Cattle Feeding Area-Concrete? Asphalt?

I need some advice from you guys on a cattle feeding area I currently use that I would like to either pave or concrete. I have been thinking about this for years, and I think its finally time to do something. The area is a 16 ft wide allyway that connects my winter pasture and my barnyard at my bankbarn. The ally way is sloping from the barn uphill to the pasture. It has high tensile fence on bothsides. At one spot I have a fence line feeder where I can feed grain and where we used to feed small square bales. There is also a gate along the side where I can drive into the allyway, then up the hill into the pasture. Currently I take the skidsteer with a round bale in the allyway, up the hill and to a feeder in the pasture. Currently I have geo cloth down with stone on top. It provides great traction when trying to go up the hill with the skidsteer. The downside is its hard to scrape the manure off without getting a lot of stones in with the manure. Also, the ally slopes side to side at the gate. This makes it even harder to scrape without digging stone.The ally slopes up at the gate to form a sort of “berm” so the sloppy stuff doesn’t run out into the driveway, and down to the barn.Ally is about 35-40 ft long and I usually run 15-20 steers. My thought is either concrete of pavement. Here are my concerns:
1.Traction-I need something that the skidsteer will grip. I know the skidsteer is terrible on asphalt in the snow..Maybe a rough asphalt?
2.Runoff-We get a lot of water. Currently the stone allows some water to sink in. Neither asphalt of concrete would. Has anyone used the new permeable asphalt or concrete? Could I form up some slats in the concrete, like in a hog barn?
3.Cost-I assume asphalt is cheaper than concrete. On ag concrete, do they even run a trough over it? I wouldn’t see why you would need to.That would save on cost.
Fire away with ideas, suggestions etc etc. I want to do this right the first time, and never have to mess with it again.
Thanks

Asphalt will break up over time with freeze/thaw cycles and it also won't handle the weight over time. Chunks will break out and end up in the fields when you spread manure. You'll wear grooves where you drive. Concrete will be for life. It will still crack over time and maybe heave a little, but it will remain stable.

Casey in SD

Concrete. Rebar. Finish it and brush it with a proper broom to leave it smooth to scrape, but rough for traction for you and the cattle.

Paul

'Not saying that asphalt won't work, but I've NEVER seen it used in a livestock feeding area. Never. I'd definitely use concrete. I"d build a small "culvert" in the concrete down towards the bottom of the slope and then place a steel grate on the top to catch the runoff and divert it away from the barn.. You'll have to clean out the culvert periodically, but simply remove the top grate and shovel it out. No big deal. If you get a snow and ice build up, you can salt it or apply wood ashes for traction. I prefer the wood ashes if available. As for asphalt, by the time you get it laid down (via contractor), I doubt if you'll see any cost savings. 'Sounds like you've got a good base already, so not much required there, just pour on top of what you have now.

In my teens I spent one of the hottest summers laying concrete on the north half of our feed lot. Lime base, re-bar then 8 inches of concrete. The funny thing is that the cattle prefered the lime side. The concrete side was great for filling silo though.

Will a skidsteer grip ok on concrete? I was thinking if you didnt trough it the concrete would be very rough and that would help....

It won't matter what your driving on, when there's snow/ice and manure, everything is gonna be slippery. Just no way around it. In the winter the manure and snow will freeze and it'll be rougher then a cob, unless you can keep it scrapped several times a day. Around here that's just not possible. I'd just be happy to have a solid surface in the spring when the frost is coming out!

Casey in SD

If you leave the concrete "too rough" the skidsteer will grip too good....meaning it will eat your tires up. I know. Plus, too rough a surface is hard to scrape and it also eats up the bucket edge. You'll want to give the concrete a "broom" finish. It's easier for the cattle to walk on, it's easier to clean....just better all around.

My feeding and manure handling areas are concrete. Been there fifteen years, no problems. But don't overfinish it. We alos put in a heavy use area of concrete about three years ago, and used a garden rake to finish it with slight grooves, more for traction for the cows. I did put in a concrete 't' wall bunk for silage about five years ago, and we put blacktop in for the floor. So far, it has held up very well and was about half the price of concrete.

Is all the concrete flat? I am really worried about traction on the concrete. My ally way is an incline..