It’s no surprise that everything is more expensive right now- from feed, fertilizer, fuel, groceries- everything you name is feeling the pressure of inflation and other global market shifts. About a month ago, I started chatting with some clients about what these increases mean for agriculture on a broad scale, and the more conversations I have, the more worried I become. I know it’s only mid-summer and we have months to go until next winter, but this week I want to advocate for livestock producers to be thinking ahead and developing a plan for feeding their stock through this next winter.
In the last 60 days, the Georgiaweather.net Clarks Hill weather station only reported 3.19in of rainfall. Compared to same time frame in the last three years (7.03” in 2021, 10.15” in 2020, 11.29” in 2019), we have gotten less than half of the rainfall we are used to receiving. Without rainfall, pasture and hay fields don’t grow. I know producers who typically get 2 cuttings of tall fescue hay that only got one who are now waiting for moisture so that their warm-season fields can grow and be harvested. I have clients already feeding hay to their livestock because pasture quality is suffering due to lack of rainfall. The bottom line is that our forage situation is in trouble- both on hay and pasture fronts. Pair slow grass growth with the fact that fertilizer and fuel is so expensive, and I anticipate hay is going to be hard to come by, more expensive to purchase, and potentially lower quality overall this coming winter.
With forage availability and quality, a prime concern right now, I want to take a quick minute to offer some ideas and considerations for feeding livestock through next winter. The first thing producers can work towards doing is extending grazing days- basically feeding livestock with the grass and pasture resources they already have for longer. Even one or two weeks of extended grazing can have a huge impact on the amount of hay that needs to be fed. There are a lot of ways to increase grazing days, but they do have some costs. A really simple way to increase grazing days is to use a rotational grazing system. Rotational systems encourage grazing animals to consume and use more of the forage resources in a pasture. Add to a rotational system a stockpile plan for your warm season grazing, and that might be a week or three of grazing days already. If you have the property to do so, you might consider planting some cool-season annual grazing like ryegrass, clover, and small grains. These require some more inputs and labor, but if you have land that is not being grazed, they can provide winter grazing once warm-season grasses go dormant. Obviously, these systems also rely on things like proper soil preparation and fertilization, having the equipment to get them planted or fenced off, and good weather conditions for growth, but remember that any additional days on pasture mean less stored forage that needs to be purchased.
If extending your grazing days through these means is not practical for your operation, it’s time to start thinking about stored forage like hay and baleage. There are a lot of resources to help you determine how much hay you can expect to feed through a winter on the internet or through your county agent. A rough estimate for most animals is 2-2.5% of their body weight each day. Once you have an estimate for your hay needs, start thinking about where you’re going to purchase your hay, whether you have the means to store it, and how you need to budget in order to meet your needs. A final reminder is that you cannot afford to feed your stock, you may need to consider downsizing to a more manageable size.
If you need more information on feeding livestock, winter forage management, or help analyzing hay needs, please let us know at uge3181@uga.edu or 706-359-3233.
