Bale grazing an effective method of feeding cattle

Producers in agriculture are always looking at different ways to conduct their business more efficiently, and cattle producers are no exception. With the winter months always providing a challenge for ranchers to feed their cattle, bale grazing has become more popular in use. Lynnae Ylioja is a range management extension specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture in the Government of Saskatchewan who explains bale grazing and it’s benefits. 

“Bale grazing is an extensive winter-feeding practice, and the bales are grazed on the pasture or a hay field instead of being fed in the traditional way, which would be a dry-lot or a corral. (Bales) can be either grazed right where they're baled or moved closer together, or to another field, and they're generally rationed with a movable electric wire and usually giving the cow is two to five days of hay at a time, but that can vary from farm to farm.” 

This method of feeding cattle can be useful for ranchers without a big dry-lot or corral space to accommodate the cattle. Cattle producers will often do a similar technique called swath-grazing, where the cut swaths of hay are left in the field for cattle to graze. However, this has some issues with it as it’s harder for producers to manage the amount of food eaten and can leave more spots of coverage which can end up dying in the springtime. Ylioja states that bale grazing has lots of benefits not just for producers, but also the pasture itself. 

“Bale grazing can improve the productivity of pastures, and it can save a lot of money and time. So, some of the biggest differences that producers may experience with bale grazing is having to spend less time doing chores in the winter, starting the tractor in the cold (reducing) wear and tear on the equipment and they'll see huge savings in the fuel to run the equipment in the winter. Manure management is different as well because the cow is spreading the manure right where it needs to be, and there's no need to worry about corral cleaning or spreading.” 

This more even spread of manure results in nutrients, fertilizer, and microbes being added back into the pasture, helping the growth of next year’s hay crop. Not only that, leftover hay from the bale grazing also ends up adding organic matter to the soil and the retainment of moisture. Ylioja claims that if the proper management practices are taken, bale grazing can be an effective tool for feeding cattle.