How Much Hay Does It Take to Feed Cattle? - FHC Q & A

[@Poppy_love59]

Very good job answering a very complex question. Most would have simply said it was to complex to answer. But you went out of your way to make a very good attempt at giving good estimates !

[@farmhandscompanion]

I appreciate that, Poppy

[@robertb4744]

Please write a book so we can all benefit from your knowledge! Or a series of books. I’m 48 and I have just now in my life realized that I love farming. The knowledge that you have over your lifetime is invaluable. I wish I had learned at a young age that I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

[@farmhandscompanion]

Moses got goin' good when he was 80. By that standard you're doing just fine.

[@themccormickfowlranch]

I really wish more people would watch your videos. Very entertaining. I've been enjoying you for the last few years on and off. Thanks for the videos man

[@georgeschmitt8205]

PA Mac that old ford of yours is one of the best tractors ever. We have a Ford 3400. When my dad bought his new 65 horse JD he contemplated selling the Ford. I said "Dont do that. You'll need the Ford to help load the new tractor on the trailer when it breaks." Sure enough. Broken sensor. Used the 3400 to load it on the trailer.

[@farmhandscompanion]

It's sure a workhorse, George

[@olddawgdreaming5715]

Thanks for the great information Pa Mac, you're really helping lots of folks out with all you share on youtube. Keep up the great work and super good videos. Fred.

[@DamEngineer]

Rule of Thumb: Daily hay requirement is 3% of total cow weight. Multiply by the number of days feeding hay and you'll know how much hay you need for the season. A typical 4x5 round bale of grass hay weighs 800 lbs and a 5x5 round bale 1000 lbs. A small square bale is 40 to 50 lbs.

[@rubygray7749]

I don't know where you get these figures from, but I find them wildly inaccurate. In Australia, we are told by the authorities that a small square bale should weigh 40 to the ton, or 25 kg, which is 55 lb. A 5' x 5' bale should contain 14 small squares, so 3 of them weigh just over 1 ton. 14 x 55 lb = 770 lb. Calculating the comparative volumes of 5' x 5' and 4' x 5' bales : 22/7 x 2.5 x 2.5 x 5 = 98 ft³. This is 7.85 lb/ft³. 22/7 x 2 x 2 x 5 = 63 ft³. A 4x5 bale is just over half the volume of a 5x5 bale. So the four foot bale contains just over 8 small squares, = 450 lb. I bought large squares, 3' x 3' x 8', volume 72 ft³. Square bales are more compacted than round bales. I put these over a weighbridge, and they weighed 660 lb each = 12 small squares. That is 9.15 lb/ft³.

[@MsHomesteader]

We live in Montana and the winters shift from year to year as Pa Mac shared. We have had a very mild dry winter thus far this winter season. This makes those of us dependent on hay for feed uneasy, but we will pray for rain. We have a Jersey Guernsey cross cow (she is larger like a Guernsey) her 9-month-old heifer calf and three goat does, and we've probably used 5 ton of hay this winter so far. We purchased 8 ton just to be prepared for a colder winter, so what is left over, we will add to fill back up the hay loft, which will hold 8+ ton of hay. It's better than a savings account because hay purchased on a plentiful year the cost will be reduced, verses a dry year where hay is more scarce. We use small square bales, weighing 75-80# each and a bale will last for three feedings on average, but we also offer a flake of alfalfa with the grass hay, so that bale last for approx. 4 feedings. Hope this helps, Pa Mac did a wonderful job explaining as always.

[@farmhandscompanion]

Great information, MsHomesteader

[@andrewmcdonald7077]

PaMac, Up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC I have made hay with European snath scythe and hay rake for a couple years, and using a three tined pitchfork have made Romanian style haystacks which were very successful. These haystacks are another way to store hay for winter is you don't have means to bale it or haul it to a barn. I recommend a video by you on how to do this from beginning to end, or from soup to nuts.

[@SeattlePioneer]

[@GreatDaneRescueMom]

Last yr with 3 head -1 cow 1 heifer and 1 steer, i went thru a round bale every 15 days. this yr i just got a bull and i am going thru a round bale every 7-8 days. we are also in a drought and the bales are about 600 lbs. last yr they were 800 lbs. I also have to feed hay everyday yr round. already got 24 bales delivered, have gone thru 8 so far, and have 24 more on order. 2 cows are also pregnant and due in march- but with no rain hay is hard to get , prices are way higher and the quality is down. no rain the only thing that really grows is the weeds... just thankful we can get that. also prices are from 75 -125 a round bale here in nj. cant afford to do sq bales as they are 40-45 lbs average here and 8-12 a bale. blessings

[@lomax117]

PaMac, I worked on a farm when I was younger. We baled 65 lb. baled average

[@farmhandscompanion]

That's how heavy mine usually are. Especially when I need to lift 'em up.

[@clarencecarter960]

Old timer here, rule of thumb would be 1acre/grazing and 1 acre hay (cut twice) per mature cow/per year. Considering average season of growing in your area.

[@farmhandscompanion]

I love those rules of thumb (thumbs?). Thanks so much, Clarence!

[@spudhut2246]

Thanks PaMac, Its great to see you posting again! Sure missed your awesome videos. BTW, your pole barn was an inspiration to me, I built one myself!!! Thank you. I hope someday to come visit your store in person and maybe stay the night!

[@davidjohanson8964]

We had a great season for hay last year because of good rains, but boy was it tricky getting a 3 day sunny window to make it! Lost a lot of mine, but thankfully a neighbor was better at it than me.

[@andrewmcdonald7077]

PaMac, additionally Id like to see a video on different techniques to salvage wasted hay. My flerd conservatively wastes up to 25% , its terrible. Daily raking up waste and drying it in a rick of some sort? Some sort of elevated cage construction with narrow holes? Horse feed bags suspended from T-posts? Etc. Im sure there are many excellent ideas out there, I just struggling and would welcome any and all ideas to make my dollar stretch further.

[@farmhandscompanion]

Good idea; it's in the works, Andrew

[@Gnomoleon]

What a great video..... I've been struggling to find information about old school farming. One question I have is about haystack. Where haystack used as a storage medium because barns/shelters where not available? How did they work ? Why do we not use them now?

[@Siskiyous6]

I live in Roseburg OR now, and there is still square baling going on here. I grew up on a beef and dairy ranch and we put in over 700 bales each year. And, that was in Crescent City CA, a nice mild climate. What we needed hay for was because the wet months cows eating grass would get far too much water in their stomachs. While there is more variability in their savvy these days, a county Agricultural Agent is often a good resource for these questions, and your neighboring ranchers are going to have a better idea. I just found your channel, and you know your stuff! When I do estimating of this type I guess low, and at an easy math number. I would have picked 1000 for the round bale, and 50 for the square bales. Also, a hay chopper, and feeding in a stall, is a tremendous saving in per cow consumption. Finally, bales of hay have other utilitarian uses, need to get a new calf out of the cold, a few bales insulate an area very effectively, need a little bow and arrow practice, bales, going to the fair with kids, round bales are useless.

[@goatfarmmb]

awesome video as always Pa Mac, the question someone made how much one can cut with a scythe is around an acre by an experienced mower in about 10 hours, on average per hour it would be a tenth of an acre mowing with a scythe from a book I have read. For does that would like dairy goats instead of a cow or cows, on average the land base and feed for a single cow is the same amount as for 5 goats

[@douglasvantassel8098]

Great video!

[@Barbarra63297]

My Aunt raised beef steer and in the winter months they got their hay but they also got corn. There was a monorail in the barn with a huge cast iron grain carrier that worked it's way through the maze of feeding troughs to dispense the corn. I'm guessing maybe the corn was just a supplement, it wasn't because she had to buy hay or corn, they grew their own. We always bought a quarter steer and it was the best meat I've ever had to this day. I know there are many schools of thought on feeding cattle grain but it's for sure not a new practice, maybe if all you fed them was grain that could be a problem.

[@fullcirclecsa2569]

Great videos thank you

[@jackiebinns6205]

5 round bails per cow per season helps so much 😂❤

[@farmhandscompanion]

Thanks for watchin', Jackie!

[@LittleCountryCabin]

Thank you so much for sharing!

[@farawayfarm2520]

3% of the animals weight in dry matter per day is a fairly acceptable conversion. There are plenty of variables we could calculate into that simplistic number( feed quality,weather, desired rate of gain or milk production etc.) but 3% works well.

[@farawayfarm2520]

@@willbass2869 I'm not quite sure what you are saying here.

[@farawayfarm2520]

@@willbass2869 That's what I thought you meant but wanted to make sure. I have limited pasture area but we get as much as we can out of it. You are definitely correct about cows grazing. It's good for them and good for me. I like feeding cows but I like it better when they feed themselves. I have to feed at least 200 days due to snow cover most years. If I was further south we would absolutely be grazing as long as possible.

[@farmhandscompanion]

That's a good and simple way to look at it, farawayfarm. I like good and simple. Thanks so much!

[@farawayfarm2520]

@@farmhandscompanion You're welcome. It works well for me when calculating feed, I figured it might help someone else out too. 👍

[@trisheverett6950]

Love your channel! Would you make video on different drying, storing your grains. Do you know about pellet making and storing?

[@farmhandscompanion]

I would like to do a video on grains one day, Trish. But I don't think I'd be a good source for pellet makin' info. Thanks for watchin'!

[@johnmccallum9542]

Small hobby farm , startup , buy an old small tractor with a small square baler and hay rake pull type . Usually cheap as farmers only want BIG equipment these days . My family farm did well on 200 acres with this type of equipment for 3 generations . usually 70 acres pasture cut for 2 times and the rest crop rotation soybeans and corn . 10 milk cows and caves sold as yearlings or sold for beef at 2 years old aprox , Regards J

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

We had the same thing but we had beef cattle❤️🤗🐝

[@trisheverett6950]

@@willbass2869 unfortunately most grains are sprayed with chemicals which people want to get away from

[@farmhandscompanion]

That's right, John. A lot of folks around here still use the smaller, older equipment, especially if they're decent mechanics (unlike myself). I've noticed that to succeed at haymaking with the older mechanical equipment you need to enjoy workin' on 'em or enjoy cussin'. (And I don't enjoy either.)

[@johnmccallum9542]

True words there , gramps and the twine tensioner ,, lolol@@farmhandscompanion

[@MarkWYoung-ky4uc]

Excellent tutorial Pa!

[@farmhandscompanion]

Thank you, Mark

[@Marilou-g5t]

Kick the Hay Habit by Jim Gerrish, intensive rotational grazing videos with Allen Williams, Gabe Brown. Stockpiled forages rather than hay.

[@johnsonr9]

Good summary

[@j.p.saverance8972]

Pa Mac, what breed is your bull? Is it a beef or dairy breed?

[@farmhandscompanion]

The brown one is a Jersey. The black one (I used to have) was a Dexter/Gurnsey/Jersey cross. I called it a Dextagurnsajerkster. Both were dairy breeds.

[@j.p.saverance8972]

Thanks and keep up the good work!

[@youngguns1319]

I still buy square bails mostly everyone I know thats all they buy du to not having much area to store it and also living on the sides of hills round will just roll and take out the fence also the tractor would flip at most places near and were I live its very steep

[@kam6657]

Very helpful, Thanks 👩🏻‍🌾

[@samsterthehamster6352]

great video!

[@cdantzer4984]

Seems like I remember,figuring 2to2.5 acres per cow to provide feed.

[@chetanbhagwat2763]

How much is the leasing rate of agricultural land in your country?

[@1976johnnyreb]

Hello Pa Mac. My name is Seth. My 13 year old daughter (Mariah ), have a small hobby farm. We have chickens, goats, and rabbits, hopefully sheep soon. The rabbits we use mostly for fertilizer. I have learned alot about raising rabbits, but I was just wondering if you had any tips or advice about rabbits? Thanks in advance and I lover your show.

[@farmhandscompanion]

Just a few rabbit tips, but you might could teach me a thing or two! Thank you so much for watchin'

[@danmckayinthewind]

Excellent advice,.. the most expensive thing in the world is bad advice.. and this was all good.. I sometimes feed a few range pellets with poorer hay, and also at breeding season to keep them on the gain.. a cow will bred back easier when she's on the gain..

[@farmhandscompanion]

Thanks so much for watchin' and commentin', Dan!

[@user-ic2ug8ys1z]

😀🌱🐢

[@JohnDoe-zl6ph]

Half of an acre a day is low for someone cutting hay with a scythe. With a well set up and sharp scythe one man should be able to cut an acre a day or if you're really good two. I've cut a little an acre in a day. I was trained by my Grandpa he was in his early 80:s and had been doing it for 70+ years, I was 18 and almost killed myself trying to keep up. 😂