Marketing Hay by Nutritive Value and Weight

Introduction The use of hay-only winter feeding programs is expensive and contributes significantly to the overall cost of cow ownership. Producers should examine the use of alternative winter feeding strategies that reduce the dependence on hay and reduce input costs for the cow-calf production system. A backup plan, however, for the inevitable drought or ice/ snow cover days will require a store of hay that in most cases should be purchased from reputable sources rather than produced. Livestock production systems generally have too much forage in spring and not enough the rest of the year. If stocked for the reduced forage growth during late summer, there is an abundance of forage during the spring. Rather than bale their own hay, producers should arrange for custom hay producers to harvest the surplus, or calves should be used and sold when surplus forage is used up. This is especially true for producers with less than 100 head of cattle who probably have little business owning hay harvesting equipment. Therefore, it may be necessary to reevaluate the primary method in which hay is marketed in Texas and the southern US.