# input in feeding hay this winter



## scots7882 (Aug 26, 2014)

good evening,

I am looking into my feed options for this winter. I have a 13 acre cornfield, and a 60 acre cornfield that got harvested last week. I turned my 40 cows out on the 13 acre cornfield Saturday. I have read articles in the past about putting cows on cornstalks with just protein tubs and allowing them to eat just grass, left over corn, and stalks for a period on time with out supplementing hay. Do you guys run your cows on stalks without supplementing hay? I cant remember the exact details on grazing stalks and how long they said you can run 40 cows on stalks without feeding hay, I also don't know if that meant cows grazing stalks in October when it's nicer and not November 20th with below freezing temps. Any information you guys could provide on cows grazing stalks would be greatly appreciated. how long should I let 40 cows run on the 13 acres, and how long should I allow them to run on 60 acres?

My next long rambling question is feeding my different hay types.

I have 140 solid quality grass hay bales....little to no rain.

80 oat hay bales---good quality

20 alfalfa bales---high quality

and here's where the tricky part comes in----I have 30-40 poor quality alfalfa bales that got baled not fully dry (rained on, and couldn't get dried out)---there is currently mold in them--- there was some green in the bales but there is also some legitimate mold in them.

I also have 15 alfalfa bales---that got rained on----and sat out two weeks being flipped, dried, sun bleached.....im guessing there is very little quality in them either.

My question is how would you feed this to your cows. My plan is to put three quality bales out, and one poor quality alfalfa bale out......let the cows pick and choose what they want to eat of the poor hay.

I have heard and read that cows can eat a lot of different types of hay....but I have concern about feeding moldy hay as I have heard it could lead to a calf being aborted. I don't want to have to buy hay, but I will if feeding poor hay means losing a calf.

Was curious on your all thoughts and experiences of infusing poor quality hay with good quality. As always thank you for all the information.....have gotten a lot of great things from this site.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

Quite a few people up here graze their cows on corn stalks. Some supplement protein either with tubs or by feeding alfalfa. Some don't supplement protein at all and just make the cows graze the stalks. Either way works but myself I prefer to supplement them some protein while they're grazing stalks. I've read that it takes a certain amount of protein in their diet to keep their rumen digesting efficiently. Lots of guys here still have their cows out grazing pastures after they've weaned calves. I know of one ranch that'll graze till Jan 1st if the snow doesn't get to deep. As for the cold, cows can take quite a little. The biggest thing is plenty of fresh water and it is kind of nice if they have at least some trees or somewhere to get out of the wind once in a while.

I don't remember how many animal units of grazing per acre are on a corn stubble field but I'll bet with your total acres you've got 2 months or more of grazing. If you just turn them out on the whole field at once they'll run through and eat the best first and eventually be done to just the stalks left. You could cross fence it with a single electric wire and only give them a few acres at a time but to me that's rather time consuming. I'd just keep an eye on how well they're cleaning up the corn field and when most of the leaves and good stuff are gone I'd start feeding them. If you've got decent wind protection and water you might even consider feeding them on the corn field all winter. They'll eat their hay and then go pick out in the field quite a bit.

As for the moldy hay I think you've got a pretty good plan to feed it. Mold is a concern but I feel beef cattle are pretty smart about what they eat. They'll eat moldy hay but if its so bad that it'll make em sick they'll leave it, especially if they have some good hay to eat as well. I think if you feed it like you have planned they'll eat enough good hay and a little of the bad stuff that I don't think I'd worry too much about them aborting. Now if all they had to eat was moldy hay then I'd get a little concerned.


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Grandpa always said 1 acre of stalks would feed 1 cow for 1 month. In my experience that seems about right, but we usually just watch and when the grass around the edges is cleaned up and most of the corn cobs that had kernels on them are gone we start feeding hay. The cows will still eat some stalks while they eat hay.

A good way to gauge what the stalks are providing would be to set out some of the poor quality (less palatable) hay. When the cows start eating poor hay over grazing stalks, they have got the good from the stalks.

If we have really bad quality hay, we will save that for when the ground is wet and unroll some for bedding. The stalk field can turn into a real mess. We have also unrolled poor hay then unrolled high quality alfalfa on top of it.

Make sure to watch for spots where corn was down or some was spilled. If one cow finds a spot like that they could stand there and eat enough corn to cause a problem.


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## Waterway64 (Dec 2, 2011)

Could you have the poor hay ground with good hay? I think you would get better efficiency that way. I agree with the rule of thumb ac/cow/mo. but yield and weather can have a big influence on it. Mel


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

I graze cornstalks without supplement almost all winter long most years. For dryland cornstalks yielding 150-200 bu/acre, I figure 1 acre per cow for 30 days without supplement. If you want to get more days per acre, supplement with protien starting at 30 days, will add another 30 days grazing per acre. Irrigated fields may yield slightly more days.

30 days per cow per acre nets my landlords about $15.00 per acre and leaves a good amount of residue for cover. We move about 160 cows from field to field, as they will utilize the available feed better than when scattering them out over several fields. We usually graze corn stalks from mid October to late February without supplement or hay.

If you want to stretch your stalks to get the most out of them, I would definitely cross fence with temporary electric fence. We do this most winters strip grazing cover crops, moving the fence 2-4 times per week. Very easy and simple to do with 2-3 reels of polywire, 7/16" x 4' smooth round rod posts with screw tight insulators, 2 lb hammer, and a 12" pipe wrench. Don't use rebar for posts, they drive much harder, and are sometimes near impossible to pull.

With the hay you have , I doubt you would need to buy supplement.

Your cows and calving date can also make a difference. Larger framed, higher milking, high growth cows usually do not do well on corn stalk grazing only, especially if they are winter calved. We spring calve on green grass starting in late April, and most cows are frame 3-4.5, deep, thick and easy keepers, weighing 1050-1250 lbs @ 5-5.5 condition score. The herd I started with 20 years ago, were 1400 lb plus, heavy milkers that would not do well on straight corn stalks, especially coupled with winter calving in mid March.

I think your goal should be to graze as much as possible, buy no tubs/cake, and even be able to sell some hay.


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## treymo (Dec 29, 2013)

I'd grind your moldy alfalfa with your grass and feed it to get rid of it. No need for much else on stalks. They may even gain some weight in that situation. If youve got cold weather coming abandon the alfalfa idea and throw the roughest bale of grass you can find to keep them warm.

Trey


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