Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Started Feeding Hay

I was hoping the weather would be nice through November, and I could put off feeding hay until December. But, it's turned cold and the grass has stopped growing several weeks ago. I reseeded one pasture, so I can't graze that, and will have to start feeding hay. Tractor is warming up now, waiting for the heater to start putting out. Hay may be short here this year, and I'm going to probably have to buy some.

Anyway, we have a winter storm watch out for tonite and tomorrow, with snow and ice expected, so the poor old cows will have to eat to stay warm. I don't mind haying the cows, but each winter I say I'm going to do it differently next year, and I never do. I guess I'm just too tight to fix me a better place.

James, we keep too many cows, and some years feed hay starting in late July. We like turning the cows on corn stalks, the to keep them from plowing the stover in mud, we have to pull then out when it rains.

I probably need to start.

The freeze here this morning will kill the grasses. Not long until it's worthless.

I'm like you, I always liked to turn them in on corn stalks too. Our problem is that our crop ground isn't fenced, and although the neighbor that works it wouldn't mind us turning them in on the stalks, he plants wheat after some of the corn, and that lets that out. A lot of the corn went down last year, and it would have been some real good eating for the cows, but we didn't get to do it, even though the renter was going to put wheat on all of it.

Grass growth here slows substantially in Aug. We supplement horses with hay even in summer.