A website from UGA Cooperative Extension

Winter-feeding is one of the most costly parts of running a livestock operation. It is also necessary to get livestock through the winter. I know that everyone is being stretched this year, financially, emotionally, and mentally. As we are stretched, we have to find new ways to make do with fewer resources. Let’s talk about how to improve the efficiency of your hay, and some practices that you can use to make it go further.

Feeding hay in a hay ring is one of the largest gains in efficiency that you can have if you haven’t been using one. Research has shown that cattle will waste 45% of hay if it is fed by simply put out on open ground. Using a hay ring can reduce waste to 20% or less. Modified cone rings are the most efficient design at 5% waste; they are usually the most expensive too. Hay rings are not cheap, but they will pay for themselves over time, because they make your hay go further. Hay trailers or wagons will reduce waste, and are in the 15-20% reduction range. The advantage of using a trailer is that you can move where the hay is fed so that the manure is spread over the pasture more evenly.

Chopping hay increases your efficiency because your hay comes in shorter pieces. This makes it easier for the cattle to get the hay out, resulting in less waste. It’s estimated that shorter pieces of hay reduces waste by 5-10% because less hay ends up on the ground. Chopped hay is also easier for cattle to digest in their rumen. This is because smaller objects have a larger surface area to volume ratio than small objects. A larger ratio means that there is more space for the bacteria in the rumen to break down the hay.

You can sort feeding by groups, which means evaluating which of your animals need the highest quality hay, and which ones can take the lower quality hay. Lower quality hay (50% total digestible nutrients and 7% crude protein) can be fed to cattle in mid-gestation. Mid quality hay (55-58% TDN and 8-9% CP) should be fed to cattle in late-gestation. Your highest quality hay (59-65% TDN and 10-13% CP) should be fed to first calf heifers throughout gestation, growing calves, and mature cows during early lactation. Understanding cattle’s body condition scoring also helps you sort which cattle need which hay.

Hay testing is important so that you know what your total digestible nutrients and crude protein are. Ideally you want to wait about 2 weeks after baling to test hay to let the moisture settle. For haylage or baleage, you should wait about a month before testing. A basic hay test will tell you about how digestible your hay is and how much energy is in it. Armed with this knowledge you can make decisions about which animals will get which hay. Animals have a limited amount of space in their belly, so making sure that space is filled with forage that will provide them with enough energy is important. If you would like to test your hay, let me know. I’d be happy to help.

If you have questions about increasing your hay efficiency contact your County Extension Office or email me at Jacob.Williams@uga.edu.

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