Preparing Your Micro Dairy for Winter

Reader Contribution by Steve Judge
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The biggest change that the approach of winter brings to Micro Dairies in cold climate regions like Vermont is in how the cows are fed. Even before the snow flies — around the middle of September — my cows start to lose their interest in grazing, even if the grass is lush. I think that the flavor of the grass must change as the sun gets lower in the sky; like clockwork, as soon as the leaves change color, my cows’ appetite for hay increases.

Haying equipment is expensive, and I have a full-time job off the farm running Bob-White Systems. So, I buy my hay. I purchase second- or third-cut hay (called rowan in certain parts of New England) that is harvested later in the summer. I stock up on two types for the winter — small, square and large, round bales. I buy 500 to 600 classic, small square bales that I store in my barn’s hay loft where they stay dry. I also buy 10 to 20 large, round, wrapped bales. High-quality dry hay (the small bales) is the best type of winter feed for cows because it is good for their digestion, especially their rumens, and they like it. Good-quality second- or third-cut hay (the rowan) is expensive, though less so than the small bales on a pound-for-pound basis. I have the facility and equipment to store both types.

The little square bales are tricky to make because the hay must be bone dry before it is baled. If the hay is too moist when baled and put into the hayloft, it can heat up and mold or, worse yet, spontaneously combust and burn your barn down. There is nothing worse than worrying about wet bales burning you barn down (on top of the regular list of daily chores).

The large bales, called baleage, are the things that people say look like giant marshmallows sitting in a field. This hay is baled after the mowed hay wilts but is still moist. It is then wrapped in plastic by an odd-looking machine that I won’t even attempt to describe. Once wrapped, the hay actually ferments and becomes “pickled,” which makes the hay easier for the cows to digest. This is good for their milk production. I store the larger bales outside on dry ground where the hay will stay edible all winter as long as the plastic remains intact. If the plastic gets torn and isn’t patched with tape, the hay inside will quickly begin developing a white mold and eventually the whole bale may be ruined. Watch out.

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