Wheel Hay Rake

For the new livestock owner, shopping for hay can be confusing, there are a lot of options. One of the types of hay that comes up pretty frequently is second cutting. What is second cutting hay? Second cutting hay is the hay made from the second harvest of a hay field. Second cutting hay is a popular choice for any animal that needs a higher quality hay, for instance fast growing young stock or nursing moms. Alfalfa, orchard grass, clover, timothy and mixed grasses are all ha

When it comes to providing forage for livestock in the winter, there are generally two methods: You can provide forage in the form of traditional hay, or you can feed it by grazing standing forage. Both methods work depending on the situation, and I’m not going to try to convince you that either way is better, only that there are things to consider when choosing your approach.Lower cost optionThe greatest benefit of using standing forage is that you can reduce your expenses. Feeding costs are a

The author is a rancher, author, speaker, and consultant with over 40 years of experience in grazing management research, outreach, and practice. He has lived and grazed livestock in hot, humid Missouri and cold, dry Idaho. Purchasing more feed isn’t the only or best option during periods of drought.Much of the western U.S. is still facing moderate to extreme drought conditions that will likely persist through much of the current year and perhaps even longer. At our location in central Idaho,

Bales Hay Sales in Buckeye, Ariz., is home to a constant flow of Phoenix-area customers looking to buy 95-pound, three-tie bales to fill their livestock needs. Many of their customers are local horse owners.This was too good to be true. A long-standing hay business owned and operated by a family named Bales. “People always ask us if we changed our name to fit the family business,” chuckled Trevor Bales, who is the sixth generation on the farm. “There was no name change involved; it’s just the w