Nutrition is a big factor affecting your herd’s health during the cold winter months. In order to meet this need producers should plan ahead when it comes to their fall and winter forages. There are many factors to consider when figuring out how much hay will be needed.
Hay quantity factors
Length of season: This will vary depending on your geographic region. Northern parts of the country will have to feed longer than ones in the southern. Now it may be tempting to graze them earlier in the year to later but this could damage next year’s pasture production.
Temperatures: Animals that will be in areas with more extreme temperatures will need more calories to maintain their body condition. If this is your area you will need to calculate your hay amount on the higher end of the scale.
Number and Weight of your animals: This may seem pretty basic but it can be easily overlooked. Be sure to calculate any additional animals you will be buying or selling. Also any births that may occur over winter should be included.
Stage of Cycle: This plays a factor because gestating and lactating animals will require more hay than those in the “dry” stage. Growing animals will need an increasing amount of hay as they develop.
Quality of hay: The quality of the hay you will be feeding also plays a role on the amount you will need on hand. Lower quality hay will require more of it to meet the same nutritional output as the higher quality.
Factoring Total Amount
I have included a table to the left to give you a general idea of how much hay your cattle will consume. Although some factors may change this it still can work a general rule of thumb.
Once you have the numbers from the factors listed above you are ready to figure out your total amount. The formula will be: amount required per day X number of animals X total number of days. This will give you the amount of pounds needed for winter. If you want it in total tonnage simply divide by 2,000 and this will give you the total weight in tons that you will need.
I feel compelled to tell you that there is another number you will need to know in order to figure out how much hay that you will need. Any hay bale will not be 100% Dry Matter. Dry Matter is the amount of forage that the animal can actually consume that will be of any benefit. To figure out that amount you will have to test the hay to see how much is dry.
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