This is really not a new concept. Cattle producers in the past have collected hay in piles and let the cattle eat it in the winter months. Some early combines were fitted with equipment that would collect chaff and leave it in piles for cattle to eat at a later date.
Remember the old bread loaf-looking stacks of forage left in fields? This is what I am referring to.
So the practice of bale grazing is not really new. However, as an industry, we have gone away from letting the cattle harvest the feed to putting cattle in a drylot and hauling the feed and metering it out over the winter feeding period.
There is a trend now to move back to either leaving baled forage in the field and letting the cattle graze it there or hauling it to fields and setting the bales out in a designed pattern for winter grazing. Bale grazing is back and is being adopted in Canada and in many areas of the U.S.
What are the advantages?
Improving soil and plant health while capturing nutrients from manure and forage residue is the main advantage of bale grazing. The manure and urine is deposited out in the field, and as the residue left over from the bales breaks down, the soil captures all those nutrients.
Ed Haag published a paper in the September 2007 Angus Beef Bulletin entitled “Bale Grazing: Less Work, Better Return.” In this paper, Haag shared results of research conducted in Canada that looked at what happens to the nitrogen (N) fed to steers drylotted in a feedlot.
The results showed that only 10 percent of the N was retained in the animals. The remainder was excreted in the manure and urine. When the manure was hauled to the fields, only 20 percent of the excreted N was captured and spread on the fields. The rest was lost in the feedlot to leaching and volatilization.
With bale grazing, the nutrients go directly into the soil and are utilized by the growing plants in subsequent years. Some studies indicate that in bale-grazing systems, three times more nitrogen is captured and returned to the soil compared to hauling manure from a feedlot and spreading it on a field.
Haag went on to point out that according to estimates made by agriculture economists in Canada, one cow will return $0.30 a day worth of N, phosphorous (P), potassium (K) and sulfur (S) to a pasture or field while grazing. This figure would be higher with today’s fertilizer costs.
Another big advantage of bale grazing is the savings realized from a huge reduction in labor costs associated with feeding cows in the winter. Feeding is done by moving an electric fence every second or third day.
There is also a big reduction in expense for machinery and fuel costs with not having to start up a tractor and other equipment to feed every day and the cost of having to clean pens and haul manure out to fields.
Bart Lardner conducted research on this subject at the Western Beef Development Centre at Lanigan, Saskatchewan, and estimated that a bale-grazing system will provide a savings of 10 to 20 percent compared to traditional winter drylot feeding systems.
Quality of life considerations is another advantage. Bale grazing allows a producer to have time to do other things besides feeding cows the majority of each day during the winter months.
How does it work?
Identifying a pasture or field that will be used as the site for bale grazing is the first step. It is recommended that the site be on a field with an established perennial forage such as a pasture or a grass hayfield.
The site should be an area that is in need of rehabilitation, meaning that the stand of grass needs nutrients to improve the production of forage. The site should have a water source for the cattle and a power source for the electric fence. No electricity is needed if a solar or battery-powered charger is used.
A site should only be used for bale grazing once every four or five years to prevent damage to the area.
Once the site has been identified, then the bales can be placed in a checkerboard pattern across the field. Recommendations for spacing of the bales varied in the literature.
However, it appears that the bales need to be spaced at least 20 feet apart in each direction. One publication recommended that the bales be placed 40 feet apart from each other in each direction, which should allow for 25 bales to be placed per acre.
The bales will need to be fenced away from cattle until it is time for winter feeding. A one-strand portable electric fence with the hot wire placed at 40 inches high will work. If grounding is a problem, place a second uncharged wire 10 to 12 inches below the hot wire.
When it is time to graze the bales, simply move the fence so the cattle have access to the desired number of bales. The net wrap or twine will need to be removed from the bales prior to grazing.
The number of bales that need to be exposed to grazing for a two-day to four-day grazing period will depend on the number and weight of the cows and the size of the bales. To figure how much hay is needed, remember that a cow will eat about 2.5 percent of its bodyweight in feed per day.
If a cow weighs 1,300 pounds, it would need 32.5 pounds of hay each day. Figure a 15 percent waste when bale grazing as well.
If you have 20 cows with a 1,300-pound average weight, they will eat 650 pounds per day. With a waste of 15 percent, you will need 748 pounds per day.
If you know the weight of your round bales, you can figure how many days it will take to eat each one and how many bales you want to allow the cattle to graze at one time to fit your fence-moving schedule.
Once the cattle have eaten the available bales, move the fence and allow them access to fresh feed. Most cattle producers who use this system plan it so that they move the fence every three to four days.
Producers using this system suggest that the first bales that are grazed are closest to the water source. Then move the fence progressively away from the water so the cattle have to walk back over where they grazed bales previously. This helps to pound the organic matter and manure into the soil.
Will it work in this region?
Bale grazing will work in the Pacific Northwest. Our winters can be cold and snowy – but nothing compared to the northern areas of the Canadian provinces, where they are really adopting this management practice. Bale grazing is also gaining momentum in the Upper Midwest and the northern Corn Belt regions.
The initial cost of implementing this system will be in purchasing electric fence supplies. A producer will need a charger of some type, portable fence posts, wire that can be rolled up and moved easily, and a water source that can be used in the most extreme cold weather.
There will also be costs associated with placing the bales in the field with a tractor.
Another consideration is providing a wind break for cattle. The site where the cattle will bale-graze needs some type of wind break so cattle can access shelter. Some producers have designed moveable wind breaks that they use when bale grazing.
Producers located in the wetter areas of the Northwest thinking about using this system may want to limit bale grazing to the months of December through February and move the cattle to a winter feeding area in March for the rest of the winter.
March is usually wet, and mud can be a problem. You don’t want to track up a hayfield or pasture when it is really wet.
Calving season is another consideration. If the calving season starts in February, you may want the cattle close up so you can monitor calving and provide shelter for calves when needed.
Summary
We know that bale grazing has many advantages including: improved soil and plant health through the capture of nutrients from manure, urine and organic matter from forage residue; lower costs; reduced labor requirements; and reduced machinery use for winter feeding and for manure hauling and spreading.
Bale grazing is a management practice that shouldn’t be implemented without careful consideration. However, the benefits just may make it worth a look. 
- Jim Church
- University of Idaho Extension
