February 2025 Timely Tips
Winter Hay Feeding and Seeding
February 20, 2025, Grazing for Profit, moved to Maryville, TN. Dr. Chris Tuetsch, University of Kentucky Forage Specialist, will be the keynote speaker on adaptive grazing. I will discuss Silvopasture. https://bcswcd.square.site/grazing-conference
For more information and to pre-register, email rmccroskey@blounttn.org or call 865.983.2011
February 21-22, 2025, Manderley Farm, Pikeville, TN.
Greg Judy and I are presenting and conducting pasture walks. For more information and to pre-register, see https://www.manderleyfarms.com/events
February 25, Alfalfa and Stored Forages Conference, Lexington, KY. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-spring-fencing-school-in-owensboro-tickets-1235042698959
March 1, Winter Feeding Field Day, Princeton, KY https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-spring-fencing-school-in-owensboro-tickets-1235042698959
April 22, Fencing School, Owensboro, KY. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-spring-fencing-school-in-owensboro-tickets-1235042698959
STRATEGIC HAY FEEDING
Managing livestock costs and nutritional needs is a critical aspect of successful farming, especially when it comes to hay feeding. As hay makes up a significant portion of the total annual expenses in keeping cattle, deciding whether to produce, purchase, or stockpile grass for winter grazing can greatly influence farm productivity and profitability. Understanding hay management, from assessing its quality to determining efficient feeding methods, is essential for optimizing livestock health and ensuring sustainable grazing practices.
Hay feeding typically comprises 50% or more of the annual cost of keeping a cow. With the cost of making hay coming in around $100-$200/ton, it’s essential to examine whether or not it pays to make it and if you can buy it for a similar cost. When you buy hay, you are bringing nutrients to the field you feed it on; these nutrients come from the field where the hay and nutrients were extracted. If you buy hay, you can focus more on grazing and have additional pasture available. The downside, and there’s always a downside, is that, if not carefully selected, the hay could bring in weed seeds.
Ideally, a forage test should be conducted on the hay so you know the nutritional value. Without knowing the relative feed value – RFV –, you’ll need to look over the hay carefully to look for both good and bad clues. Some characteristics that I look for are leafiness, fewer stems, fewer seed heads, a good green color, no dirtiness, and a fresh leafy smell. I usually buy one or two rolls or square bales, feed them, and make a decision whether to buy or not. Nothing compares to testing the hay on your livestock.
Hopefully, at this time of year, you already have enough hay, but if you don’t, you’ll need to calculate what you’ll need to get you through to spring grazing. Multiply the pounds of livestock by 0.03 (3 % of body weight) to calculate hay needs per day. Now multiply that number by the number of days of hay feeding left before you start grazing. I typically feed till the 7th of April, so with 260,000 pounds of livestock x 0.03 x 55 days of grazing left, 264,000 pounds (132 tons) of hay are needed to see me through the winter and early spring months.
WAYS TO FEED HAY
You’ll find that both bale grazing or unrolling will waste more hay if you don’t ration it so they clean it up quickly. Especially at this time of the year, it’s tempting to push your cows to clean up the hay. We all hate to see wasted hay! But if you know your hay is of lower quality, don’t push them too hard to clean it up. This is particularly important if they are in their last trimester or nursing a calf.
TO RING OR NOT TO RING…
Every farmer has his pros and cons on how to feed hay. Hay rings certainly conserve hay but increase mud outs. Although it doesn’t happen often, livestock can get a leg hung in one, or if they have horns, they can get their head hung in it. I prefer to use the plastic rings. While they have a little more hay waste, there is less mud out, and it is light enough that cattle can move it and clean up all the hay. They are also easiest to move from one roll to the next.
February is the time for frost seeding. The upper mid-south didn’t have great weather for stockpiling fall growth for winter grazing, which lead to less ground cover and more potential for mud and bare ground increases the potential for compaction and weeds.
So, what are our options?
Do nothing
Manage what we have
Frost seed legumes and brassicas this month
Drill grass and legumes in March
Drill a warm season in late April or early May.
Which option is best for you will vary depending on how you feed hay and manage grass. If your hay has viable seed in it, the bare areas may reseed from the hay. It’s important to note that hay with mature seed can be low quality.
BEWARE – If you are seeding hay feeding areas before seeding legumes, be sure the hay you fed wasn’t harvested from a field treated with a long-lasting herbicide that will carry over into the soil and kill broadleafs.
When seeding on thinner, low-fertility soil, legumes typically seeded in February consist of
2 pounds of ladino white clover
4 pounds certified red clover
8 pounds annual lespedeza
If the cost of these legumes is too high, just lower the rates. I typically add five or more pounds of orchardgrass or tall fescue to the legume seed mix. You can also add 1-2 pounds of brassicas.
Timing is best when the soil is frost heaved. This usually occurs when the temperature is 28 degrees or lower or on snow. An electric seeder, like a Herd Seeder, works great to seed small seeds like legumes.
DRILLING GRASS AND LEGUMES IN MARCH
Perennial grasses are best seeded in the fall. If you need quick cover now, you could seed an annual like spring oats with legumes. Oats have the most mycorrhizal connections of the small grain species. The downfall of seeding in spring is the short growing season. Sometimes, spring-seeded perennials do okay, but they have more weed competition, so graze or clip as needed to keep light to the new tender seedlings.
APRIL AND MAY SEEDING
Wait until late April or early May to seed a warm-season grass like crabgrass. I like this option because it gives a more extended growing season and sets you up nicely to seed tall fescue or orchardgrass in September. May is the time to seed Bermudagrass, which is a good option if you feed in the same area yearly. Bermudagrass can tolerate a lower grazing height of between 2” and 6” and sometimes doesn’t do well where tall grazing is practiced.
In closing, feed hay to balance your stocking rate, improve the land, and provide higher animal nutrition. Seed to maintain cover and quality grazing.
I hope to see you at the conferences.
Greg Brann,
Synergistic Grazing Consultant,
Gallagher Fencing and Redmond Mineral Dealer
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