Winter feeding may not favor outdoor bales
•J Jhz
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Despite up to 50 per cent
savings in time and labor, outdoor storage and “free choice’’
feeding of large hay bales and stacks of com stalks to beef
cattle in winter produce less weight gains than baled hay
stored indoors' and fed on a restricted basis. The findings
come from research within the Agricultural Experiment
Station at The Pennsylvania State University.
Cattle in the experiments were significantly fatter when
given rectangular or round hay bales stored indoors than
when fed loose round bales or stacks of com stalks stored
outdoors.
Hie findings were announced recently by Dr. Lowell L.
Wilson, professor of animal science at Penn State, during the
First International Hill Land Symposium held at West
Virginia University.
The outdoor winter feeding experiments compared large
round untied bales weighing 1200 pounds each, large round
string-tied bales weighing 950 pounds each, and hay stacks
weighing about 1600 pounds. Following the 131 day feeding
trial, physical condition of the cows was quite similar for
each type of outside-stored hay.
Farmers Who Need Money To
Grow On Come To FARM CREDIT.
based on the investment you already have? Whether you need *5,000 or *100,000? How
about your management abilities and your earning capacity? Weren't they collateral, too?
They take advantage of the many conveniences and services offered by
Shouldn't somebody extend you a dependable line of credit
We think so. That’s why most farmers who want
to borrow enough money to really grow come to their
FARM CREDIT SERVICE
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
YOUR LOCAL COUNTY OFFICE.
Storage losses for the hay ranged from slightly over five
per cent for the rectangular bales to more than 16 per cent for
the giant stacks. In addition to Dr. Wilson in animal science,
the research included William L. Kjelgaard and Paul M.
Anderson in agricultural engineering, Dr. John B. Washko in
agronomy, and Dr. Theodore A. Long in animal nutrition.
The project was supported in part by Fair Funds ad
ministered by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
To equal the amount of dry matter contained in barn-stored
rectangular bales, considerably more dry matter was found
vital for hay packages fed outdoors. This amounted to 20 per
cent more for the giant hay stacks, 21 per cent more for
string-tied bales, and 32 per cent more for loose round bales.
Wilson said calves bom near the end of the wintering trial
were kept with the cows on pasture throughout the grazing
season. The average 205 day calf weight was not affected
significantly by the wintering treatment.
Where fanners want to make the best use of outdoor-stored
haystacks and bales, Wilson and associates suggest the
following:
- Place the haystacks or bales in rows, about eight to 10 feet
FARM CREDIT SERVICE
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Nov. 20,1976
apart, with feeding controlled by an electric fence. Put
enough bales in a row to provide two to three weeks of feed.
- Arrange the bales in rows, close together end-to-end.
Again, an electric wire is used to control access to the hay.
- Arrange the bales or haystacks about 10 feet apart. Allow
the beef cattle access to hay for a limited time each day, then
move them away to a loading area,
- Put up a fence-line feeder. Putting a roof over the feeder
may result in more hay going into the cows than otherwise.
- Use a portable feeder rack with a floor and built on skids.
This can be effective for small herds.
1975 lime usage
hit record
FAIRFAX, Va. - The use of
agricultural limestone in
1975 was over 31.3 million
tons, a new record high for
the Nation. This was only the
fourth time usage has ex
ceeded 30 million tons - the
other three times were in
1947, 1966, and 1968. The
tonnage in 1975 was about 3.5
million tons more than in
1974, and almost 800,000 tons
more than in the previous
record year, 1968.
Since 1936, due to the
stimulus provided by the
Agricultural Conservation
Program, agricultural
limestone usage increased
gradually until eventually in
1947 a peak of over 30 million
tons was reached. Since
then, usage has fluctuated
between 19 and 30 million
tons until 1975’s record
tonnage.
YOUR PIONEER
SALESMAN
IS READY
WITH SUPERIOR
SEED AND SERVICE
• Hybrid Corn - high yielding single
and special crosses.
• Alfalfa Seed
plowdown.
• Forage Mixes - A mix for every ;
need (pasture, hay, haylage,
greenchop or green manure
plowdown).
• Hybrid Sorghum
and sorghum
hybrids.
Don't Delay. /3S\
See Your Pioneer pTSiuiiER.
Salesman To-Day! CorntSor "l, Alfalfa
® Registered trademark ot Pioneer Hi-Bred International
However, and despite the
excellent job done in some
areas and the record tonnage
in 1975, usage remains
woeful in all too many
states. Less than one-third of
the 94.6 million tons
recommended as an annual
application by the Nation’s
Agricultural and Agronomic
authorities were applied last
year. Proper liming would
benefit about three-fourths
of all the cultivated lands in
the humid regions of the
United States, and yet these
acid soils receive annually
only a fraction of the amount
needed to maintain optimum
productivity. Productivity is
being wasted, dollars lost,
and the long-term health of
our soils irretrievably
compromised, proclaims the
National Limestone In
stitute, Inc., headquartered
in Fairfax, Va
for any rotation or
grain, forage,
sudangrass
87