  BeefTalk:
Hay Harvest Time Sets Scene To Calculate Winter Feed Needs
By Kris Ringwall, Extension Beef Specialist,
NDSU Extension Service
Now is the time to make sure there is enough feed available for next April
and May. Look around and you’ll see mowers, rakes and balers in hot pursuit of
next winter’s hay supply -- the No. 1 expense for cow calf producers.
Hay is a commodity that producers use as a measure of their comfort zone
while they are keeping a close eye on the weather predictions. At the North
Dakota State University Dickinson Research Extension Center, it is no different.
Our annual feed inventory report indicates we are on the short side. (We do our
inventory on July 1 since that is the beginning of the Center’s fiscal year.)
Currently, we have 55.5 tons of hay, 102.4 tons of straw and 79 tons of
grain. That’s well below the necessary comfort zone. Hay is the most common
ingredient in beef operations so I would like to focus on the total hay figure,
which is less than 5 percent of our annual need.
On Jan. 1, the center had 798 tons of hay. The six month hay inventory
disappearance for the winter of 2001 was 1,072 tons of hay. (Note: 743 tons of
inventory change and 329 tons of hay purchased and fed out between the two
inventory dates.) On Jan. 1, 2000, the center had 1,485 tons of hay, and on July
1, 2000, the center had 460 tons left as carryover. The total hay inventory
disappearance was 1,025 tons for the winter of 2000.
The obvious conclusion is that the Center was short hay coming into the past
winter. Comparing the Jan. 1, 2001 inventory against the Jan. 1, 2000 inventory,
the center was short 687 tons of hay and went into the winter without a hay
inventory that could be expected to meet needs.
If my memory is correct, the fall of 1999 was great, with little snow. The
fall of 2000 was tough, with more winter-like weather that required us to pull
cows into winter feeding grounds early. The winter was long but not extremely
cold. In response to the shortfall in hay inventory on Jan. 1, 2001, the center
purchased 329 tons of hay midway through the 2001 winter feeding season.
The total inventory requiring feed for the winter of 1999-2000 was 558 head
of cattle and horses. In the winter of 2000-2001, 539 head of cattle and horses
were fed..
The bottom line to all this history and numbers? The center currently has
only 55.5 tons of hay in inventory and projects to feed 400 bred cows, 120
replacement heifers, 26 bulls and 39 horses for a total of 585 head of cattle
and horses for 2002.
As I noted earlier, the mowers better keep running because we are short on
feed and long on livestock numbers.
Given past data, the minimum hay needed to meet a four month feeding season
would be approximately 1,170 tons. If the weather turns against us and the
standing stubble and corn can’t be grazed, we may have a six-month feeding
period requiring 1,755 tons of hay.
How much feed does our land base produce? The Center has 323 acres for annual
forage production (2.3 tons per acre), 296 acres of Alfalfa (1.5 tons per acre),
521 acres of tame hay (1 ton per acre) and 13 acres of ditch hay (1 ton per
acre) for about 1,153 acres with a total projected yield of about 1,720 tons of
forage.
It looks like we are close to meeting our needs, given a reasonable hay
season. If the weatherman projects, I better buy some hay.
May you find all your ear tags.
Your comments are always welcome at www.BeefTalk.com
For more information, contact the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement
Association, 1133 State Avenue, Dickinson, ND 58601 or go to www.CHAPS2000.COM
on the Internet. In correspondence about this column, refer to BT0047.
###
Source: Kris Ringwall, (701) 483-2427, kringwal@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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