talin
Yearling
Posts: 201
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Post by talin on Jun 16, 2012 12:35:19 GMT -6
Trying to work out economics and labor of planting vs hay. Any thought I live in Northeast Oklahoma and see the neighbors with dairy doing plantings and beef producers spending all summer haying whose smarter?
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Post by S&S Farms on Jun 16, 2012 16:02:22 GMT -6
We do both, Both have a place. If I put up hay I know I have feed for the winter. We also graze as much residue as we can wether ours or we rent stalks. We also graze wheat and triticale over the winter. My theory is green and growing is better than bales. Labor is different we haul water to stalks instead of hauling hay to cows in winter traps. If you can winter graze then you can sell hay for money. We take cows off so we can get a wheat crop too.
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talin
Yearling
Posts: 201
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Post by talin on Jun 16, 2012 20:13:19 GMT -6
Thanks I am seeing that a mixture of rotational pastures hay and winter crops can all have their place as with everything it is smartest to not put all of ones eggs in one basket. Although I did have visions that the dairy guys were all out waterskiing between milkings laughing at the people haying in 90+ heat.
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Post by hoekland on Jun 17, 2012 13:41:31 GMT -6
Yo really need some hay or even straw with the green feed in winter just to bind everything and slow the digestion down somewhat.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2012 21:13:52 GMT -6
Yo really need some hay or even straw with the green feed in winter just to bind everything and slow the digestion down somewhat. I think you are making an important point that often gets ignored and we just tend to overgraze the lush pastures, when we should be using ways to increase dry matter in the diets of the cattle on the lush forage. Often times cattle won't eat the poor quality/dry hay that is put out for them when they are on lush pasture. What ways have you used to get them to eat the dry matter to "bind everything and slow the digestion down somewhat." |
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