Re: What do they feed grass-fed cows in winter in northern states?

[Guest guest]

Probably hay, maybe some silage, maybe some mineral supplements, maybe

some " stockpiled " forages. That's where they planted some type of

forage (cattle food) crop, left it in the field, and kept the cattle

out of it until they needed to let the cattle eat it. The cattle do

the harvesting in that case.

> I was talking to someone about how grass-fed cows are better and they

> asked, " What do they feed grass-fed cows in winter in northern

states? "

> Does anyone know?

>

> Sandy

[Guest guest]

Also winter wheat/rye/oats. That's where they sow the crop in the

fall and let it grow through the winter. Lots of wheat farmers buy

stockers and let them graze in their winter wheat until maybe March

or April, then sell them and make more money because they've grown

over the winter.

Of course, stockers _per se_ are probably going to a feed lot after

they come off the wheat pasture, so they probably aren't strictly

grassfed cattle.

Then they harvest the wheat in the summer and make more money.

> I was talking to someone about how grass-fed cows are better and

they

> asked, " What do they feed grass-fed cows in winter in northern

states? "

> Does anyone know?

>

> Sandy

[Guest guest]

,

>Also winter wheat/rye/oats. That's where they sow the crop in the

>fall and let it grow through the winter. Lots of wheat farmers buy

>stockers and let them graze in their winter wheat until maybe March

>or April, then sell them and make more money because they've grown

>over the winter.

>

>Of course, stockers _per se_ are probably going to a feed lot after

>they come off the wheat pasture, so they probably aren't strictly

>grassfed cattle.

>

>Then they harvest the wheat in the summer and make more money.

>

I am not up north. I am in longhorn country, yee ha! My local farmer

at Rehoboth Ranch only supplements pasture with alfalfa for cows. Of

course, we haven't much of a winter here, but he has told me that any

grain " finishing " or other feeding will just destroy most of the CLA,

and otherwise change the nature of the nutritional profile of the meat

for the worse. You are talking grass, but I wonder if that is a good

choice. I don't know offhand, but my farmer is pretty strict about what

he feeds cattle. He's certified organic as well, so maybe that factors

in somehow.

Deanna

[Guest guest]

Someone on a grassfed beef list said:

" ...here in SC Kentucky, we still feed about 90 days - Jan-Mar or so.

We feed small square bales of hay that we put up ourselves from our

paddocks in spring/early summer when the grass grows way too fast

for grazing. Our Murray Greys get grass they graze, hay we make,

salt/kelp, and fresh water. That's all. Harvesting sunshine, making

beef. "

[Guest guest]

> So does eating hay in the winter negate eating grass in the summer?

> Sorry my first attempt I did not include the correct subject line.

>

Sandy,

Hay feeding in winter has to be considered grass feeding in the north.

Don't think it negates eating grass. Beef we get gets hay and corn

silage in winter. Only other option is buying from the south where

there's green grass year round. Good to give the ground a rest part of

the year in the north, imo. Depletes slower. Slaughtering is usually

in spring after there's new pasture or in fall before frost kills

grass, so your beef is technically green grass fed at those times.

Wanita

[Guest guest]

Sandy-

>So does eating hay in the winter negate eating grass in the summer?

>Sorry my first attempt I did not include the correct subject line.

Hay is certainly not as nutritious as fresh grass, and grass sileage would

be a more nutritious option, but it's not at all like grains.

-

[Guest guest]

On Thursday, August 4, 2005, at 08:28 PM,

wrote:

> Sandy,

>

> Hay feeding in winter has to be considered grass feeding in the north.

> Don't think it negates eating grass. Beef we get gets hay and corn

> silage in winter. Only other option is buying from the south where

> there's green grass year round. Good to give the ground a rest part of

> the year in the north, imo. Depletes slower. Slaughtering is usually

> in spring after there's new pasture or in fall before frost kills

> grass, so your beef is technically green grass fed at those times.

>

> Wanita

>

>

So how is the milk affected in the winter when the cows are eating hay

and stuff?

Sandy

[Guest guest]

>Hay feeding in winter has to be considered grass feeding in the north.

>Don't think it negates eating grass. Beef we get gets hay and corn

>silage in winter. Only other option is buying from the south where

>there's green grass year round. Good to give the ground a rest part of

>the year in the north, imo. Depletes slower. Slaughtering is usually

>in spring after there's new pasture or in fall before frost kills

>grass, so your beef is technically green grass fed at those times.

>

>Wanita

And really, wild ruminants in most parts of the world DO eat

dried grass in the winter. The buffalo would paw it up from

under the snow. Hay is just dried grass, or better, dried alfalfa.

Silage is fermented grass or whatever, and probably even more

nutritious. In the savannahs, grass is only " green " for a short

time period, then it is standing brown grass, hay, and that is what

ruminants eat.

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

There are times when the protein content of the green grass is really

too high for cattle to thrive on. Sometimes they *need* more dry

roughage to offset high levels of protein in the other part of their

feed. It helps keep their rumen healthy.

--- In , Idol <Idol@c...>

wrote:

> Sandy-

>

> >So does eating hay in the winter negate eating grass in the summer?

> >Sorry my first attempt I did not include the correct subject line.

>

> Hay is certainly not as nutritious as fresh grass, and grass

sileage would

> be a more nutritious option, but it's not at all like grains.

>

>

>

> -

[Guest guest]

Probably it's paler and contains less of the important fat-soluble

vitamins that Dr. Price mentioned were so plentiful in spring milk,

when the cows were grazing on fast-growing green grass.

Probably it will taste blander than spring milk.

>

> > Sandy,

> >

> > Hay feeding in winter has to be considered grass feeding in the

north.

> > Don't think it negates eating grass. Beef we get gets hay and corn

> > silage in winter. Only other option is buying from the south where

> > there's green grass year round. Good to give the ground a rest

part of

> > the year in the north, imo. Depletes slower. Slaughtering is

usually

> > in spring after there's new pasture or in fall before frost kills

> > grass, so your beef is technically green grass fed at those times.

> >

> > Wanita

> >

> >

>

> So how is the milk affected in the winter when the cows are eating

hay

> and stuff?

> Sandy

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

One apparently popular method of old was to feed cows mangel beets during the

winter when the pasture wasn't so good. My copy of the " Have More Plan " says

that it takes about 25lbs a day to get your cow through the winter and that an

eighth of an acher planted with beets will supply that. My Baker Creek Heirloom

seed cataloger sells seeds for these types of beets and states that they can

grow up to 20lbs each. I'm guessing that they aren't as sweet as smaller sugar

beets. The cataloger says that they type that they are selling were very

popular for livestock feed in the 1800's.

Does anyone feed these now? What does it do to the nutritional quality of the

milk? Thanks.

~Johannah

[Guest guest]

Hi Johannah,

I see a lot of current talk about planting turnips and one or two

other crops in the same field, to provide a variety of stockpiled

forage. The cows will eat not only the turnip greens, but also the

turnips that they pull out of the ground.

We haven't done it yet, but I think DH has some turnip seed.

--- In , Johannah Foss <januce@e...>

wrote:

> One apparently popular method of old was to feed cows mangel beets

during the winter when the pasture wasn't so good. My copy of

the " Have More Plan " says that it takes about 25lbs a day to get your

cow through the winter and that an eighth of an acher planted with

beets will supply that. My Baker Creek Heirloom seed cataloger sells

seeds for these types of beets and states that they can grow up to

20lbs each. I'm guessing that they aren't as sweet as smaller sugar

beets. The cataloger says that they type that they are selling were

very popular for livestock feed in the 1800's.

>

> Does anyone feed these now? What does it do to the nutritional

quality of the milk? Thanks.

>

> ~Johannah

[Guest guest]

> > > So does eating hay in the winter negate eating grass in the

> > > summer?

> >

> > Hay is certainly not as nutritious as fresh grass, and grass

> sileage would

> > be a more nutritious option, but it's not at all like grains.

> > -

That is one big reason why they have cattle-drives. Many ranches

have two pieces of land. My husband's family had a cattle ranch:

they had " the farm " in Utah and " the ranch " in Wyoming. Every year

they'd take on hired hands and all ride their horses, driving the

1000 head or so of cattle from Utah to Wyoming in June (or once the

snow melted.) They'd load the cattle on railroad cars for a lot of

the trip. The ranch was at about 8,000 feet and the farm was at

about 3,000 feet. Utah summers are HOT and the grass was a bigger

problem then than in winter.. They'd keep the cattle up at the ranch

until they were nice and fat on that beautiful grss and then they

were sold to a broker to fatten further -- on grains no doubt.. :-)

~Robin Ann