Extension Report

Baldwin County Extension Office

302A Byrne Street

Bay Minette, AL  36507

Telephone (251) 937-7176 or

928-0860/943-5061 ext. 2222

FAX (251) 937-7285

Anthony Wiggins

Regional Extension Agent/Animal Science & Forages

January 3, 2012

Feeding hay during the winter is one of those evil necessities that cattle producers have to do in order to maintain a cattle herd.  Continuously feeding hay in the same area day after day and in all kinds of weather, usually leads to a bare spot in the pasture the following year.  These bare spots are then invaded by weeds and eventually have to be dealt with in order to reestablish desirable forages.  With a little planning and paying attention to detail, producers can actually use hay feeding as an opportunity to improve soil fertility and improve forage production.

The following information was recently submitted by Jim Neel, an Extension Beef Specialist with the University of Tennessee, in an animal science newsletter.  I thought the information would be useful for producers here as well.

“Producers should move the hay feeding spots around the pasture this winter.  Keeping the hay rings in one location or feeding it in the same location all winter results in the cattle depositing manure killing the grass and making mud.  Moving the feeding results in the manure being spread across the area.  Moving the hay feeding will help to either improve or maintain the soil fertility in the fields.  Grazing cattle will return a high percentage of the nutrients they consume back to the pastures.

With the current cost of fertilizer, producers should evaluate all options to maintain soil fertility.  Many will consider this suggestion to be insignificant and pass it up.

The University of Arkansas conducted research that measured the impact on the amount of nutrients that accumulated in the soil as a result of feeding large round bales of hay.  Change in soil fertility was measured over the winter feeding period.  Hay was fed either in a concentrated area or the other treatment was moving the feeding area each time hay was fed.  Where the hay was fed in the same location all winter, the phosphorus and potassium levels increased dramatically.  The optimum soil fertility for phosphorus levels is between 72 to 100 lb./acre and potassium levels 262 to 350 lb./acre.  In the concentrated feeding areas, the phosphorus levels per acre increased from 216 lb. to 734 lb. and potassium levels more than doubled as well.

Soil nutrients in the feeding where hay was fed in different locations increased but at lower levels.  Phosphorus increased from a low of 20 lb. per acre to 143 lb. per acre.  Potassium increased from 170 lb. to 342 lb. per acre.  Feeding the hay in the same location throughout the winter increased the nutrient levels dramatically and beyond that needed for optimum forage production and created muddy conditions that produced weeds the following spring and summer.  The researchers concluded that moving the hay feeding area each time hay was fed will help build soil phosphorus and potassium as well as increase the organic matter.  Encourage producers to give some thought and planning to feeding hay this winter.  Fields with low soil fertility should be given first consideration.  The additional nutrients should have a positive effect on forage persistence and level of production.”

Email address: wiggia1@aces.edu

Phone number: 937-7176 or 943-5061, 928-0860, ext. 2222

Baldwin County Extension Programs are supported by the Baldwin County Commission.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture is an equal opportunity educator and employer.