Which direction would you go to feed bales?

[flea beetle]

We used to harrow everything that got fed on and one year we never got around to it. I think the trash holding the moisture from the winter is a huge benefit the following spring. I even bed cattle on pasture by just putting out fresh straw in a new spot every time. Probably use a little more straw than building a bed but piling, hauling, and incorporating manure isn’t cheap or easy. There may be slight decrease in grass where the trash is real thick but later years it will grow twice the grass as untouched areas. ****Disregard the the above if your pasture is new top notch high production stuff.****

If you do decide to harrow it maybe leave a test patch to see what you think of it. In the words of Shrek……… “change is good Donkey”…….. Besides it’ll stir up the neighbourhood and get them talking about you. Like the time we baled 60 acres of green feed without any twine along the highway for bale grazing……….😉

Can bison use a bale feeder or is that asking for trouble with the horns? Only have polled cattle here so I know nothing about that………..

I have seen guys use the heavy drill stem overhead X feeders, but have been told by more than one guy that they will just flip/play with and wreck most other feeders.

I will try just feeding here and there this year and see what it does in spring. Test a small area away from my usual feeding spot and see what it does this spring.

And believe me, the neighbourhood is accustomed to talking about me already. They seem to know more about what I am doing than I do! Lol

[foragefarmer]

Bison and expensive ways of feeding will not pencil out.
i feed my bison every four or five days put bales on end and remove the net good quality forage only. They will clean everything up with very little waste I know a guy that sets out the whole winter supply of feed in a pasture removes the twine and thats it they are fed for the winter. the beauty of having bison is that you can do that .

Sounds very logical and most economical.

There were 10's of millions of Bison roaming the N.A. plains way before any hay bales were provide to them.

Obviously, Mother Nature has created a very efficient eater, unlike cattle.

[WiltonRanch]

Sounds very logical and most economical.

There were 10's of millions of Bison roaming the N.A. plains way before any hay bales were provide to them.

Obviously, Mother Nature has created a very efficient eater, unlike cattle.

You’re comparing apples to oranges. Each has their advantages and disadvantages but it is not fair to crap on one over the other. Bison are survivors but it comes at the expense of conversion and turn around. Beef cattle have been man’s creation for 10000+ years and provide meat and milk in a timely turnaround and you can bank on a better conversion ratio than bison though they can be big wimps where buffalo flourish. Pick your poison but two great types of livestock when managed properly.

[Blaithin]

Leftovers shouldn’t choke out the pasture unless they really don’t clean up good. Just think of it as a good mulch layer.

The only places I find promote weeds more than grass is right in the middle of where I put down a bedding pack where it’s a foot thick. Those areas benefit from a bit of a harrow.

If you’re worried then it’s easy enough to harrow but I’d agree to do a test spot. The greatest benefit I’ve found to the bale grazing is the moisture the leftovers carry with them from the snow. Harrowing in the spring spreads it out and you lose that snow moisture.

Easy enough thing to play around with.

I’ll see if I can dig up some photos from a few years back when I fed out hailed barley silage bales. Cows left a lot of trash behind them with those bales as it was a lot of straw but grass grew in lovely behind it.

[WiltonRanch]

I feed mostly on cropland. Whether I shred roll or place in feeders, I feed in a different spot every time. Usually harrow so no problem with seeding but times we’ve fed on old pastures there’s no need to harrow.

[flea beetle]

It is re-assuring that multiple people agree that the bales don’t choke the pasture out. Will likely just keep doing what I am doing, but spread the bales out more and put more of them as well.

Thank you for all your help!

[flea beetle]

You’re comparing apples to oranges. Each has their advantages and disadvantages but it is not fair to crap on one over the other. Bison are survivors but it comes at the expense of conversion and turn around. Beef cattle have been man’s creation for 10000+ years and provide meat and milk in a timely turnaround and you can bank on a better conversion ratio than bison though they can be big wimps where buffalo flourish. Pick your poison but two great types of livestock when managed properly.

Yes. Takes an extra year to get a butcher ready animal, but way less work in the winter. And next to no calving problems. As you say, pick your poison. One is not better than the other, just different.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Yes. Takes an extra year to get a butcher ready animal, but way less work in the winter. And next to no calving problems. As you say, pick your poison. One is not better than the other, just different.

Does it take an extra year no matter what, that's just the genetics? Or if they were fed as intensively as beef, could that be shortened?

There must be some trade off to making them scrounge for whatever is available in the winter like they did in nature, versus feeding them free choice high quality feed.

[flea beetle]

Does it take an extra year no matter what, that's just the genetics? Or if they were fed as intensively as beef, could that be shortened?

There must be some trade off to making them scrounge for whatever is available in the winter like they did in nature, versus feeding them free choice high quality feed.

They kind of go into a “dormancy” in the winter months. Feed them what you like, they just don’t put on the pounds like cattle do. They even lose weight in winter.

They also slow down their feed intake in the winter. I saw it plain as day this fall. Was feeding 3 hay bales every 1.5-2 days in fall. Now it is 3 bales every 3rd day in the winter.

[Sheepwheat]

Before we got the sheep, I looked hard at bison. After crunching numbers I chose sheep. Alas, you can’t have sheep and bison, the sheep will kill them, which is unfortunate, because for a while, the plan was for both.

BUT.

I researched a lot and talked to a lot of producers. My plan was to grow a bunch of diverse native pastures. In our area, the dominant grass would have been plains rough fescue. The bison migrated here to the area where the grass grew tall and the bush offered shelter. They wintered on the fescue, so the plan was to stockpile fescue and let them have at it. It is the PERFECT grass for bison. It is PERFECT for stockpiling.

Just wondering if this is something you have looked at? Imagine not having to even bale? Like sheep, they of course don’t need winter water either. So simple and low input.

I know it’s not always popular to try new things, but there is funding for 80% of the seed costs if you do wild perennial mixes. Wild perennial mixes are not cheap, that’s for darn sure.

One of the guys I talked to bought and baled the cheapest slough hay he could find, because as you said and know, bison actually REDUCE their metabolism in winter. They do not need alfalfa hay at all.

People need to remember. Net dollars are what counts, not gross potential. Imho, if you want net, copy what nature did before humans farmed the things.

That copied system, would include to my mind, tall fescue grasslands, with plenty of pockets of bush and ravines and lakes and willows and so on.

Imho, you would also have the benefit of healing the land and building soil.

For this year, I would build a bale unroller. Unroll the hay out backwards so you don’t end up with too thick a thick mulch, and no harrowing or anything would be needed. Plus the longer strips of unrolled hay give the animals far more room than unrolling them forwards.

We need to rethink wasted hay, and hay feeders. The leftover hay is not waste. It is building the soil, preserving moisture, reseeding the soil, ensuring the nutrients are spread relatively evenly. The difference on my land where I have fed this way for years is truly unbelievable. The soil is rebuilding and fast! It doesn’t dry out. These things don’t happen overnight, it takes a few years so give it time. I was also going to get a processor, until guys said it powders alfalfa leaves to nothing, so defeats the purpose.

Anyhow, just a few different ideas going forward.