Grower Uses Hay For Bedding Then Feeds It To Cows

Grower Uses Hay For Bedding Then Feeds It To Cows HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 18-3-39 Using hay to bed horses and then feeding it to beef cows has eliminated the need for straw on one Kentucky horse farm. The operator says cows gobble up the soiled hay like candy. Steve Johnson of Midway, Kent., started looking for a way to cut costs and hit on the hay bedding idea as a way to eliminate the expense of buying straw and the work of getting rid of it. Hay unsuitable for horses because of rain damage becomes horse bedding and cow feed. Mature grass hay cut from horse pastures also gets used for bedding and feed. Previously, he clipped pastures up to 15 times a year. Now he lets it grow taller, then cuts and bales it. "To me a bale of straw is the most useless thing in the horse industry," says Johnson. "We pay virtually the same price for it as we do hay." Hay bedding is now the primary feed given to wintering beef cows. "Third-rate hay is worth almost as much to me as first-rate hay." (Hay & Forage Grower)

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