Technology | Fall 2008
Leave the chore tractor in the shed this winter.
By Scott Garvey
By using a bale grazing system, some producers save fuel managing winter cattle feeding chores with a quad bike.
What if you gave your loader tractor the winter off? How much would you save in fuel costs? For many livestock producers, that question may seem academic. How can you possibly feed cattle in the winter without starting a tractor?
Well, bale grazing might be the way to do it. Placing bales in position in the fall, and forcing cattle to go to them, lets that chore tractor spend most of the winter in the shed. But bale grazing does require some planning.
Bales are placed in a selected winter feeding area in the fall, typically a field or pasture, and surrounded by a temporary electric fence. Giving cattle access to the bales involves moving the fence or moving cattle to new paddocks every few days. And the handiest machine for getting to and from grazing areas is a quad bike, which is considerably more fuel efficient than a tractor.
Mark Johansson, who raises cattle near Stockholm, SK, equips his quad with tracks for the winter, “You can go anywhere with it. We use the quad a lot. I don't know what I'd do without it,” he says. Using the quad every few days instead of the tractor has meant significant fuel savings. “There is very little fuel cost in the winter,” he adds.
Glen Ekert, a producer from Wapella, SK, has also seen a reduction in his winter fuel bill. “Before we started (bale grazing), we were running that tractor two to four hours a day. Now we run it two to four hours a week,” he says.
And there are added benefits to bale grazing. By coordinating the grazing areas with fields that require fertilizing, corral cleaning costs are virtually eliminated while soil fertility is increased right where it's needed. As well, time spent doing chores is significantly reduced.
Ekert sums up the fuel efficiency of bale grazing this way: “Last winter I did chores for my neighbour for about a week. I put as many hours on his tractor using his bale processor in one week as I did on my tractor all winter.”
