Feeding cows

[cowman]

The boy has been shopping around for some hay and has come to the conclusion they want too much for it. He has enough rained on stuff for about 12 lbs. a day for 195 days, which is generally how long we feed. He figures it is cheaper to feed whole barley and straw to round out the ration. I told him I want $2.25/bu. for the barley. Of course it is right in the yard so no trucking involved. We have a ton of straw and it is good stuff...baled right behind the combine with a chaff saver laying it on top of the swath. Quite a bit of green chickweed it it!
He is thinking he can away with 12 lbs. hay, 9 lbs. of whole barley and lots of straw. So in that 70 cent range(hay valued at 2.5 cents/lb) plus the straw? I told him I believe he could cut the barley back quite a bit, more like 5 lbs. but we will see. He is going to get some feed tests done and run the whole thing before a nutritionalist.
We made a decision this spring to move the calving dates back to April 1! We had intended to sell them and not many people want to be calving cows in January anymore! So I guess he will get to calve cows in the slop!
He said most hay was still priced in that $30-35 range and trucking would bring it up too high to compete with barley. I told him that things might change and hay could drop?
It is pretty hard for guys who have been getting higher prices to realize they have to drop the price or they might get stuck with their hay?
Meanwhile my hay dealer continues to move the square bales out in a fairly timely manner to the horse crowd and I'm still netting in that $3 range for a 60 lb. bale! Which works out close to 5 cents/lb.

[whiteface]

All the guys I've phoned want at least $35.00 a bale for light weight and rained on stuff. I of course say thanks but no thanks when the cows are worth next to nothing. I agree, cowman, everyone is looking to make a buck but people with livestock simply won't pay those kinds of prices and if the hay guys don't get it moved to horse people, they'll be stuck with their hay. My grandpa always said "don't get greedy, or you'll be the only one who thinks your product is any good." Let me know if you find any decent hay close by so the tucking doesn't kill me. I'll do the same for you, I'm not in a hurry, but I could use a little extra. Maybe by spring the hay guys will be a little desperate! A lot of times they are!

[whiteface]

I landed 1450 pound mixed hay bales in the yard for $40.00 a bale. Greenfeed the same. Straw is costly in our area because a lot of the crops went into greenfeed or are still out in the field. $21.00 a bale for oat straw.
There is lots of crappy hay around the country, so a person has to be very careful of where they buy. Anyone tells you it had one small shower on it, is likely full of BS. I don't think we had one small shower this year, more like a four day downpour !!

[grassfarmer]

We landed a lot of good alfalfa/brome hay made early with no rain for 3c/lb ton, will be mixing in a good proportion of oat straw 1.5c/lb with that to get them through. Calving later in the spring certainly reduces feed requirements. I could do with this snow softening up as bit as we have a month of good pasture to swath graze yet. Seems like this old frost hollow likes to keep a good snow cover on!

[frustrated1]

Same thing here grassfarmer. Had enough grazing and stubble to the end of Nov. This week looks promising temp wise so maybe the girls can find it again. May be tough to convince them since I've felt sorry for them and have been supplementing. Hate to be on full feed just yet.

[bunny]

Hi all, got a question about grazing in swaths. We've got about 20 acres of oats in swaths, but the partners don't want to let the cows on it... Until it freezes harder?? Not sure what that will do, but would like some advise.. Can we turn them in and let them graze? They're afraid the cows will bloat on the oats..

[cowman]

bunny: I doubt they will bloat, but you might want to run that by your vet.
When I was a kid my Dad had about 60 acres of wheat in the swath when winter hit in a big way. He kicked the cows out in it and I think they stayed out until late January. Rooted right under that snow and cleaned it up pretty good. Came in fat as seals and I believe they were back out to clean up the last of it about mid April.
I remember him saying he made one hell of a lot more money on it than if he had to sell it to the CWB!

[grassfarmer]

bunny, If you wait until it freezes harder the ground will be firmer and you will get a lot less wastage. I don't know if it will affect the feed quality. If it was a late green crop that was frosted beware of nitrates - you should test if that is even a possibility. They will bloat less if you minimize their access. Just give them a little at a time not access to the whole field or they will strip all the grain off first and be left with straw later. I saw some being grazed last week where the producer had straw on offer to fill the cows up as the feed analyzed too rich for the cows - he said it was the best forage analysis he had on the farm.

[bunny]

Thanks so much, you guys are always there with helpful advise. Appreciate it!!! Take care.