Bale grazing in the eastern U.S. has its challenges compared to traditional, more Northern regions where the system is used. To be successful in areas with more moderate winters, you need to do a few things differently. In my experience, there are a number of fundamental concepts that need to be followed to make bale grazing work well here.
I have had many people tell me they tried bale grazing and that it will not work under conditions such as those found in Kentucky. In just about every case where they explained how they were implementing bale grazing, they were not adhering to one or more of the following fundamental concepts, which I will frame as the “Five commandments for bale grazing in the East.”
1) Thou shall not feed more than 2 tons of hay per acre. The biggest problem I see with bale grazing in the eastern U.S. is feeding at densities that are much too high for our winter conditions. This typically results in pastures that are severely pugged.
Why do so many people make this mistake? If you do an internet search for videos or images of bale grazing, the odds are good you will find something from the Great Plains or Canada. This is where bale grazing first became popular and is a common form of wintering cattle today. This region is characterized by cold winters, where the soil is frozen solid for months, and significantly lower levels of precipitation compared to the eastern U.S. These two factors combine to provide a long window of prime feeding conditions of either dry or frozen ground that results in minimal soil disturbance from bale grazing. This allows animals to be fed at high densities, and pugging is rarely an issue.
This same high-density bale grazing will not work well in most of the East. Sometimes, you will get lucky and conditions will be dry or frozen for a period of time, and the bale grazing will go reasonably well. But at some point, the soil will become saturated, the sod will start falling apart, and pastures will turn into mud holes.
What is the ideal hay density to avoid severe pugging?
The answer will depend on the soil type, management skills, cattle size, and other factors. For beginning bale grazers, I like to see a maximum of around 2 tons of hay fed to the acre, which is roughly four 5x5 bales or five 4x5 bales. Except with the most extreme weather or with poorly drained soils, this will generally keep pugging to acceptable levels. There are many situations where 4 tons per acre would likely be fine, but you will not know this until you have gained experience. For the majority of farms, 2 tons per acre is a good place to start.
Click here to read more uky.edu
Photo Credit: gettyimages-tlillico
Categories: Kentucky, Livestock, Weather