Hay Storage and Feeding: Avoiding Train Wrecks

When looking back at the Standardized Performance Analysis data collected from cow-calf operations, the data clearly illustrates that beyond the actual investment in the livestock, feed costs are the major expense in the cattle enterprise. In a report of 135 beef cow-calf operations with an average number of 80 cows/operation in the FINBIN data set, the cost of production was reported to be an average of $169.54/cwt or $847.70 for a 500 lb calf (Nordquist and Van Nurden, 2019). This includes all costs including land, labor, feed and so forth. The profit margin is narrow when all expenses are included for the cow-calf sector currently. In order to increase profit opportunity, operations must have a high weaning percentage (90%+) and low feed costs. As conserved or stored feed is a costly component of the system, attention should be given to improving efficiency of stored or conserved forages in beef operations. This discussion will focus on storage and feeding losses as a means to provide some consideration within your own operation. Perhaps this will provide some insight on opportunities to reduce losses during storage and feeding to enhance profit margins