anyone growing their own animal feed?

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OK, after reading the posts about mad cow disease and the animals eating other animals in their grain, I am seriously considering growing my own feed for my dairy cow and two beef cattle. Is anybody doing it and if so what do you grow and how much per head? I have 45 acres and about 20 of it pasture/fields. What type of equipment is needed for harvesting or is it cheaper to hire someone? Thanks for any info in advance! cara lewis cnllewis@email.com

-- cara lewis (cnllewis@email.com), January 26, 2001

Answers

Cara, Gene Logsden's book Small Scale Grain Raising deals with your question very well. I Another problem is storage of your grains.

I have a contact about 30 miles away who grows OP corn, oats and soybeans organically and he's told me I could buy from him. He has a fellow grower who owns a mill that makes a cooked, dried mash from the beans even! The only problems are that I don't have a method of transport or storage to justify the trip. Rest assured I'm working on it. In the meantime, I buy local grains and mix feed myself and I'm careful to read labels on any prepared feeds regardless of what critter it's for.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), January 27, 2001.


I have been reading any articles I see on this subject myself. I only have a small place 8+ acres. I do grown my own hay and I have been buying grains and mixing myself. I have thought about planting 1/4 acre of stock beets. Anyone ever planted these? I know they would take storage and chopping to feed, but I thought it might be worth it.

I have a few sheep and a breeding pair of miniature cattle. I hope to purchase another cow or two to increase my herd size. . . but it will take a while. I figure if we start having a real problem with the mad cow disease here (and I've heard it is in the wild deer population out west)I want to be eating and possibly selling some meat, at least to family and friends. Got a little carried away.

Another thing I have thought of is gleaning corn fields. I've not seen anyone do it since I was a kid, but I have my pigs get out a couple years ago and they were finding plenty in a neighbors field. (I was told with the new harvesting equipment there wouldn't be enough left in the field to bother with.) It is a thought. Has anyone ever done this? Do you pay something to the field owner for the privilage?

-- phyllis a. warman (phyllis.warman@twcable.com), January 30, 2001.


One thing I have thought of doing (for small acreges & limited livestock) is have 2 pastures & rotate grazing. Also if you have room for a few small fields & 1 good size field this is what I thought of doing.

Use the largest field to grow hay. For the smaller fields plant a rotation of crops. Wheat, rye, barley, & oats can be grazed when young & if you don't over graze will give you a grain crop later (after stock is pulled off). Sometimes (depending where your growing season is) you have time to plant a soiling crop after the grain harvest.

Soiling crops are crops that are cut & fed green to stock. Crops used for this are cereals, grasses, legumes, & members of the cabbage family. The cereals most used are corn, barley, rye, wheat, & oats. Both perennial & annual grasses are used as soiling crops; timothy, red top, & orchard grass are the perennial grasses used in the northern part of the US & in the provinces of Canada; Bermuda grass is used is the sothern part of the US. The annual grasses most valuable for soiling are millets & sorghums. Among the legumes grown for soiling purposes are alfalfa, red clover, crimson clover, cowpeas (black eye peas), & soybeans. Rape & common cabbage are members of the cabbage family that are sometimes used to complete a soiling system. Among the combination crops for soiling are oats & field peas, oats & vetch, wheat & vetch, rye & vetch, barley & field peas, oats & rape, cowpeas & corn, soybeans & corn, cowpeas & sorghum, soybeans & sorghum, cowpeas & Kafr corn, soybeans & Kafr corn, cowpeas & millet, and soybeans & millet. And yes mangel beets, & many other root crops (turnup, rutabaga, carrot, Jerusolum (?) Artichoke) can be given as stock feed. However, I recomend that you avoid parsnips as livestock feed especially for pigs as it tends to make pork meat soft. Also remember soiling crops are cut green (unripe grains, etc...) chopped (mostly corn, sorghum, anything from the cabbage family, and any root crops have to be chopped), & fed immediatly over a course of 5-12 days, and these crops will give 2-5 cuttings in a year depending on the crop grown, fertility of the land, & growing zone.

Soiling crops are mostly used to supplement pasture during the hot summer months & late fall when pasture grasses give little or no growth. You should still rely on hay as a winter feed as most soiling crops won't keep, however, a few of the grass/legume mixes can also be cured for hay (ie...alfalfa & timonthy).

For someone having up to 10 or 12 animals, 2 pastures (on rotation), 1 good size field for hay, & 2-4 small (3/4 to 1 acre in size) for growing feed crops (both grain & soiling) should be plenty. But this is only an estimation & even then it must be on good growing crop land. Some lands can accomodate more & some less.

Good luck

animalfarms

-- animalfarms (jwlewis@indy.net), January 30, 2001.


Hello Cara.

I always enjoy watching the movie of Heidi, the part where the grandfather is cutting hay for the goats with his scythe. Of course, it might be a little tough on the back... ouch!

Raising a little wheat and buckwheat in our backyard didn't take much effort, for pretty fair results. Just tiller the soil, fert. and plant. Wheat is planted around the second half of October to avoid damage by the Hessian Fly. It'll root, overwinter, and regrow in the spring. We harvest in June here in NJ. Probably a bit later, where you're at. Deer have been a problem in ours, in the past, so tall fencing might be needed. (Or you might spread winkles around the field perimeter).

Buckwheat can be handspread for small patches, as well. Most anytime.

They say you have to TRY to make soybeans not grow. Evidently they are pretty hardy, or tolerant.

For Alfalfa/Timothy hay, start small, and see what a half acre will produce. Then barter at the corner store for some fresh milk for the guy with the tractor and sickle bar.

Take some long poles and fashion a crib out in the field to contain all your harvest. The animals can eat it right there, and you can tarp it down, in inclement weather.

Soil samples are a valuable tool. Don't forget about them. Also, get them taken NOW (as in NOW). Your local extension service will be swamped, later, when you think of doing them.

Best of success.

T.A.D. & PIONEER PATTI in NJ

-- Action Dude (theactiondude@yahoo.com), February 01, 2001.


Oh, also, Cara,

Anytime you can plan for the animals to harvest their OWN feed, it's a plus. Make sure they do it on YOUR schedule, and not their schedule.

Examples would be planting a few dozen rows of beets or turnips, and then towing your pig-tractor (Patti's invention) over top of a couple rows. The pigs will root up their own food, and leave a half ton of fertilizer, change.

Also, turning your goats into the cornfield, after you have what YOU need out of it can be profitable in terms of milk yield.

I'm sure hayfields could be partitioned off in sections with electric- fence-tape, to accomplish some of the same feats.

If I think of anything else, I'll get ahold of you.

-- Action Dude (theactiondude@yahoo.com), February 01, 2001.



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