Real World Bale Grazing Experiment

Join me today for the results of a several day experiment we did last week on bale grazing.

[@godricfamilyfarm]

Your videos brighten my mornings, thanks 🙏

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thanks Stuart!🤠

[@haleykellogg3904]

This winter I did my own bale grazing experiment. I had the same experience. Ended up hand spreading the leftovers to get a thinner cover so it doesn’t choke everything out this season. Turns into more labor than simply unrolling and strip grazing or hand feeding off the bale. Good video!

[@birchfieldfarming]

Interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@mossyrootsfarm2263]

Did you guys use a bale ring or just leave it out for the animals?

[@haleykellogg3904]

Just left it out standing on its side

[@ShepherdsCreek]

This is my plan. Come spring, we will run the lawnmower through the pasture to spread everything out more.

[@benburns5995]

Hi Jason, interesting video about the additional cost to Bale grazing. A lot of the farmers that Bale Graze probably are large enough to produce their own Hay which would be cheaper than having to buy the bales you need to feed. One solution I thought of watching this, that would allow the Sheep to have their portion, is to take about 4 Wheelbarrows out of the big bale. Once you put the large bale and the cattle are surrounding it feeding you could go in the Wheelbarrows and put 8 small piles for the Sheep to eat off of. The cattle would be so busy eating they probably wouldn't even notice. Like the idea of putting the Roosters in to the leftover hay that has Cow manure and letting them scratch through it and break everything down.

[@birchfieldfarming]

Thanks for watching, Ben! Even producing your own hay, making double still doesn’t pencil out even at scale. Double the input costs, plus extra could be sold, etc. The pecking order with the animals really is fascinating. 9 head of Devon, so they will continue to spread out until you have 10 piles!🤣

[@mossyrootsfarm2263]

​@@birchfieldfarmingyou definitely need to try a bale ring. Even a plastic one will work. I do want to try one myself but many others use them and love them.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@mossyrootsfarm2263Unfortunately, hay rings do not work with sheep and cattle together, as the sheep would never eat. I’ve seen them firsthand with cattle only though and definitely a utilization improvement over just dropping and/or rolling out rounds. The key we’ve found is hitting that sweet spot where we put out only what they’re consuming, splitting it twice a day even better.

[@mossyrootsfarm2263]

@@birchfieldfarming I do not know anything about sheep so that may be an issue. However my wife worked on a sheep farm growing up and they used bale rings for the sheep. But a gentleman's farm I was just at used a cattle panel to wrap his round bales for his sheep. So maybe that's an option for you as well. Cows might be able to eat through it. Or put out two bales. One with a cattle panel wrapped around it for sheep and a bale ring for cows. That may be the golden ticket for your sheep anyway. Keep the cows from bullying them. Either way you mentioned a labor issue in your video as well as a cost issue. And a ring will solve all of your issues you had at the end. Other than potential sheep issues. I understand a ring can be a big investment. But I put our 42 bales in less than 6 hours with my tractor so for the whole year I spent 6 hours and 5-10 minutes every 6 days to move rings and fence. Plus I didn't have to fork out all 42,000lbs of hay haha.

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@mossyrootsfarm2263Good thoughts here and helpful to others as well. I’m curious, what’s it look like when you move rings? As in how much would you estimate they leave behind in hay?

[@ShepherdsCreek]

What kind of drone do you use to get the footage you use in your videos? We are bale grazing through this winter. It's too early to tell how they will impact the pasture this year but it's definitely been nice just going out and opening a new bale when needed rather than having to move them throughout winter and also having to go out and feed every day, especially when I'm 7 months pregnant lol

[@birchfieldfarming]

I think it’s a DJI 3 maybe, I’ll have to ask Sam…yes, I will say it was very nice for that 48 hours NOT to have to put hay out. Everybody’s context is different, and I’m glad it’s making the workload more manageable for you when expecting. Congrats on the soon to be new addition!😀

[@ShepherdsCreek]

@birchfieldfarming thank you :) definitely able to relate a lot more to my pregnant ewes this year 😆

[@birchfieldfarming]

@@ShepherdsCreekDJI Mini 3…Sam says, “be sure to tell her it’s NOT a “pro”🤣. Ok, bud.

[@ShepherdsCreek]

@@birchfieldfarming lmao perfect! I'm far from a pro anyway 😆 😆 😆