over winter. Have you considered winter kale? That is what a lot of dairy farmers use over winter, would it grow where you are?

[tinknal]

I worked on a ranch in Montana for two years. The cows (not the young stock) were winter grazed. Certain pastures with live water were left ungrazed in the summer and that is where the cows wintered. We fed 3 lbs per day of barley cake. During blizzards we would feed hay.

One fall in Minnesota I bought a pen of killer horses in the fall. There were 9 of them and they were thin. I put them in a pasture that hadn't been grazed. I fed one ordinary square bale of grass hay Per day for the 9 of them and by spring they were all fat.

[springvalley]

Hey Tink, starved horses have nothing to do but gain, they probly thought they died and went to horse heaven. LOL. >Thanks Marc

[Mel-]

when I was living in michigan in around 1994 or so there was a magazine that was called something michigan. it was always about farming for the most part.

they had an issue once on dairy farmers in michigan who were bucking the trend of confinement dairy and instead were pasturing them. talked about how they were selling their hay making equipment and just sharing for the rare use. and compared what they were making per acre compared to the old fashioned confinement dairies ( I thought at the time it was wierd they gave profit per acre instead of profit per cow?).

maybe you know the magazine I am talking about and can find an old issue. according to that article, the dairies that pastured were making significantly more per acre than the confinement operations. and it also talked about how this is the way it used to be done up until the 50s (maybe) or so.

it might have been the magazine Michigan Farmer but I don't remember. read it at the local library. always had great articles in it.

[pointer_hunter]

The book is called, "Kick the Hay Habbit" by Jim Gerrish. I already have access to haying equipment and can put up hay for the year or can just purchase round bales delivered at a fair price. I am just trying to look into alternatives to lower my output costs without impacting the cattle. There is a farm near me that doesn't water and feeds round bales that are basically useless as he cuts and bales after the field has gone to seed and most of the nutrients are gone from the grasses. His cattle get no grains and use the snow for water. They survive, but do not look like the greatest cattle in the world. I do NOT want to get like that, but would like to give them more opportunity to forage more on their own.

[francismilker]

I think it also depends a lot of on the breed of cattle you're raising. If the cow has quite a bit of brahman blood in her, she can graze sage brush and mosquite and do quite well. If I don't give my jerseys good bermuda and ryegrass pastures they start looking quite rough. I've tried force grazing them and didn't have much success other than seeing them kill the trees by stripping bark up as high as they could reach. If they didn't llike the grass I gave them, they didn't eat it no matter how hungry they got.

[copperhead46]

No water???? What does he do if it doesn't snow?? I believe in cutting costs, but I can't imagine not having water for any animal at all times.
P.J.

[Karin L]

You might be interested in this PDF file published by the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta: http://areca.ab.ca/userfiles/files/Y...al5%5B1%5D.pdf I doubt if it's the book you're looking for, but I'm pretty sure it's related to it. Covers the same stuff anyway.

Edit: There's a whole pile of publications on Year-round grazing on Google that I found. You might be interested in checking them out as well. FYI and FWIW.

[NTRotty]

pointer hunter,

the book in question is "Kick The HAy Habit" by Jim Gerrish. 224 pages . $27.00 through Stockman Grass Farmer. I have his book "Management Intensive Grazing" and will be ordering the book mentioned. He is a recognized expert in grass and grazing.

[tinknal]

This can be done in a partial way also. Save a winter pasture, and just feed 1/2 of the hay you normally would.