Unrolling Hay for Cattle is a Waste

[@donobrenski630]

Great info. !!

[@brianevans2377]

That makes great sense. You are feeding cattle. They are spreading their fertilizer. Any not eaten is compost. The organic addition is better for the soils biology. Cleanup and spreading lessened. Breaking down the functions shows costs and benefits. You are good at it !

[@practicalsheepman]

I purchase round bales from my neighbor and transfer nutrients from his land to mine. Round bales come out of his field and are placed in rows along fences on the up hill side of my paddocks. I run a couple strands of polybraid around the bales to protect them from my sheep as they graze the paddock during the growing season with daily moves. When I am out of grass in the winter, each morning, I drop the polybraid and unroll a bale downhill by hand in a paddock with no animals in it. After unrolling the bale, I walk down the swath with a hay fork and pitch 1/3 to the left, 1/3 to the right, and leave 1/3 in the middle. This allows more access to the hay so all the sheep can eat without competition. It also more evenly distributes the hay. I raise the polybraid back up and open the gate to the adjacent paddock letting the sheep come in to eat. I only feed what they will do a reasonable job of cleaning up. Then I unroll a bale in the adjacent paddock that the sheep just moved out of the same way. With no animals in the paddock it is easier to unroll a bale without the sheep crowding around it. In the evening I open the gate and the sheep move back to the night paddock to eat again. I am usually able to completely cover two paddocks each winter. The manure and wasted hay that is deposited provides armor to the soil to help conserve moisture the next summer as well as giving fertility benefits. If the ground is dry, frozen, or snow covered I get very little waste. Wet muddy conditions increase the waste. When the grass begins to green up in the spring, I move my flock into a dry lot to they will not set back the new grass. I have seen a huge improvement of my pastures by feeding hay out there and making daily moves during the grazing season.

[@mcchupka9718]

Agreed… there is definitely benefit feeding on the ground and allowing a percentage of organic material to help with carbon and compost of the soil.

[@jwmcginnis]

Thanks for watching!

[@steventhomas8964]

Very fascinating! Never thought of it like this. Book suggestions? Also how’d the mobile pig pen working out?

[@jwmcginnis]

Not bad, I’ll do an update soon

[@steventhomas8964]

@@jwmcginnis thank you!

[@leonardsupchak545]

This in my opinion is a win win doing it this way...in the pasture your feeding, not trashing pasture being hay is spread out, dropping new seed from hay, cultivating it in with their feet, spreading manure more evenly, creating more organic matter....Oh yea !! Appreciate your content...forces one to sometimes reevaluate their setup !!

[@stevemench786]

I can assure you that unrolling hay is extremely beneficial.. I have very hilly land that I pasture and of course through gravity ,rain,what ever other forces of nature. The hilltops are space with usable vegetation, I unroll hay across ed those tops yearly best decision made. Not o ly are the hilltops flourishing but side hills have benefited as well.

[@jwmcginnis]

We have seen great results from unrolling hay.

[@practicalsheepman]

80% of N is in urine not manure. When animals are on pasture the urine and N is deposited there with little loss. If they are in a dirt lot or even in a bedded barn, most of the N from urine is lost.

[@mourbonaventure7475]

I'd rather move hay than poop.

[@jwmcginnis]

For sure, although I do see a benefit for being able to spread some manure late summer in areas that need improvement.