Every practice to reduce hay waste has an associated cost, even if that cost is adding labor. The initial investment cost of upgrading infrastructure makes producers leery of spending cash they 鈥渄on鈥檛 have.鈥
In reality, these investments can have a quick return, especially in years with high hay prices. Each small step to improve storage or feeding method has an additive effect that has a very real dollar impact.
Table 1 outlines an approximation for the hay needed to feed a cow or herd of 50 cows for five months. Understanding that 0% loss will never be achievable, every step to reduce losses by even 5% will save $24 per cow.聽Looking at a 25% improvement improves the winter hay feed bill by over $124 per cow.
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Keep in mind the greater the spoilage during storage, the poorer the palatability and increased waste while feeding. Regardless of your farm鈥檚 infrastructure, consider these factors when storing and feeding hay to the cow herd this winter:
Best management practices for hay storage
- Utilize a netwrap.聽An advantage of round bales is the ability to store outside and shed moisture during precipitation events. However, a simple step to improve the moisture wicking ability and save approximately 5% of nutrients on a dry matter basis is to utilize netwrap rather than twine. If already utilizing netwrap, there may still be opportunity to upgrade netwraps as they are not all created equal.
- Consider orientation. Avoid stacking bales uncovered outside. This practice causes upper bales to shed moisture directly into lower bales, increasing moisture content and causing additional spoilage. To minimize loss when stored outside uncovered, line bales in single, north/south oriented rows, flat end tight to flat end with at least 3 feet between edges of each row. If on a slope, place rows of bales running up and down the slope rather than emphasizing a north/south direction to reduce water puddling at the base of the bale.
- Improve drainage. Ground contact can account for over half of the total dry matter loss. Therefore, minimize the amount of water that reaches the base of the bale and how long water sits there. Placing rows or stacking bales on top of a hill with a slight southward slope maximizes use of solar exposure to dry the site.聽
- Increase bale density.聽Moisture penetration and bale deterioration are inversely correlated to the tightness of the outer 6 inches of the bale. Therefore, the denser the bale, the lower the nutrient loss. If storing outside, a general thumb rule is a minimum of 10 pounds of hay per cubic foot.
- Cover bales with tarp or store under roof.聽 Storing hay on bare ground and uncovered results in as much as 25-30% waste. Elevating bales with gravel, tires, or pallets can save you approximately 10% and adding a tarp can save you up to another 10%. Getting bales off the ground and properly covering results in dry matter losses comparable to storing hay inside with an expected 5% dry matter loss.
Best management practices for feedout
- Offer fewer days of feed.聽While feeding hay daily does result in increased labor, savings are found in feed waste. Research has shown that feeding hay daily on the ground resulted in about 11% waste and linearly increased to almost 50% waste when 1 week鈥檚 worth of hay was fed. While feeding in some type of a feeder or hay ring reduces feed waste compared to feeding on the ground, the same trend applies when providing multiple days of hay at once.
- Improve feed delivery.聽Feeder design impacts waste. Data from Michigan State indicated that a cone and ring shape bale feeders resulted in 3.5 and 6.1% waste respectively while waste increased to 11.4 and 14.6% when utilizing a bale trailer or cradle feeder. Total mixed rations can have the advantage over free-choice hay of less feed loss due to daily feed delivery in a bunk or tire and the ability to add a highly palatable feedstuff to forages the cattle would otherwise sort.
- Manage groups and feed order.聽One of the simplest ways to improve feed utilization is to know bale quality. Submit samples of hay from different locations and each cutting for a nutrient analysis. Label bales in storage to know where they came from, what cutting, and some indication of quality. Once equipped with this knowledge, feed can be more efficiently utilized by managing groups of cows based on nutritional requirements (first calf heifers, mature cows, etc.). Aim to feed lower quality hay in late gestation when requirements are lower and increase quality leading up to and after calving as her nutritional demands increase. Cows accustomed to high quality, more palatable hay early in the winter feeding period are more likely to refuse poorer quality hay offered later.