Calves can gain weight without eating from a silver spoon.

The silver spoon in this case is the work of baling and moving hay from fields to lots.

Preliminary University of Nebraska research shows calves gain more weight grazing hay cut and left in windrows, than eating hay cut and baled from the same field.

Jerry Volesky, a forage scientist at NU's West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte, wondered if calves could gain at least one-half pound per day grazing hay left in windrows. They did.

Windrow grazing also eliminated the need to bale, haul and feed the hay.

"Grazing windrows certainly looks like it will be a practice that will save some production costs," Volesky said. Big, round baling runs $8-10 per acre, plus the cost of hauling and feeding bales in drylot pens. Volesky is calculating exactly how much windrow grazing would save.

Two years of Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources research in subirrigated Sandhills meadows showed weaned calves grazing windrows for 70 days averaged 531 pounds, compared with 507 pounds for calves eating baled hay. Average daily gain was 1.17 pounds for the windrow calves, compared with .85 pounds for the calves fed baled hay.

Calves gained more weight, Volesky said, because they also were able to graze some high-quality green grass that was available even into December 1997 because of a mild fall.

Meadow forage in the 1997 and 1998 trials included smooth brome, slender wheatgrass, sedges and clover. In May, the meadow was heavily grazed for two weeks, which delayed maturity. Cattle were removed, and the grass was fertilized and allowed to grow until late August. Hay was cut by mid-September and raked into windrows 30 feet apart, center to center. Alternate windrows were baled into 1,000-pound round bales.

The trials entailed 48 450-pound calves in two groups. Twenty-four calves grazed windrowed hay, eight per acre, from mid-November through January. Calves grazed for up to two weeks on one acre, then the fence was moved to graze another acre.

Calves eating baled hay were in drylot pens and fed hay from alternate windrows.

Both sets of calves had supplemental minerals and salt.

Although calves grazing windrow hay had better weight gain, twice as much hay was wasted. Volesky found drylot calves wasted 12 percent of the hay, while windrow-grazing calves wasted 26 percent. Mature cows grazed windrow-trampled hay after calves were removed, with final waste estimated at a more acceptable 18 percent.

Although electric fence and posts were moved every couple weeks, posts had a nail-like tip that was relatively easy to drive into the frozen ground. Moving fence took considerably less time than baling, hauling bales and feeding baled hay, Volesky said.

The idea for windrow feeding came from Canada, where a "good number" of ranchers incorporate this practice using seeded forages. Volesky thinks the concept has practical application in Nebraska but suggests trying it first in a small area.

The Sampson Range and Pasture Management Endowment helped fund this research.

- Cheryl Alberts

Calves graze windrowed meadow hay. IANR research found meadow hay that is cut, windrowed and left in the field provided 1.17 pounds of average daily gain to weaned calves. Calves perform well and windrowing saves the cost of hay baling and hauling.

Windrowed hay in a wintry Sandhills meadow.