How Bale Grazing Keeps Cattle Warm & Healthy Through Winter
Bale Grazing: How We Keep Our Cattle Warm in Winter.
This weekend and next week the temperatures at night are expected to reach single digits, with wind chills making it feel even colder.
After a warm December, it appears that winter has finally settled in here at The North Coast Ranch.
We're often asked, "How do you keep your cattle warm in the winter?"
Let me tell ya!
Our cattle, your grass-fed beef, are well-prepared for the impending cold. The fat on their bodies acts as insulation, much like whale blubber, and they all boast thick fur coats.
Unlike us, cattle can efficiently generate heat from the inside out; their four stomachs function as a fermentation vat to digest food, producing heat in the process.
When it gets cold, they simply eat more to generate more heat. Simply amazing!
We also take measures to assist them in retaining that heat. We feed hay using a technique called 'bale grazing'.
What is bale grazing?
Simply put, in the fall, we place bales of hay throughout the pasture in areas where the grass may need some extra nutrition.
Sometimes, we will simply leave the bales of hay right in the field where it was harvested.
If we determine it's the right place for winter grazing, we save time and fuel not moving the bale out of the field to then just move it back in during winter..
With hay bales placed where we want them for winter feeding, we then allow the cows access to only one or two bales of hay at a time. This lasts them one to three days. We do this until winter fades into spring and the lush grasses, clovers and other yummy edibles return to our pastures.
As the cattle huddle together munching on a bale of hay, several things are happening:
The more densely-packed herd acts as a living wind block, retaining heat against the harsh winds. Penguins do the same thing. (This and their internal heating system from the four stomachs is what keeps them warm.
Cattle tend to poop and pee where ever they are...they don't have bathrooms. Ha! So where ever they are at any given moment becomes their bathroom. While they eat the hay in this huddled manner, their waste tends to accumulate in one spot...generally not a good thing. After all, who wants to eat where they poop? But we use this to our benefit.
The hay that is not eaten by the cattle has been stepped on, slept on, pooped on becomes fertilizer for the pasture and food for all the worms and micro-organisms that live in the soil. This rejuvenates the land and this is why we tend to place the bales in areas of the pasture that need more fertilizer.
For their health, the cattle are then frequently moved from one bale to the next, usually to the other side of the pasture where the land is fresh and clean. This gets the cattle out of their bathroom and spreads their manure across the pasture. This process continues all winter. (Contrast this to a common practice of feeding cattle in the same area, all winter long. Where cattle feed in a wet, muddy, stinky mess and where nothing will grow for the next few years.)
Bale Grazing = Heat + Natural Fertilizer + Fresh, Clean Land
Bale grazing is just one of many lessons we've gleaned from nature over the years, contributing to our ability to produce well-marbled grass-fed beef...even in the midst of winter.
Stay warm!
Jim