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Figure 7.11. Bale-grazing is a widely-used option in North America to feed cattle on wintering sites without requiring investment in containment yards. Source: International Agriculture for Development.
As is the case for coninement feeding in yards, a daily supply of feed needs to be provided to the cattle
throughout the period of coninement. Feed can either be provided in a similar form and manner as in
coninement yards, or alternatively ‘bale-grazing’ is a developing practice in North America Fig. 7.11.
Bale grazing involves the use of large round or square bales that are placed on the winter grazing site and set
out in many repeating straight lines that can be ‘fed-of’ to the cattle at regular periods by controlling access to
the bales with electric or other cattle-proof fences. Cattle on wintering sites such as these also require a
source of fresh water, and a frost-free water source needs to be provided throughout winter.
Because of the high density of livestock on the conined area of a winter grazing site, manure accumulation can be a
signiicant environmental problem if not factored into initial site planning considerations. Consequently, wintering sites
should be located away from environmentally sensitive areas such as riparian zones adjacent to water courses, or
alternatively some site engineering is required to prevent run-of of nutrient rich waste water into sensitive areas
during the thawing period in spring.
7.5.2. Winter Grazing
Extending the grazing season for as long as possible is growing in popularity and efectiveness in North
America, where the cost of providing conserved forages and grain supplements to cattle through winter has
proved uneconomic in some situations. Consequently, many producers have developed alternate strategies
to produce and utilise pasture and forage resources through much of winter ‘in the paddock’.
The focus of producer-led research and development has been to develop grazing systems that allow grazing
to continue longer into the autumn and early winter period than traditionally practiced, and similarly in
spring, developing grazing resources that can be used earlier than traditional management has allowed in the
past. Extending the grazing system ofers the opportunity to
reduce the cost of feeding cattle by utilising more on- ground resources. Options for extending the grazing
season include stockpiled pasture or sown forages, the grazing of swaths of sown forages, and bale grazing Fig.
7.12.
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Figure 7.12. Options to extend the grazing season.
Even though it is possible to successfully extend the grazing system in most environments, some conserved
forage will still need to be fed to the herd for a number of weeks in most years, and this needs to be factored
into the winter feed budget. Since weather patterns are slightly diferent from year
to year, this impacts on the way that the grazing season can be extended. Consequently, when developing and
implementing a winter grazing program, it is essential that a Plan B, worst case scenario winter management
strategy is developed simultaneously, and alternative, reserve feed resources are available to feed the herd
in the event that the climate becomes unfavourable to allow a planned winter grazing program to proceed. For
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example, if snow becomes too deep for grazing earlier than anticipated, or early rain reduces the quality and
quantity of swath grazing reserves.
The Plan B program has a focus on coninement feeding; either in yards or on wintering sites. With this in
mind, planning the winter feed management program requires that preparation for both eventualities are
completed well before the onset of winter, including feed budgeting and securing the total reserve quantities
of feed required to sustain Plan B.
7.5.3. Managing Winter Grazing
