Bale feeders for shredding green feed into

[WiltonRanch]

Really? the waste looks about 30% from the picture but maybe it gives a false impression.

There is a bit over 8 days of feeding barley yellowfeed in this feeder. So about 8 bales of greenfeed there. My dads been back feeding now and don't move feeders lol. Now our calving ground is wet and we're feeding into one of these types of feeders and some ring ones. A good means to see what waste looks like compared. Greenfeed is a tough one to get them to clean all of it up. Doesn't matter what you do there'll always be substantial waste compared to hay. As long as it's going back on the land someway its not a real waste.

[grassfarmer]

WiltonRanch what was the analysis of that feed? Lots of times people are feeding straw and grain instead of greenfeed. I've never fed yellowfeed and don't plan to - don't you think the treatment it had may cause palatability issues?

I don't like these big feeders where guys can put several days worth of feed as it inevitably leads to increased wastage particularly where they stack two bales high. I think also that # of cows per bale per day is crucial to clean up. We fed the whole herd greenfeed last November in one big group, fed every day in rings with them moved to a new spot each day. I'm guessing there were animals eating 20 hours out of every 24 and there was very little wastage. I'll take a picture of the residue the next day I'm past there. Again you have to put a value on your time to feed daily vs weekly and how that relates to wastage prevented.

While it's true that any litter returned to the land isn't real waste the process of getting it there can be expensive and it's real dollars spent. If you can manage your forage resources so that you need to make less greenfeed and graze more of whatever type of forage you will always come out ahead. Trampling litter while grazing it is so much cheaper than cutting it, baling it, hauling it, feeding it out with a bale processor then having the cows trample it around a feeder. Of course you realize that or you wouldn't be building the feeder - the challenge is one of management given the climatic conditions we have and I certainly don't have all the answers.

[WiltonRanch]

WiltonRanch what was the analysis of that feed? Lots of times people are feeding straw and grain instead of greenfeed. I've never fed yellowfeed and don't plan to - don't you think the treatment it had may cause palatability issues?

I don't like these big feeders where guys can put several days worth of feed as it inevitably leads to increased wastage particularly where they stack two bales high. I think also that # of cows per bale per day is crucial to clean up. We fed the whole herd greenfeed last November in one big group, fed every day in rings with them moved to a new spot each day. I'm guessing there were animals eating 20 hours out of every 24 and there was very little wastage. I'll take a picture of the residue the next day I'm past there. Again you have to put a value on your time to feed daily vs weekly and how that relates to wastage prevented.

While it's true that any litter returned to the land isn't real waste the process of getting it there can be expensive and it's real dollars spent. If you can manage your forage resources so that you need to make less greenfeed and graze more of whatever type of forage you will always come out ahead. Trampling litter while grazing it is so much cheaper than cutting it, baling it, hauling it, feeding it out with a bale processor then having the cows trample it around a feeder. Of course you realize that or you wouldn't be building the feeder - the challenge is one of management given the climatic conditions we have and I certainly don't have all the answers.

True. I don't analyze any feed or what not. Should really do. As far as yellowfeed this is pretty much grain and straw. Lol. Sprayed at what I thought was early dough but more like mid dough. Still though we vaccinated the large group today and they appear in great condition. I'd say a bcs over 3. Maybe too fat. Yeah I've had them clean other greenfeed better. Best cleanup I've had is a mix of wheat oats and barley. I'll go that way again once I get some more seed oats grown. Reason I've done barley yellowfeed is on account of shitty harvest weather. Silage is a no go and this is the least labour and time intensive option for me.

[woodland]

I agree that greenfeed is the hardest stuff to get the animals to clean up. Last winter we wrapped 1800 bales of oats @25% moisture that we couldn't get dry. It never fermented and we fed all of them through 3 bale feeders that we moved every day. This was done on our grazing alfalfa and I was sure we were going to kill it from too thick of waste (probably 20%) and for how chewed up the ground got in the warm spells. We were wrong and the alfalfa came back better than ever. Here's a shot of the feeders on a warm day.

This year we chopped the same fields and I would figure waste under 4%.

We generally don't set out to grow grain for greenfeed/silage (but had to due to a conflict with a landlord ) as we feel alfalfa is cheaper to grow and easier to feed. Would alfalfa be an option for you since it could bale graze easier?

[WiltonRanch]

I agree that greenfeed is the hardest stuff to get the animals to clean up. Last winter we wrapped 1800 bales of oats @25% moisture that we couldn't get dry. It never fermented and we fed all of them through 3 bale feeders that we moved every day. This was done on our grazing alfalfa and I was sure we were going to kill it from too thick of waste (probably 20%) and for how chewed up the ground got in the warm spells. We were wrong and the alfalfa came back better than ever. Here's a shot of the feeders on a warm day.

This year we chopped the same fields and I would figure waste under 4%.

We generally don't set out to grow grain for greenfeed/silage (but had to due to a conflict with a landlord ) as we feel alfalfa is cheaper to grow and easier to feed. Would alfalfa be an option for you since it could bale graze easier?

I like that idea. Straight alfalfa or a mix?

[woodland]

Generally we plant a fairly high percentage alfalfa with orchard grass or Timothy. My brother has been pushing the fertilizer (P K S) to it pretty hard but the yield has definitely been worth it. Last year was an exceptional year and we got 10 Tonne/acre on first cut and 5 Tonne/ acre on the second of silage on our newer fields. We just bought a tedder to try and get dry hay. Last summer it rained every two days so most everything got chopped instead.

I know guys around here that set all their bales, pull the net wrap, and string electric wires before the snow for grazing but we do it a little different. Two or three of us go out once a week and set enough bales for the next week and pull the wrap that way we don't use any electric string. I don't seem to have luck with fencers. Between hills, snowdrifts, moose, and grumpy cows the odds seem stacked against me. That way if you have lots of snow your bales aren't buried in a drift.


Here's the new "tool" and hopefully we can bale instead of chopping. It makes life so much easier in more ways than one.

[grassfarmer]

WR, your mention of the good condition your cows are in brings up another aspect of this equation. Giving more feed and allowing cows to select the best out of it always puts them in better condition. You don't want to put excess condition on the cows but if they are in better shape rather than to the leaner side that might negate a lot of the cost of "wasted feed".

Woodland your idea of setting the bales out once a week makes sense in that it gives you some flexibility if weather conditions changed and you had to move the cows elsewhere. Winters like we just came through re-enforce the need for flexibility in these extensive feeding systems!

We have been seeding alfalfa/grass stands here to silage the first cut then regraze in late fall. We've been getting 8 T/acre silage then 30 cow days/acre grazing and leaving a lot of litter behind. Economically we are way ahead as custom seeding a cereal crop every year with cost of seed and fertilizer soon adds up plus you have less fall grazing opportunity.

[woodland]

Our goal is to reseed all our pastures to grazing alfalfa over the next couple of years to crank up the production. We can't find anymore land and are losing some every year to the coal mine beside us so we feel it's our only option. We used to swath graze 30 years ago when I was a little kid but too many harsh winters killed that idea. I'm toying with the idea of trying three cuts of hay to make the windrows lighter and quicker to dry. I know a dairy by spruce grove does that and might have to talk to them about it. I appreciate the different ideas that float around here vs lots of guys that do the same thing year after year and have nothing but negative attitude.

[WiltonRanch]

Our goal is to reseed all our pastures to grazing alfalfa over the next couple of years to crank up the production. We can't find anymore land and are losing some every year to the coal mine beside us so we feel it's our only option. We used to swath graze 30 years ago when I was a little kid but too many harsh winters killed that idea. I'm toying with the idea of trying three cuts of hay to make the windrows lighter and quicker to dry. I know a dairy by spruce grove does that and might have to talk to them about it. I appreciate the different ideas that float around here vs lots of guys that do the same thing year after year and have nothing but negative attitude.

What kind of fertility are you pushing on your alfalfa? Potash isn't limiting here but phosphate and sulfurare usually needed.

[grassfarmer]

Here is a picture of where we fed greenfeed last November. Used single rings, moved every day with a lot of cattle per ring. Very little wastage and good manure distribution. About 400 cow days per acre of manure/urine applied by the animals themselves.

It's part of our redneck rejuvination efforts on one of our poorest pastures. Because there was no snow cover it was barked off very short but was already dormant. Will go in soon and broadcast 40lb P and 2-3lbs of Norgold sweet clover seed and harrow in. Leave till fairly late in the fall and graze it off - 3lbs pretty much gives you a solid stand of sweet clover even into established sod it seems. Spring of next year it should produce a huge biomass of primarily sweet clover so we'll heavily graze and trample that. After that allow nature to complete the renovation but expect there is a plentiful and diverse seed bank in the soil, the sweet clover roots will break open any hardpan as well as fix enough N to feed the grasses present. Growing a big volume of forage and getting it back into the soil through manure and trampling kickstarts the soil micro-biology.