Be sure to also check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our NEW 3-Part Blog Series on Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay
Formula for Calculating Winter Hay Needs for Beef Cattle
Before you can calculate your winter hay needs, you need to gather some information first. Make sure you have the below information first:
# of cattle you are feeding
average weight of those cattle
weight of one hay bale
# of days you will feed hay
Take your best estimate if you are unsure of any of the above values. Better to estimate for more days than less and/or to overshoot cow weight, just to be safe. Probably want to do the opposite when estimating bale weight, though, if you are unsure of their weight.
Step 1: Average weight of cow x 3% (% of body weight eaten in hay daily) = lbs per day of hay per head
Step 2: lbs/day of hay per head x total # of cows = total cowherd lbs of hay /day
Step 3: total cowherd lbs of hay /day x # of days feeding hay = total lbs of hay needed for winter
Step 4: total lbs of hay for winter / weight of bale = # of bales need for winter
Step 5: Add anywhere from 20%-30% extra bales to this number, depending on your hay availability during the winter.
Read below for more information and advice.
Above is the formula we use when calculating our winter hay needs for our beef cattle. Below, I provide an example of using the formula to calculate hay bale needs for a cow herd of 10.
For this example, we will use a herd size of 10 cows, averaging 1300 lbs/cow. Beef cows consume an average of 2.5% of their body weight in feed a day. Due to the inevitable waste associated with each hay bale, (outer edges and bottom of the bales absorbing water from rain and groundwater, and the simple fact that some cows will consume more than others) we bump that up to 3% when calculating our winter hay bale needs.
Take 1300 lbs x 3% = lbs per day hay per head consumed. In this example, that would be 39 lbs/head/day of hay consumed.
Multiple 39 x 10 cows = 390 lbs of hay consumed /day for your entire herd.
Next, you want to figure out how many days you plan to feed-out hay. This number will vary, depending on your region and the winter conditions. Most regions will probably feed hay for 5 months or so during the winter. Let’s take that 390 lbs of hay consumed/day for the entire herd x 150 days = 58,500 total lbs of hay consumed for the herd for 150 days.
Divide 58,500 lbs by the average weight of one bale. Our round bales average 700 lbs and are 4 ft x 5 ft. So, take 58,500 lbs / 700 lbs = 83.57 -round up to 84 round bales.
Essentially, based on this formula, you can assume that you will need at least 84 round bales to feed a cow herd of 10, averaging 1300 lbs, for 150 days. We then recommend you add 20%-30% to that number to be safe. If you live in a region where hay is plentiful and you feel confident that you will be able to buy hay in the middle of the winter if need be, then maybe add only 20%. This would be an extra 17 bales or so. If you live in an area like us, where you would be hard-pressed to find hay to purchase in the winter, bump that up to 25-30%, adding 21-25 bales extra.
For more general information and tips on preparing for winter hay needs, please check out my next post!
Be sure to also check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our NEW 3-Part Blog Series on Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay
Spring/Summer 2018 Calves at their winter hay bale site.
The wind has been whipping through our area like a bull on a mission during the breeding season. ha! We have had wind gusts up to 50 mph, with the potential for wind chill to reach -40 F today. It makes a person want to hunker down and hibernate for the day. Hiding is not an option when you operate a farm or ranch, even during the most brutal of winter conditions. Snow, sleet, wind, polar vortex induced cold, rain, ice, and sometimes, sweltering heat (starting to believe, though, that that option may not longer exist up here! ha!)……..the farm…the ranch…your animals…need YOU! My absolute favorite person in the world did the morning check on the snowmobile this morning. Thank you, Jer!
On a normal winter day the daily routine looks like this:
Heading out, on the AM check.
AM Check: After putting our oldest on the bus, I make the rounds around the farm. When the weather really kicks up, like these last few days with our windstorm, Jer will take the snowmobile and zip around the farm checking everyone. On a normal day (less and less normal days this winter!), Jer is getting ready to go to his 40+ hour a week job that is separate from the farm and I do this AM check. I check the calves and the cows. As I mentioned in the previous post, we currently manage these two groups separately during the winter. During this AM check, I want to make sure everyone is alright, and then, address any damage that may have occurred overnight.
Good morning, girls!
This can range from something as simple as some insulators that popped off or as complex as wires ripped down and cattle during a dance in forbidden territory. More and more this winter, we have found ourselves also having to do some serious shoveling as well around the bales. After finishing any needed fixes and/or shoveling, I then make sure everyone has access to hay by adjusting wires and rods as needed.
At the calves bale site, adjusting wires and rods on a hay bale that has fallen-part.
Afternoon Check: I do my second check of the day in the afternoon, before our oldest gets home from school. I do this check while our youngest is napping. This check is more involved, as I feed out mineral for the calves and the cows, plus barley malt sprout tailings for the calves. For our 30 spring/summer 2018 calves, we feed out 8, full-5 gallon buckets worth of tailings during this afternoon check. Our tailings are stored in huge, industrial-sized totes. The totes are a little distance from the calves, so we use a sled to bring the tailings to the calves.
Ready to haul! Sled with barley malt sprout tailings and mineral.
We spread-out the feeding of the spouts between two large, feed bunkers. In addition to supplying mineral and tailings, the same check-list from the AM check applies for the afternoon check as well.
The teenagers – as our eldest likes to call them – waiting for their sprouts!
1 of 2 feed bunkers for the calves.
Good afternoon!
After finishing the afternoon check, I usually have just enough time to store the sled and mineral containers away and then it is down to the bus stop to meet the school bus.
A little sidenote: My daily uniform this winter has been my insulated Carhartt bid overalls, 2 winter coats, neck and face cover, hat, multiple pairs of gloves, and my Mucks. I finally broke-down this winter and invested in some good quality insulated Carhartt bid overalls. I had been putting it off for 5 winters, using a combination of ski pants/rain pants/any pants. Well, this winter broke me and by December 1st, a month after winter came rip-roaring in, I was rocking in my new overalls and much warmer! Having the right equipment is crucial to running a farm and the right equipment applies just as much to your clothing and choice of shoes, as it does to your choice of tractor or squeeze chute. Here on the farm, we are all about thrift store and second-hand shopping. We relish and anticipate for months prior to the next farm equipment auction. We are all about saving money, buying something still in good condition, but used. But, the thrift-store train stops when it comes to outfitting ourselves and our children for these brutal Maine winters. We need gear that is going to keep us warm, dry and free from hypothermia ideally! We invest in good wool socks, insulated jackets and overalls, and boots! Mittens, gloves, neck and face covers, and hats galore! You open our front door and you will be greeted by a mountain-filled, over-flowing chest of winter gear. It really does take over the house. As much as I love my overalls, I will be more than ready to hang them up for the season! I know that Jer and the kids feel the same way.
Stay tuned for my next post on calculating winter hay bale/feed needs for your cattle herd!
It has been a while since our last post on Cattle Starter. We are still keeping very busy with our cattle farm. We have many goals for our farm operation in 2019 and one of those goals is to keep current with our Cattle Starter blog.
When we first started Cattle Starter, we were intent on having a blog that was very heavy on beef cattle information and very light on personal and family antics/adventures/stories. Over the years, though, it has become apparent that there is no way to keep some of the personal and family out of this blog.
Obviously, our family and our cattle are intertwined, and while we still want to provide facts and information important to raising beef cattle, we also want to share our own antics, antidotes, and adventures with our little family along the way. We had a pretty scary medical situation in November and while in the end, everyone is okay, it reinforced in our minds that our family unit needs to be healthy, strong and smart in all operations – farm and personal. Maintenance for ourselves is just as importance (and more) than it is for our cattle.
With that being said, let me provide an update on our winter 2018/2019 thus far.
We live in northern Maine. Cold, snowy winters are a way of life here and nothing out of the ordinary. Winter 2018/2019, though, has taken our definition of a northern Maine winter to the extreme. Snow started here the end of October 2018 and the snow is still coming steady (storming outside as I am typing this). From that 1st snow storm to now, we have been pelted with storm after storm after storm after storm. Mixed in with the snow storms has been bitter cold, and blistering – blow-you-over-sideways – wind storms. It has been brutal – plain and simple. As soon as we clean up from one snow storm, the next one is on the horizon.
Having this kind of winter has pushed us to our limits – physically, mentally and emotionally. When he can, Jer uses the snowmobile after a snow storm to help pack down a trail for us to access the cattle. The cattle themselves have established some excellent packed-down trails in their respective pastures. But, there have been countless times where we have had to battle through deep, deep snow to reach the cattle. One of the big challenges comes with digging out frozen and snow covered round hay bales. Our bales range from 4-5 ft tall and they are all buried in the snow this winter. We still feed out our winter hay via our hay-bale grazing method. It is a constant job of digging out hay bales, cutting off frozen tarps, and hacking away at frozen hay bales with the trusty axe.
Hay Bales on November 15, 2018
Same hay bales from the other side of the fence on February 15, 2019. We have had more snow since this photo was taken.
In addition, as more and more snow falls, we are constantly trying to maintain the high voltage on our wires that is needed for our hay bale grazing method to be successful. The tops of our pasture fences are all buried or very nearly in snow. In many pasture sections, we have not been able to spy the top wire of the fence line in a long while now. Luckily, cattle (as are many animals) are heavily motivated by food. Sometimes, this means they may try to break into hay bale sections that are not open yet. I suppose you could say that the silver lining of all this snow, though, is that the cattle do not want to stray far from their food source. They don’t want to trek through the waist deep (and deeper) snow anymore than we do!
We will be heading into March soon and we anticipate that it will be a good two months before our cows will be able to start grazing on pasture. The next two months will be a delicate juggling act of making sure we have enough hay and supplemental food. For our mama cows (21 currently), hay is their primary (and normally, only) diet during the winter. We supplement with mineral daily. With our situation this winter, though, we are currently looking into inquiring some supplemental feed (e.g., culled potatoes, etc) to help get us through the remainder of our winter season. I want to add here that it is important to make sure you train your cows to finish up their bales well. You could be losing hundreds and hundreds of dollars due to hay waste by not managing your herd to clean-up after each hay bale. You know what I am talking about. There is always that pile of leftover over hay that has been a little buried by snow or stomped down by the cows. It is free of poop and pee and it is still GOOD feed that needs to be eaten. I have had many afternoons where I have had to limit hay bale access to “force” the cattle to clean-up. When I say “force” I don’t mean this in a negative way. They are not being starved or mistreated but simply, being trained to finish-up “their plate of food before having their next plate of food”. Every hay bale is like a big gold nugget during the winter to us, and we can’t afford to waste any of it.
We learn lessons every winter and some lessons are hard-learned. This is our sixth winter with beef cattle and it has been lessons galore. We have some ideas for changing things up for winter 2019/2020. You can have the best plan laid-out on paper and in Excel sheets. That piece of paper can tell you how much hay to feed for how many cattle for how many days. You can make calculations in Excel until the cows come home! And everything will go according to plan and to those calculations! Plans made in the summer and fall seasons (while we sit at the table in our shorts and t-shirts, sipping lemonade…), change as quick as the winds here on our farm come winter time (while we are scrambling around with heavy snow socking in the farm 5 weeks early than normal). Mother nature does not care about our “plans” or our “goals” or even our projected end number of hay bales! ha! She comes storming in and takes us on a wintry ride for over 6 months of the year. In all seriousness, though, planning is crucial for a successful winter season. You HAVE to sit down well ahead of time and make projections for your winter feed needs. For most of us, we need to do this BEFORE the haying season starts and then you need to start making friends with every hay producer in a 60-mile radius. You have to be on top of this. You can’t wait until the last minute. We can’t stress this enough. You need to be prepared and organized or your winter will be a struggle – weather aside. For us, we always try to purchase more hay than we need. The wrench in our plan this year, was that winter came a whole month early and she came hard and fast and she hasn’t let up yet. When we sit down in a few months to make our winter 2019/2020 plan, you better believe that we will be looking to purchase the number of bales needed in case winter does a repeat on us and then, purchase even more just to be SAFE!
In addition to our 21 mama cows, we have 30 spring/summer 2018 calves that we are overwintering. A good majority of these will be sold as yearlings in July. Those not sold as yearlings will likely stay on the farm as replacement heifers. We feed our calves a little differently than our cows during the winter. We have two different operations on our cattle farm – cow-calf operation and a backgrounding operation for our calves. There are separate goals and management plans for each operation. Our calves are raised grass-fed (supplemented with loose barley malt tailings for additional protein and energy needs) and marketed and sold as such.
Calves eating barley malt sprout tailings. Good supplemental food for grass-fed calves.
No culled potatoes or corn or grain for our calves. From the time our calves are born to the day they load on the trailer as yearlings, we are managing their feed type and consumption, and overall health to ensure as much weight-gain as possible. They are also free of any added hormones and antibiotics.
A FEW PIECES OF ADVICE
Plan and prepare for enough winter feed. Look at the number and size of animals you will be overwintering and their daily feed consumption requirements. Once you have that information, then calculate how many bales or feed you will need. You will need to have an approximate idea of the size and weight of the bales to get the most accurate calculation. Example, a 4×4 round bale will yield less pounds of hay than a 5×5 round bale. A square bale will yield considerably less pounds of hay versus a round bale. As finances allow, purchase extra hay as a safe-guard in case you have to start feeding out hay earlier than normal. There will always be a use for extra bales come the end of winter.
Cull animals before winter comes. It is always a good idea to take a good inventory of your herd throughout the summer and fall. Some culling decisions may be made for you (open cow, etc.) but for the most part, you need to take a hard look at what direction you want your herd to take. You may find that you have an animal or two or more that no longer fit into your farm model and it may be time for them to head down the road. No need to be feeding animals over the winter that no longer serve a purpose for your farm. Each farm has their own model and their own goals. Operate your farm to meet your farm’s individual goals.
Communicate with your farm partner(s). As we always stress, communication is key for a successful farm operation. For our family operation, it is me, Jer and our young boys. Jer and I are husband and wife but we are also business partners. This farm is a business. It is not a hobby. It needs to be treated with the same respect and seriousness as all businesses and partnerships. Talk often and make sure all partners are on the same plan. Learn from each other. My husband and I each have our own strengths and weaknesses. For me, I am always trying to learn how to tackle and handle farm problems that for my husband are a cinch. One day this winter, I was so frustrated with all of the snow and ice and the calves breaking into hay sites that were not open yet, and I just wanted to give-up. I wanted an easy fix and the reality was that there was no easy fix. I had to button-down and fix the problem the right way and 3 hours later I did. It took me probably 3 times the amount it would have taken Jer but I learned some important lessons. I did call him for some advice and during the course of our conversations, I admittedly got very defensive that he was criticizing my methods. I was cold and tired and felt like nothing I was doing was good enough. It was a disheartening morning. But, during those 3 hours, I also worked through some emotions and thoughts. At the end, when back at the house, Jer and I had a good talk and I felt more confident about my abilities. My husband is my biggest supporter as I am his. I am very lucky to have the husband and farm partner that I have and I am sure he feels the same way! 🙂
In closing, I know that winter has hit hard across the whole country this winter. Best wishes for a safe rest of the winter!
Kick the Hay Habit Jim Gerrish 2010, Green Park Press
Hay is far and away the greatest cost to a cow-calf operation, so anything we can do to reduce the amount of hay feeding in our operations will save us big money. Jim Gerrish challenges all of the mainstream ideas of cattle operations when it comes to feeding hay. Gerrish grew up in a custom hay business, and through his years of experience as a University forage systems researcher, he’s developed a solid understanding of what it takes to supplement livestock, and why minimizing hay feeding is just good business.
Throughout his book, “Kick the Hay Habit”, Gerrish discusses ways to reduce the amount of hay you feed to your cows, saving time and money, and freeing yourself up to work on other aspects of your operation. While he admits that there are certain parts of the country where feeding hay is necessary (particularly the temperate Northeast U.S.), he demonstrates that year-round grazing is possible throughout much of the United States, if operations are managed properly.
Creating stockpiled pasture, properly measuring and evaluating your stockpile, and timing forage needs with seasonal supplies are critical to the goal of year-round grazing. Gerrish explains in remarkable simplicity the idea of measuring forage availability and using that information to make adjustments in your herd. He explains things in very simple terms that anyone can understand, demonstrating that even University professors have common sense every now and again 🙂
By properly timing your calving season, being flexible with the size and makeup of your herd and planning ahead, Jim Gerrish shows how farms and ranches can spend far less on hay and be truly profitable.
Even living in an area that’s considered by most to be impossible to winter cattle without hay, Gerrish’s book has saved me a great deal of money. While most farmers in the area begin feeding hay in October, we were able to extend our grazing season to December 14th this year using tactics I learned from Jim’s book. If you’re looking for outside-the-box ideas to bring profitability to your farm or ranch, check out “Kick the Hay Habit”. You’ll gain knowledge far more valuable than the cost of the book.
This was our first winter implementing hay bale grazing. We were pleasantly surprised at how well our animal’s adapted to this innovative form of winter feeding. We worked for our animals and they worked for us. We did not escape this experiment without making a few mistakes, though. Below, you will find a list of some lessons we learned as well as our ideas and thoughts for our next season of winter hay bale grazing.
Where did the fence/wire go?!
Wire and posts buried in the snow.
We made our fences 3 feet tall in anticipation of the snowfall expected for a northern Maine winter. We were hit with a hard winter, though, with snowfall doubling what we expected.
Consequently, we have spent a lot of time digging fences and wire out of the snow. Luckily, our cows have been relatively well-behaved and have not capitalized too much on our beginner’s mistake.
Next year, we will modify our fences and raise them another foot or so. Deciding how tall to make your fences will depend on what kind of winter conditions are typical for your area. Once you have decided what height to make your fences, we recommend that you up that height another foot or so. Just to be safe!
2. Get out of there, cow!
There have been a few times that we have looked out our window or have been walking towards the hay bales and noticed that something looked a bit off. We look a little closer and sure enough, a cow has found herself inside the fence around the hay bale row and she is greedily munching away on a brand new hay bale – all to her herself.
Note the placement of the wire. Any lower and that cow will be stepping right over.
The mistake here was a simple one but we didn’t realize the potential for it until it actually happened: don’t place the poly wire too low on the hay bale OR too high! This concern, though, became obsolete as we delved deeper into winter and the snowfall and ice accumulation prevented such an escape. For those beginning months of winter, though, we learned that we needed to be very careful of wire placement as to prevent a cow from stepping over it.
3. Do You Trust Us?
This probably falls more into the category of advice and tips but could easily turn into a lesson learned. To make winter hay-bale grazing work, you have to develop some level of trust with your herd. To provide some quick background, we purchased our first herd of beef cattle – 10 red angus heifers – in late-June of 2013. From the day they arrived at our farm, we make it a top priority to integrate ourselves within the herd in hopes of gaining a bit of their trust. We went about this in many ways. Most simply, we would go into the pasture and walk around the animals, talking softly and observing their behavior. We started to see the herd dynamic and the individual personalities of each animal. A herd leader became quite obvious from early on. We observed a definite pecking order. In return, the animals got very used to our presence.
Working on fence.
They were starting to get more comfortable around us. They got used to us talking to them. They got used to us working on fences, water troughs, water pipelines and so on in their pasture. They started to anticipate their daily ration of mineral. After much work and repetition, we got the herd to follow us as we rotated them through pastures every 2-3 days. They were learning to trust us.
For our effort and time during that summer and fall, we are rewarded daily with our winter hay-bale grazing. When the time comes to switch to a new hay-bale grazing location, they follow us. They stand back and patiently watch us while we adjust wires, shovel snow, cut out hay, and remove tarps.
They don’t let us give them body massages (well, one of them does) but they have come a long ways from their first day on the farm, where you couldn’t get within 10 feet of them and they were off and running.
The trust building will continue this spring as our cows calve and into the summer as they are bred-back and rotated from pasture to pasture. If you work with your herd a little bit each day and keep your patience and a good attitude, you will be amazed at the result.
4. How many hay bales have they eaten?!
While we made every effort to keep track of the date that each hay bale was finished and the next one started, we did start to lose ground when we transitioned to our 2nd hay bale grazing location. The level of snow and ice – on top and surrounding our hay bale rows – was massive and we started to have trouble recognizing the end of one bale and the start of another. The reason why we wanted to keep track of each hay bale was so we could calculate and monitor the pounds of hay eaten per day/per animal. We were able to keep up with the count in our 1st grazing location, and we got a really good idea of the lbs/day/animal of hay consumed.
In order to calculate the consumption rate during the entire winter, we have a few ideas for improving our ability to count bales for next winter. One idea is for us to mark the beginning of each hay bale with a distinctive marker, prior to snowfall. One idea we have thrown around is to attach a length of fluorescent pink or orange flagging tape to the top, center of each bale. We could do this at the same time we are attaching our tarps.
5. Orientation of hay bales
Be sure to study your land before choosing locations to place your bales. One of our bale locations was a place where snow tends to accumulate in deep drifts…..but we didn’t know that until this winter. Next year we’ll avoid this spot for late winter bale grazing. Also pay attention to the way the bales are oriented with the prevailing wind. Our bale stacks that were oriented parallel to the northwest wind tended to have snow blown clear around them and made for easier grazing.
This concludes our blog series on Winter Hay Bale Grazing. We hope that this series proves useful to you as you weigh your options for feeding your cattle next winter. This was our first winter with hay bale grazing, and we do plan to implement this form of feeding next winter as well. We have found this form of winter feeding to be cost-effective and extremely manageable for the scope of our operation.
With one season under our belt, we will be approaching next winter better equipped and a bit more knowledgeable on what we want to do and what we do not want to do. Surprises always abound, though, when working with livestock!
So, we tell ourselves to: Keep your patience. Stay creative and innovative. Improvise when needed. Stay calm. Respect your animals. And, most importantly, have fun!!
We always love to hear feedback and suggestions on new, innovative techniques and methods in the beef cattle industry.
Thank you for joining us.
We will leave you with a few more pictures to enjoy!
