Bale grazing is a novel idea for some cattle producers. For others,
it’s old hat.
Whatever the case, bale grazing is among the options to lower winter
feeding costs.
Methods vary, but a common approach is to keep round bales in the field
after harvest rather than hauling them to a bale yard.
Portable electric fencing is then used during winter to control the
number of bales available to cows.
Grant Lastiwka, a pasture agronomist with Alberta Agriculture and the
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Western Forage Beef Group, uses bale grazing at his ranch near
Innisfail, Alta. It curbs the expense and time he spends handling hay
during the winter.
Lastiwka doesn’t own a tractor. He buys his hay and when it arrives he
pays a custom operator to place the round bales in rows on his field.
Electric fences are used to ration the bales during the winter months.
Lastiwka said the system provides flexibility. With one of his herds,
he typically moves the electric fencing every four days.
With his other herd, he sometimes goes two weeks without having to move
the fencing.
The time saved by not having to deliver feed every second day can be
spent on other priorities, such as his family and management decisions
for the ranch.
“It’s all a matter of you being in control,” Lastiwka said. “Everybody
today seems to be short of time no matter what you do.”
Another important aspect of bale grazing is nutrient management. The
hay stays on the field or pasture. Material not eaten by the cattle
remains on the land to become part of the nutrient cycle. Manure and
urine from the cattle also go directly onto the land.
Lastiwka knows producers who target bale grazing to areas of their
fields or pastures most in need of improved fertility.
Because the cattle are not fed in pens all winter, there is no need for
manure removal and its accompanying expense.
Denis Beaulieu, a cattle producer at Fairview, Alta., started bale
grazing eight years ago. He feeds his mature cows once a week rather
than every second day.
He uses a tractor and wagon to move the feed from a bale yard to the
pasture. The sisal twine does not have to be removed from the bales,
which eliminates the need for bale rings.
Beaulieu doesn’t see a lot of waste with bale grazing, especially in
cold weather when there is a good layer of snow on the ground.
By placing the bales in different locations each time, he prevents
accumulations of feed that might otherwise have to be harrowed.
“You’re being too good to your cows if you have to harrow,” he said,
noting the feed should be managed so that almost all of it is eaten
before more bales are made available.
His mature cows overwinter on a pasture that has trees for shelter,
eliminating the need for portable windbreaks or a cattle shed.
His cows calve in early May. When the calving season begins, the cows
are released onto stockpiled pasture. Round bales are provided for the
first 10 to 14 days so the cows can bale graze until pasture growth
becomes available.
