Have you ever heard of a rancher giving his cows all the hay they will need for the entire winter on December 1? Of course not, they would waste way too much of it. Instead, cattlemen will spend lots of money to be more efficient at feeding harvested feeds. It bothers us ranchers to see cows wasting a bunch of hay in the winter. That's because we worked dang hard getting that hay put up, racing the thunderstorm to get it baled before the rain. Then we had to fight the cold weather and the gelled-up tractor to get it hauled out to them, and now they are just pooping all over it and standing at the gate wanting some of that second-cutting alfalfa they know is in the yard. Ungrateful cows! So we buy bale rings, bale processors, feed wagons, feed-efficient bulls, etc in order to cut that winter feed bill. Some solutions are cheap(er) such as bale rings (but the "haysaver" bale rings cost more, of course!). Others are expensive to buy, and expensive to operate, such as grinders and processors. And yes, these things help efficiency. But none of those things make the haystack actually get bigger. Few of them make the cattle healthier or gain weight better. All decline in value over time.
There's another "innovation" out there to increase feeding efficiency. This innovation has the potential to do the following:
– decrease feeding losses by up to 30%
– increase animal performance
– increase the size of your feed pile (yep, you read that right!)
– make your feed stocks less suceptible to drought
Before I reveal this ground-breaking innovation, how much do you think that would be worth? INCREASE the size of your hay pile? That's crazy talk! Less affected by drought? 30% less feed waste? What kind of miracle machine or tool are we dealing with? Where's the nearest dealer?
The tool is a really old one. It's called "fence" and "water". (Ok it's really two tools.)
Let's go back to that dumb rancher who gave his cows the whole winter's worth of hay on December 1. How short-sighted of him! Yet, how many neighbors do you have that do the exact same thing with their summer "feed"? You see, the same rules apply – plus a few new ones.
Fence and water allow you to restrict what cattle have access to. Controlling the availability of forage the cattle have access to makes them eat things they might not otherwise. This is akin to only feeding your cows a day or two's worth of hay during the winter. You want them to "clean up" their plate before you give them more. Same thing applies on pasture. Season-long grazing averages around 20-25% harvest efficiency (that means the cow actually only eats 20-25% of the production). The rest gets over-mature or pooped on. That 20-25% probably comes from the same plants being grazed over and over again, weakening their root systems. More intesnive grazing systems can have harvest efficiencies of 40-60% without damaging the plants being consumed. The reason is that the plant has adequate time to recover before being eaten again, unlike the plant that is bitten off over and over again in the season-long system.
Fence and water also allow us to place cattle in the right place at the right time, and keep the cattle from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. By allowing pastures adequate rest between grazing events, the quality of the feed goes up. There will be less overly mature, unpalatable grasses. The amount of feed increases as well, because the plants are able to develop more extensive root systems. (This is where your "feed pile" actually gets bigger!). When the grass has a chance to rest, it can compete with weed pressure better as well. More developed roots allow them to weather droughts better, and absorb more moisture in wet years.
Fence and water tanks decline in value over time too, just like other feeding equipment. However, they increase the value of the land by helping the rancher to grow more grass and to harvest it more efficiently. And they can cost substantially less than winter feeding equipment. I would argue that a dollar wisely spent on summer "feeding equipment" could return ten times more than the same dollar spent on winter feeding equipment.
I hope more cattlemen start viewing their summer grass with the same attitude they do their winter hay. It has the potential to be a real game-changer for many operations.