WHEN AND HOW SHOULD YOU FEED STORED FORAGES?
There are times when supplementing pastures - not replacing them - with hay, silage or haylage justifies the beneficial use of stored forages. This is different from cow-calf production. Finishing cattle to the High Select/Low Choice grade on forages alone is not natural and requires unnaturally good forages and management.
The Use of Stored Forages with Stocker and Grass-Finished Cattle explains factors to help you determine when and how to feed stored forages.
- How stored forages can bridge seasonal flat spots;
- Details for various methods for stacking and feeding hay bales;
- How to double an animal's voluntary intake of feed;
- When to supplement during Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring;
- How to feed during extended periods of mud or precipitation.
Anibal Pordomingo is the senior reseacher at the National Institute of Agriculture Research of Argentina (INTA). His reseach covers animal nutrition, production systems, feeds and feeding, and beef quality on grazing. He is a frequent contributor to The Stockman Grass Farmermagazine. With his family he runs two farms of 1200 acres total with 260 cows in a cow-calf and stocker finishing program. 240 steers and heifers are grown and pasture finished each year in a 27 inch annual rainfall area using an improved perennial and annual pasture forage base.