Lack Of Feed!

[cowman]

I was just wondering what plans others have about the feed situation this fall and winter? Here in central Alberta there is a pretty limited amount of hay. A lot of the pastures are fairly poor because of over grazing earlier. The market for feeders is extremely good and future prices look good. So how do you hang onto the factory(mother cow) without breaking the bank? These high hay prices sort of neutralize those big calf prices. Is this the time to bail?

[Muttley]

I hate to see anybody sell good cows even if it is a bad year. I am from Sk. and it has been dry here as well. I will be putting up as much straw as I can.One thing to remember doing this is that one must be prepared to feed grain and supplements/minerals.The other thing a person could consider is to lease the cows out until things are better

[cowman]

Straw is scarce this year too! I took a little drive around Three Hills Alta. last Sunday and harvest was in full swing. The straw was pathetic. One guy was baling straw and it looked like about one bale every half mile! Here around Red Deer it is a lot better but still not great. I'd say bale up all you can get because it is going to be scarce!

[kato]

If you don't mind freight costs, check out Manitoba. Hay was pretty good here, our problem was too much rain. We've got enough hay, but the grain is plagued with disease, at least in our part of the province. Aren't farmers easy to please? '-)

Whether it's worth it after paying for trucking, is any one's guess.

[cowman]

Straw is selling for around $55 a ton in southern Alta. If you feed some hay and a little barley you can get away with feeding a lot of straw. No matter what it is going to be awful pricey to feed that old cow this winter. A lot of people around here are feeding already. What's it going to cost to feed your cows this winter? How long will you have to feed into the spring? I figure if you go for a straight hay diet from Oct. 15 to May 20 it will take a minimum of $442 per cow plus $20 for straw for a total of $462. Not a lot of room for profit is there?

[pandiana]

cowman, I think you are pretty close to the mark. That is for forage only. I have to add salt, mineral. Poor hay and straw would require a supplement to be added to that figure to beef up the protein. Vaccines, parasite control, heaven forbid, vet bills? Believe it or not, some cattlemen are even considering yardage, which includes of all things, farmers wages! Can anyone afford to feed cows if we actually get paid.
Nonetheless, I have heard that there are some feeders who claim they will feed cows for $1.60/cow a day. I wish I new how they do it.

[pandiana]

cowman, I think you are pretty close to the mark. That is for forage only. I have to add salt, mineral. Poor hay and straw would require a supplement to be added to that figure to beef up the protein. Vaccines, parasite control, heaven forbid, vet bills? Believe it or not, some cattlemen are even considering yardage, which includes of all things, farmers wages! Can anyone afford to feed cows if we actually get paid.
Nonetheless, I have heard that there are some feeders who claim they will feed cows for $1.60/cow a day. I wish I knew how they do it.

[cowman]

pandiana:
It can be done if you have a cheap source of straw. If you can buy hay at $100/ton, straw at $40/ton and barley at $3.50/bu and feed 15 lb hay, 20 lb. straw and 3-4 lb. barley. It works out to about $1.40/day. This of course doesn't include rolling the grain or feeding the hay and straw. This diet is very adequate for a good British type cow. Some of the big exotic cows need a little more. I guess we do need to figure in things like yardage, fuel, wages etc. All around it is going to be a challenge this winter, especially if we get a tough winter!