This summer I have focused on preparing early for winter to manage costs. Due to the contour of our land (and the number of thistles!) we have to buy in feed every winter. My average winter paddock looked like this:
Fodder trees
Tree foliage is a viable and cheap winter feed for small numbers of stock. Once my neighbors found out we had goats, they kindly dropped off all their winter prunings. The goats loved it! There are many hedging plants that are safe for sheep, goats and cattle, just check first to make sure they’re not toxic!
I have planted tagasaste (tree lucerne) this year. This will grow fast and can be coppiced to keep the growth manageable for cut-and-carry feeding out. I debated whether to grow them from seed but as they are frost tender, I paid about $40 total for larger seedlings so they will be a bit hardier before winter. I felt this was a small upfront cost for the years of feed these will provide. Friends have also told me that they self-seed quite well!
Baleage/ wrapped sileage
This season I saw a great deal for huge wrapped baleage. These were a little funny shaped, so they were going cheap. The added bonus is that I don’t need to store them and they are sitting in the paddock waiting for hungry horses in winter. In the meantime, they are also a playground for bored children!
Hay off the paddock
This one is a bit obvious, but for the uninitiated, hay that is freshly baled is cheaper than hay stored in a shed. Simply due to labor costs. If you have a shed and a trailer, you can get cheap hay in summer, stored ready for winter. This is only useful if you have enough space to store them. You could try storing them in the paddock on pallets under tarpaulins, but inevitably rain will get in there.
Grazing the grass berms
Berms, verges, whatever you call the grass on the side of a road. It’s free food for your animals! I have a lovely neighbor who always grazes his cattle on the grass verges of the quiet country roads. The cows are quiet and tended to daily, and the grass is kept short. It’s a win-win! Be sure to ask neighbors before you graze your livestock, and you may need some set-up in the form of portable electric fencing and a solar charger. Another neighbor has a small tractor and baler attachment and cuts hay from the wide grassy berms on these rural roads. The farmers are happy they don’t have to cut their grass, and tractor man gets free hay!
Brewer’s grains
Brewer’s grains are the wet grains left over as a by-product of the fermenting process. They need to be fed quickly so they don’t spoil but are great for cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. If you can network with a local brewery (usually craft brewers), then you could have a steady supply year round!
Straw
Hungry goats, sheep and cattle aren’t picky. My goats will eat the pea straw intended as their bedding! So really it’s dual-purpose. This is a by-product of cereal cropping and you can get many varieties- oat, pea, wheat and barley to name a few. You might have more exotic types depending on where you live. Be careful if feeding to horses- this is not usually palatable to them, and can cause dangerous gastrointestinal blockages.
Improving pasture quality
The photo above showed what my paddocks used to look like in winter, without any added nutrients. More recently I apply a bit of lime in the fall to balance out the nitrogen from the horse manure and make new grass growth more palatable. This seems to have extended the growth cycle of the pasture, made it lush and beautiful again, and keeps it growing well into winter. Sometimes, making the most of what you already have is cheaper in the long run. You can get local, expert advice and soil-testing if you want accurate information on your soil’s needs. Or you can apply a lime, dolomite or seaweed mix and hope for the best like I did. You could improve pasture by sowing a new blend of seeds, direct drilling as in regenerative agriculture so you disturb the soil only minimally. Here, we are sitting on an old river bed, so while we have great drainage, we can’t drill or plough! So I sprinkle some seeds of other meadow grasses and clovers found around the farm and now have a much richer variety of grasses in the pasture.
Careful planning
At the end of the day, you will always need careful planning for winter feed. De-stock, cull, or otherwise reduce numbers if you have to, and never let an animal starve. You might even be able to barter some animals for hay. Last year we had an over-friendly cow (complete with horns) that the neighbor was happy to trade for 50 bales of hay. We currently run goats and horses as they cross-graze beautifully and the goats eat more weeds than grass!