Start with a grazing plan

It’s second nature this time of year to dust off the haymaking equipment and get it ready for the season, but are the economics there to justify making your own hay compared to purchasing it?

I would contend you should put pencil to paper to make sure you’re doing the most financially beneficial practices on your farm.

Referencing custom agriculture rates, it’s roughly $40 to $50 per acre to mow, rake and bale hay and the nutrient value adds another $45.

While mature cows cycle nutrients from feed, young stock steal N, P and K so a percentage of each will not be available as manure nutrients.

Finally, how hay is stored and fed are big factors, both of which can lead to a significant amount of waste. I’ll assume 25 percent loss from feeding and storage, but depending on the situation these components alone can have much higher impacts.

This brings the total up to around $115 per ton. The going price for good round bales is about $100 to $120 per ton and at first glance seems like it’s a wash when comparing buying versus making hay; however, we need to factor in the nutrient value of bought hay which is about $20 per ton, decreasing the cost to $80 to $100 per ton.

For those operations without a winter feeding pad and manure storage, the nutrient value is lost to the animal feeding area regardless if the hay is brought in or not.

For those with manure collection ability, the equipment time, labor and fuel for manure handling should all be factored in when trying to get a handle on the true cost to make hay on your operation.

The argument can be made that the manure handling would be the same regardless of where the hay comes from; however, nine times out of 10 winter manure will be spread on that year’s corn crop, further robbing nutrients from hay fields. By purchasing hay the nutrient value from the manure is a true benefit since this reduces overall fertilizer inputs.

So what do all these numbers mean for your operation?

It means you should evaluate the benefit of grazing hayfields in addition to your pastures over the summer. Feeding a stockpiled forage and extending the grazing season as long as possible allow the animals to recycle nutrients directly back onto hay and crop fields that have a cover growing on them through the winter.

By purchasing hay you not only reduce inputs needed to operate the farm, equipment, time, labor and fertilizer needs, but you also can reduce winter feeding area size and the manure handling that is associated with those structures.

The benefit to grazing animals throughout the winter as conditions are fit can significantly reduce the feeding pad and storage size and in turn reduce the cost for construction.

Feeding stockpile forage and buying hay isn’t the cure-all in a typical beef operation.

It takes a holistic approach to how animals are grazed throughout the year to give you the ability to reserve pasture and hayfields late in the summer when pastures typically run short.

A grazing plan is a great place to start when it comes to determining the amount of pasture required to sustain animals solely on pasture throughout the summer, additionally grazing the pastures higher with put in-take out heights ranging from 30 to 10 inches and grazing on shorter intervals that allow the pasture to recover much quicker.

This increases the farm’s stocking rate and will help sustain good grass growth when they would typically slow significantly or stop all together.

Those interested in learning more about stockpiling forage and seeing how this would save money and time on your operation should contact our office for more information and a farm visit.

Andy Gaver is a conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Butler County.