First Bale Of Winter

rusty6 · Nov 5, 2018

Looks like its going to be a long winter of feeding cattle. I can usually hold off feeding them hay until the end of November but not this year. The grass froze off pretty hard back in September and it had not been a great summer for grass anyway. The 40 acres of oats stubble and straw kept them going a while after harvest but they are looking for something better. So I doubled their grain ration and put out the first hay bale of the season on November 2.
First Bale Out

caterpillar guy · Nov 6, 2018

I notice you don't use any cattle guards in your fences. Is there a reason for that. Most of the US western cattle guys do. In WY they just paint lines on the entrance ramps to the interstate for cattle guards

Bruce from Can. · Nov 6, 2018

Nice to see a yard that isn?t all mud. While you may have been too dry, too wet isn?t much fun either. Raining again today.

Philip d · Nov 6, 2018

We?ve had a lot of rain here in October as well,heard many stories as of late about towing equipment and trucks trying to get potatoes out of mud. That?s only half the battle,wet potatoes don?t survive in storage very long. Second dry August in a row for them coupled with horrible digging conditions.

larry@stinescorner · Nov 6, 2018

great video!!!Thanks!!!!

Traditional Farmer · Nov 6, 2018

I have another month's worth of grass before I'll have to feed hay,can't see how'd I could make much money on cattle if I fed as long as you have to and feed grain to boot.If a cow on my place can't keep up on minerals and hay only in the Winter she's headed to the livestock market.

David G · Nov 6, 2018

Where you at Rusty?

rusty6 · Nov 6, 2018

(quoted from post at 03:00:37 11/06/18) I notice you don't use any cattle guards in your fences. Is there a reason for that.

Cattle guards?? I'll need a description of what that is as I've never heard of it. Or maybe we use a different term here.
No worries about mud here after today. Its 10 degrees here this morning and the ground will be froze dry. Have to plug in the heater on the Massey for sure today.

rusty6 · Nov 6, 2018

(quoted from post at 06:31:57 11/06/18) Where you at Rusty?

Modern view says S.E. Sask.
Traditional Farmer, I don't know if I do make any money on these cattle. Just a small herd of 9 at present so it doesn't matter much as they are just a hobby for me. But its not unusual to feed from November to May here. I'd likely be further ahead to sell the oats for $3 a bushel and the hay to others who are short of it. But then what would I do all winter?

INCase · Nov 6, 2018

around here believe it or not its actually been a late grazing year so far.

one buddy would rather feed hay than pasture as he doesn't have time to move his cattle around. too busy direct marketing beef and cheese (and eggs and pork and chicken and...)

jddrawbar · Nov 6, 2018

Cattle look to be in good shape.

morgan in ar · Nov 6, 2018

November to May? I would have figured longer for Saskatchewan. I usually feed November to late March in Arkansas.
Long gone to Saskatchewan

formerly ny bill · Nov 6, 2018

if i let the tractor sit like that, unhooking the chain on the bale feeder, my Holstein heifers would have been showing the bale what-for, and bouncing the tractor right up and down.

MJMJ · Nov 6, 2018

How long one has to graze is just determined by the number of animals and the amount of forage one has. There are producers in Canada that never feed a bit of hay, and people in the southern US that feed hay every day.

rusty6 · Nov 6, 2018

Usually by May the grass is coming up enough they can get a bite. In fall until the snow gets too deep, they depend on the old dying and dead grass to keep going until I decide they need a little extra hay. I have seen some trying swath grazing for the winter. But standing out in an open field eating a swath in January can be a miserable experience. A few guys have been planting corn and leaving it stand for winter grazing. The cattle seem to clean it up pretty well. It gives shelter from the cold for a while. That is another factor, considering the cold and wind chill factor we get here, cattle burn up a lot of energy just keeping warm.

JayinNY · Nov 6, 2018

No grain here either when I had cows, grass and hay only year round!

tomNE · Nov 6, 2018

Just a question????? have you checked into covercrops?

rusty6 · Nov 6, 2018

(quoted from post at 12:28:19 11/06/18) Just a question????? have you checked into covercrops?

Fall rye would be a possibility here but wouldn't work too well for my situation.

55 50 Ron · Nov 6, 2018

The cattle look like Beef Shorthorns. How close is my comment? My Dad had Milking Shorthorns. Yours look well taken care of.

A thought came to mind on a different subject. How does Canada divide a province into smaller jurisdictions. Here in US we have Country, State, County, Township as levels of government. What would be comparable for Canada?

Our townships are further divided into sections (640 acres), 1/2 sections (320 acres), etc. But a section and smaller acreages are not levels of government.

The cold has arrived here in southern MN. Into the +20s F tonight.

rusty6 · Nov 6, 2018

(quoted from post at 18:02:05 11/06/18) The cattle look like Beef Shorthorns. How close is my comment? .

A thought came to mind on a different subject. How does Canada divide a province into smaller jurisdictions.

Theres quite a bit of black angus in mine on the bull's side.
In Sask. we are divided up into rural municipalities. Ours (217) is pretty near square. 18 miles each way. 6 councillors and a reeve run the show.

Madisonbob · Nov 6, 2018

Really enjoy your videos, you do a super job putting them together. That has to be one of the nicest Super 90 tractors around.

rusty6 · Nov 6, 2018

(quoted from post at 20:06:50 11/06/18) Really enjoy your videos, you do a super job putting them together. That has to be one of the nicest Super 90 tractors around.

Thanks , I'm always super critical of all the videos I make seeing where I could do it better next time. Poor lighting, sound, not enough editing or fast forwarding. I'll keep on trying to get it right.
The old Super 90 has a lot of hours on it but gets the job done. It has more lifting power than the newer JD 2140 due to the big cylinders on the front end loader. Starts better too.

First Bale Of Winter

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