swath grazing economics

[cowman]

I thought 6000 lbs. was pretty decent...in fact it might have been a bit more? I just did a guesstimate!
Not sure if rookie was quoting dry matter when he said his yields were twice mine? If he was, then its time to move to his neck of the woods!
I will also note I didn't include all my costs. You don't run equipment over a field for nothing! Now maybe I overdid it but this was just an experiment. If I was doing it in a big way on a continuing basis I could get those costs lower?
But I do consider this: When I bring in feed I am getting a bonus from the manure? Grassfarmer has mentioned this in the past? I believe the extra fertilizer value is estimated at $31/cow for the winter feeding period? So if it costs me $150/cow per winter then you get $31 worth of nutrients back, you come to $121/cow per winter?

[rookie]

cowman, you wouldn't want to live in this neck of the woods......

Looking back at the post, my costs were half if not a little less, dry matter was aboyt the same, and every day I look at the the stuff I'm impressed.
Tractor is not running and neither am I for most of the winter.

It fits into my operation like a glove. And the numbers are just as good.

[cowman]

Hey if it works for you thats all that matters! It could work for me too...if I had the time in the spring/fall. As it is I have time in the winter and I like feeding cows(well if I only have to do it once in awhile...its nice having someone you can pawn the work off on!).
As I stated I suspect I could get the costs down if I was seriously pursuing this. I should be able to reduce the fertilizer bill to almost zero? Also my seed costs were very high and I sprayed the roundup at a heavy rate of 1 L/acre when in fact .67 L/acre is the rate for weathermax. At $13.37/L the .67L rate would cut $4.40/acre right off the top? Might get away without spraying at all?
This year was a fairly good growing season with a lot of timely rains although generally too cool. I did notice some leaf disease which was pretty general for cereals in this area.

[PureCountry]

To me this comes down to the same old thing...DO WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU...BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.

But there's one thing that I didn't notice anyone mention...cost per day or cost per head. My swathgrazing cost per day to feed one cow averages 75 cents. Varies greatly with the crop/conditions, and hinges on how many grazing days we get. Bale grazing will be cheaper THIS YEAR, b/c feed was so cheap, but not by a great deal.

Anyway, feeding a cow through the winter for $100-150 is damn good IMO, when you accomplish it without much labour or equipment.

[rookie]

Yeah purecoumtry, some of what I read here is the same old blah,blah,blah

Didn't figure out the actual costs on the swaths yet, as we're not done yet,
but that corn came in at 69cents per cow per day.

[cowman]

Hay: 2 cents/lb. 22 lb. day. Straw about 15 lb. day...eat what they want use the rest for bedding...adds organic matter out in the field. Don't know what value to put on straw. Would be using it whether swath grazing or not.
Costs some money to run the tractor everyday, but would be using it anyway for straw.
I take it neither of you bother with any bedding?

[PureCountry]

No bedding yet this year, other than the milk cow and bulls that are at home in a pen.

[rookie]

I do have a bedding pile near the yard. Just an experiment to see if waste in the field could be reduced, and I do spoil these girls, many have been around for a while and they've earned it . But with a weather like its' been there certainly is a saving on bedding.Not to mention feed consumption.

No doubt about it.

[kato]

Our corn worked out to about 50 cents per cow per day. Have no idea what the production was on that field, but it was 8 feet high and had big cobs.

We figure it's well worth the effort, (or lack of ... two and a half months with no chores is easy to live with LOL) and we'll do it again next year.

[poorboy]

How do most people calculate their cost per hd/day on corn or swath grazing. I would assume you would not just look at your costs, but at what you could have gotten gross per acre for that land as a crop.

[rookie]

big bucks in crops this year! lol

[Rodjam]

I have 55 acres of oats being swath grazed by 55 head. Total input costs for spray, seed, seeding, swathing = $3600. That works out to just under $66 per head. They have been at it since the end of October and should make the middle or end of Feb.