by Victor Shelton

Most producers will begin feeding hay soon if they haven’t already started. Hay supplies are low in many areas. Getting the most out of what you have available becomes very important.

Here are six tips that can help you stretch hay supplies:

1. Cull poor-producing cows. Nobody likes to hear that their cows are poor producers, but some are. Or perhaps they didn’t get bred back in a timely manner — or at all. Cows falling in any one of these categories should grow some wheels. When winter feed is of a premium, slackers need to go. Besides, prices for cull cows are relatively strong right now.

2. Feed hay as efficiently as possible. It might be easier to put out enough hay for several days or even a week, but doing so usually increases waste. Having a little competition between cows when feeding hay is actually a good thing. They are much more likely to clean it up and waste less when they think other cows are after the same bite.

3. Feed poorer-quality hay first. This assumes you know relative value of the feedstuffs you have left to feed. Instead of guessing by sight, have your forages analyzed through testing. Poorer-quality hay can also be supplemented as needed. This is easier to do if you have tested hay in advance in order to know its limitations. It’s much easier to move from poor quality to good quality than the reverse, especially when the supply is limited. Nobody wants to eat broccoli after having ice cream — not even cows or sheep.

4. Use bale rings or feeding wagons. Feeding hay in bale rings or feeding wagons slows down picking and sorting of the hay by livestock. That increases efficiency.

5. Keep hay out of the mud. Hay fed on pasture while the soil is dry, in drylots that have enough structure, or in winter feeding buildings all help to keep hay out of the mud. That will result in much less waste.

6. Consider using small square bales. Probably one of the most efficient ways to feed hay is one of the least used today — small square bales. Small bales were allocated to the livestock on a daily, as-needed basis. They were usually fed inside the barn in the manger. There was very little waste feeding hay this way. Labor is the most limiting factor for small bales today. However, if you have access to small square bales to finish the hay feeding season, it might be a good alternative.

Shelton is retired from his post as an agronomist and grazing specialist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. He wrties the Grazing Bites newsletter from his farm near Washington, Ind. Reach him at [email protected].