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NE Iowa | I'm in NE Iowa and been blessed with pretty good weather this year. Will get one more cutting of hay and estimating amount of pasture left I should have enough hay to get me through the winter. I was planning on feeding 10-20% cornstalks all winter to hopefully leave me with a little leftover hay as a hedge against next year's weather.
I rent a farm from a coworker that is 17 miles from where my cows and hay equipment is located. On this farm there is a 17 acre CRP field that expires October 1st and I will plant it to corn next spring. I can't decide whether to bale it or not. Landlord doesn't care and I can have it for nothing if I want it. It is probably the cleanest CRP field you will find. I baled half of it last year under the emergency drought haying provisions. It has no brush and few weeds and is mostly brome. Not the tallest so guessing would get about 1.75 5'x6' bales per acre. Hate dragging hay equipment 17 miles for only 17 acres but hard to pass up free hay. Can't decide what to do and here are the options I'm considering:
1) Bale it myself and feed it this winter to save more good hay.
2) Have someone bale it on 50/50 shares. Only get half the hay but saves the hassle of moving hay equipment 17 miles one way.
3) Spray it now to kill it and forget making any hay. Just make extra cornstalks and feed more of them to save more hay.
I'm leaning towards #3 and this is why. I figure that cornstalks probably have just as much if not more energy and protein than bromegrass baled in October. I also figure that for every bale of hay I remove there is $25 worth of P&K I'd need to replace. It would probably cost me $20/bale to make the hay. So the what seems like free hay turns into $45 per bale real cost. $45 for a 5'x6' round bale is still cheap but CRP baled in October is mostly dead sticks. I also worry about getting enough regrowth to spray if it isn't cut until October. However, it would make it easier to plant into next spring with the hay removed.
I'm usually pretty decisive but this stupid CRP field is driving me nuts. Looking for opinions from fellow cattle guys on what to do? Help me make up my mind. Thanks.
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Bale Expiring CRP Hay or feed more cornstalks?
