It costs us $15 a big round bale to bale our own hay. It is stored in a pole barn and we feed it out during the winter. If we have extra, sometimes we sell it during the winter for $40 a bale. If weather causes a poor hay crop, I have seen hay cost $75 a bale in the winter.
Round bales are $55 in Maine. I can't afford to pay someone else to bale my hay. A lot of small farm folks who were buying hay got rid of their animals...too costly to keep them.
I’m in the position of considering baling half my land because weather patterns are so inconsistent. Last year I had grass 4’ tall going into fall. This year we had two rainstorms all summer and I was feeding hay most of August and 100% by September. My theory is even if I only bale on good years where grass outrun my heard, I can use that hay for a couple years if it’s taken care of. Also, if I keep the cows in rotation over winter, I can feed that same hay in the areas it was baled and choose a different area to bale each time. This would mean it’s not degrading the land. I think this guy has a great point for him and his operation for his area. It’s definitely situational from one Ranch to the next on that the best management plan is.
Same here too. We also bale and graze certain pieces in decent years and unroll on it in Winter as well. Also bale 3 small neighbors fields, which isn't very expensive, usually 2 to $3000 for 100 5x6 bales. That's using 1980s machines too. Every year has different requirements in our region and it's weather. If we hadn't turned in on creeks two years ago for Spring water and the forage we'd have had to sold cows
You really should look into regenerative farming and rotational grazing. There's guys across the world from the desert 🏜️ to the coldest climates managing to raise their animals without growing or buying ANY hay or supplemental feeds and their land is THRIVING. Which MASSIVELY increases water retention in the land but it also brings the soil back and things can actually start growing without land destroying fertiliser. They're not paying for any feed or any fertiliser or water and they're raising MORE animals that are healthier and need FAR less vet care, less antibiotics and all the other things animals get sick and need or are given to prevent issues we created. So that alone saves the farmers a FORTUNE. I want to see farmers all start doing it, it creates a healthier land a healthier animal for consumption and the farmers spend FAR LESS and make FAR MORE. I hope you have a very blessed 2025 season and the weather calms its ass down. 🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏
This Old School approach with rotation grazing and planting natural grasses and plants is finally catching on I should never have left the farming community I grew up in. By the way, it also benefits the local wildlife.
I'm glad to see videos like his one. Regenerative grazing really is the way to go for about a million reasons. I didn't know about the taller grass reducing or eliminating the parasite problem, that is a huge plus.
That all makes sense until a drought year. The drought doesn't even have to be in your area. Several years ago i was buying my hay in Missouri. The guy who i was buying from said well i can truck my hay to Texas and double my price, so I'm doubling my price. Never again, most years it's fine to buy, but you will get burned eventually
I got into hay big time as a side gig for my tractor mowing business. It's kinda like boat ownership. The 2 best days are when you get into it, and when you get rid of it.
@janethompson2305 Whether you have 1 square foot or 43560 square feet, one must grow, develop, and restore the biodiversity of the soil. Healthy, vibrant soil should always be the first goal from which you can build upon. Growing soil is the answer.
If you can get critters to do the work, it can add up. Chickens are great at scratching up compost piles, ducks eat bugs without disturbing the crop, worms aerate and fertilize the soil if you don't poison them with petrochemical fertilizer/herbicides/pesticides.
How many chickens and ducks would it take to scratch up and fertilize my 1700-acre farm and what do I have to do to feed and shelter them through winter? And would using ostriches be more efficient because they are bigger birds?
As a retired farmer and cattleman, one thing I miss is cutting, raking and baling hay. I understand the expense and time is an obstacle for many. However, buying hay after a severe drought was a tough roe to hoe. I bought hay only one time in my life and that was after the drought of 2018. The price of year old hay reach $100 per big bale and fresh hay up to $250 per bale. I ran out of my own hay in early March and had to buy hay to get through spring. I would rather roll the carryover hay into a ditch than try to get by on what's available on the open market. And if you need hay for horses, how do you know there aren't blister beetles in the hay you're bringing in?
Not a farmer, here.What caught my attention was that "we dont provide any kind of warmer" and "keeping the grass taller" deals with the parasites. In all the videos i have watched on regenerative farming, they do mention reduction on medical costs, but i have not once heard that taller grass keeps parasites away from cows.
I think the idea is the cattle are eating the top part of the grass, then are moved to new ground. If they don't graze down to ground level, they won't get parasites from the manure on the ground. Also if the cattle are kept moving from one area to the next, the parasites can't complete their life cycle before the cattle have moved on.
@@janethompson2305 Don't think he is bailing hay in the winter. I understand it was just easier to add a couple cows to replace the loss of not doing it anymore but to say it was so to, "spend more time with family"..... just say it was a good business / time decision.
So answer me this how are you feeding your cows in winter.. ? Having more cows mean more hay in winter needed. Having taller grass is ok in summer but it won't grow in winter, and not when it's covered in snow. Again i ask how do you feed your cows then in winter ?
Why doesn't he explain if he is buying hay or not feeding any hay? He does not make it clear, just wants to appear that he's doing a great job raising cows. I'm not impressed.
This is a small clip from the full film “I sell water and sunshine” available free on our channel! If you’d like to learn more that and “soil carbon cowboys” are great places to start!
You are doing the math in a wrong way. It is called pushing limit to the absurd. What is he doing is following the rule of modern economy. You know, long time ago, everybody was doing everything on their land, growing wheat, grinding it, cooking the bread. But then, a guy invented the windmill, other one, the watermill, and could grind the wheat much easier. Nobody used a hand grinder anymore. then some specialized in baking. And nobody cooked bread at home anymore, they just bought it. The same here, it is not like nobody will bale hay anymore. You cannot get there. If too many stop baling, there will be not enough hay on the market, the price will get up. And in this situation, those who were losing money making hay, can be profitable again, and return to making hay again. What you point is not a problem. Degrading the land is the actual problem. The land needs to be protected. Not looking at the future you can destroy the land and make it a desert. It happened before. The first civilization, Mesopotamia vanished because of this. It was the climate too, but industrialization also. They used too much irrigation, the land got too salty, got degraded, and turned to desert. And it is not the only example. Excessive grazing destroyed land also. And back then industrialization was not at current levels. It took centuries to ruin the land. Now, with the machines you do not need too many decades. So, this is a real problem.
What if he feels that way because he has done fecals? Most of us with farm animals also know how to run the fecal test ourselves. It's just a poo slide under a microscope, and you look for each type of worm and count. Also, parasites do not mess with healthy animals. If they are getting all the nutrients and proper diet, and especially if they are rotating them, it's very easy to avoid parasites.
@@PrairieNursery and @oolala53 What if he feels that way because he has done fecals? Most of us with farm animals also know how to run the fecal test ourselves. It's just a poo slide under a microscope, and you look for each type of worm and count. Also, parasites do not mess with healthy animals. If they are getting all the nutrients and proper diet, and especially if they are rotating them, it's very easy to avoid parasites.
What if he feels that way because he has done fecals? Most of us with farm animals also know how to run the fecal test ourselves. It's just a poo slide under a microscope, and you look for each type of worm and count. Also, parasites do not mess with healthy animals. If they are getting all the nutrients and proper diet, and especially if they are rotating them, it's very easy to avoid parasites.
What if he feels that way because he has done fecals? Most of us with farm animals also know how to run the fecal test ourselves. It's just a poo slide under a microscope, and you look for each type of worm and count. Also, parasites do not mess with healthy animals. If they are getting all the nutrients and proper diet, and especially if they are rotating them, it's very easy to avoid parasites.
Cow calf producers usually can’t make it on cow/ calf production. They almost always have to subsidize with grain farming, existing family ground or full time jobs outside of the farm. You can thank Walmart and all the other mega greed retailers for that. Need to Make Cattle Great Again!
u r the guy I make a living off of only I do horse feed for sell. I do beef on side hill where u cant get a tractor (rotational grazing) with Hay on my relatively flat hill top land I grow hay. Here at 43N 77W we have about 2 inches of the white crap on the ground. Not enough to feed hay yet and come Sunday it will melt. I do have myself 50ac of real nice bottom land where I wo veggies. Also have a Saw mill and do lumber. A Man has to do something with the 14 hr a day he is not eat or sleeping after all. Time with fam We work this farm as one we spend all day together. My Love Twine girls with 4 Gkids is how we run this place these days. 50 yr ago it was just My love and I with 100 ac of side hill pasture and town jobs. Now it is over 2000ac owned or controlled
Here here, are U boasting.? U better all get down on Ur knees & pray to God🙏🤲 Thank Him deeply every day for His blessings He bestowed on U, or He can take it away 🙏🤲🕊✝️😇
AMP grazers find their input costs - no dewormers and vet bills - drop tremendously as ecosystems rebalance. You can learn more about our ten year research project at rootssodeep.org !
If you have fescue grass you can graze in the snow. I’ve seen them graze in those conditions rather than eat hay. Getting down to 15 -25 at night here and my black angus are grazing tall fescue. I don’t have a foot of snow on the ground, if I did I’d definitely give em access to hay but nutritionally they can make a living over winter on fescue. Supply a protein tub if needed. A lot cheaper than feeding tons and tons of hay
How did bison do it? Cattle will dig through snow to find forage if it’s been stockpiled. You can buy some hay for the times when snow has an ice cover or you can’t move them to for whatever reason but it’ll be a lot less hay than continuous grazers are buying.
@@paulkica4129 yes, but a lot less. Just watched the latest Greg Judy video. December and his cow calf mob are grazing fescue through snow and they plan to return to that paddock in February.
Then everyone should just run cows on a hay field instead of baling hay? Someone has to make hay. And God forbid a drought hits. This is the dumbest thing a real farmer has ever heard.
the increase in cancer in US adults under 50 isn't surprising, especially colon cancer. Americans love their meat, even though processed meats such as hot dogs, sausages, ham, bacon, salami, other cold cuts, etc. are known human carcinogens. The World Health Organization has classified red meat, including beef, lamb, and pork, as a probable human carcinogen
Stats are combined for colon and rectal cancer. Processed lower ruffage/fiber food, chemicals in modern diet, and even the rise in anal sex are likely more related than meat consumption (which has been in diet much longer than the cancer rise). As for WHO, it has more pol than scientific cred.
Buy used equipment learn how to repair or rebuild it, and cut your own hay. Just have a hunch this guy's hay equipment was all new, well of course it's going to cost alot if you're making a big payment on it. In TN round bales go between 40-50 dollars bale I feed out between 100-250 bales a year depending on the weather for the year. The last two years its been so dry in my part of Middle TN I've had to start feeding hay by September. Its possible if you have enough land to rotate, but I leave in a part that has almost tripled in population growth in the last 8 years, farms are disappearing because grandkids would rather farm houses instead of livestock around here. Lost leases on two farms within the last four years because the owners passed. Now we have our farm and one leased one. Had to sell down after lossing my leases. So if live somewhere that has almost unlimited ground you can find to run your cattle on I can see buying your hay because you can keep them rotating, but when that's not the case you can only rotate them so many times before your out of grass especially when there's no rain.
It costs us $15 a big round bale to bale our own hay. It is stored in a pole barn and we feed it out during the winter. If we have extra, sometimes we sell it during the winter for $40 a bale. If weather causes a poor hay crop, I have seen hay cost $75 a bale in the winter.
Round bales are $55 in Maine. I can't afford to pay someone else to bale my hay. A lot of small farm folks who were buying hay got rid of their animals...too costly to keep them.
Low price
Round bales here innour area in iowa 75-150 round@notapplicable430
Last year here in north Texas hay was 190 a round bale in the winter. Cow quality
How many acres? and it sounds like the equipment is paid for a while ago.
Awesome! Rotating grass fields just like nature. I hope all ranchers take this step
If weather allows.
We have always known when it didn't feel right and when it did. Regenerative farming is the right way
I’m in the position of considering baling half my land because weather patterns are so inconsistent. Last year I had grass 4’ tall going into fall. This year we had two rainstorms all summer and I was feeding hay most of August and 100% by September. My theory is even if I only bale on good years where grass outrun my heard, I can use that hay for a couple years if it’s taken care of. Also, if I keep the cows in rotation over winter, I can feed that same hay in the areas it was baled and choose a different area to bale each time. This would mean it’s not degrading the land. I think this guy has a great point for him and his operation for his area. It’s definitely situational from one Ranch to the next on that the best management plan is.
Same here too. We also bale and graze certain pieces in decent years and unroll on it in Winter as well. Also bale 3 small neighbors fields, which isn't very expensive, usually 2 to $3000 for 100 5x6 bales. That's using 1980s machines too. Every year has different requirements in our region and it's weather. If we hadn't turned in on creeks two years ago for Spring water and the forage we'd have had to sold cows
If we can get governments out of the weather business, I believe it would all fix itself.
Excellent realistic comment. 👍
@@Sun-for-man
I hope this is a joke, Governments can't control the weather.
You really should look into regenerative farming and rotational grazing. There's guys across the world from the desert 🏜️ to the coldest climates managing to raise their animals without growing or buying ANY hay or supplemental feeds and their land is THRIVING. Which MASSIVELY increases water retention in the land but it also brings the soil back and things can actually start growing without land destroying fertiliser. They're not paying for any feed or any fertiliser or water and they're raising MORE animals that are healthier and need FAR less vet care, less antibiotics and all the other things animals get sick and need or are given to prevent issues we created. So that alone saves the farmers a FORTUNE. I want to see farmers all start doing it, it creates a healthier land a healthier animal for consumption and the farmers spend FAR LESS and make FAR MORE. I hope you have a very blessed 2025 season and the weather calms its ass down. 🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏
This Old School approach with rotation grazing and planting natural grasses and plants is finally catching on I should never have left the farming community I grew up in.
By the way, it also benefits the local wildlife.
I'm glad to see videos like his one. Regenerative grazing really is the way to go for about a million reasons. I didn't know about the taller grass reducing or eliminating the parasite problem, that is a huge plus.
One field at a time🎉
That all makes sense until a drought year. The drought doesn't even have to be in your area. Several years ago i was buying my hay in Missouri. The guy who i was buying from said well i can truck my hay to Texas and double my price, so I'm doubling my price. Never again, most years it's fine to buy, but you will get burned eventually
how much did the transporting cost him though.
I got into hay big time as a side gig for my tractor mowing business. It's kinda like boat ownership. The 2 best days are when you get into it, and when you get rid of it.
Amen brother…
that goes for any business.
Simple math. The logic didn’t elude him. Viva la revolution!
Growing soil is the answer.
When U say "growing soil is easier" are U saying for him to buy more land.? U need to be explanatory if Ur here to say something.!
@janethompson2305 Whether you have 1 square foot or 43560 square feet, one must grow, develop, and restore the biodiversity of the soil. Healthy, vibrant soil should always be the first goal from which you can build upon.
Growing soil is the answer.
Apparently drought doesn't affect hay prices for this man's operation.
This family is very blessed🕊🙏🤲✝️😇
Do you live in a cold climate where a bad winter and a lot of snow would cover up your winter pasture for two or three months?
Google 'Gabe Brown farmer.' He farms in a similar fashion and is from North Dakota.
His book is from Dirt to Soil
Tough gig, being a farmer or a rancher.....so many variables.
If you can get critters to do the work, it can add up. Chickens are great at scratching up compost piles, ducks eat bugs without disturbing the crop, worms aerate and fertilize the soil if you don't poison them with petrochemical fertilizer/herbicides/pesticides.
How many chickens and ducks would it take to scratch up and fertilize my 1700-acre farm and what do I have to do to feed and shelter them through winter? And would using ostriches be more efficient because they are bigger birds?
@@onepup-pr3yl Its a concept. Figure out the details for yourself.
For me it means keeping the worms in my lawn happy.
That's so awesome, you didn't degrade your land 👍
So what do you feed them during the winter snowballs
Ur not funny, Troll. This is a serious platform.
As a retired farmer and cattleman, one thing I miss is cutting, raking and baling hay. I understand the expense and time is an obstacle for many. However, buying hay after a severe drought was a tough roe to hoe. I bought hay only one time in my life and that was after the drought of 2018. The price of year old hay reach $100 per big bale and fresh hay up to $250 per bale. I ran out of my own hay in early March and had to buy hay to get through spring. I would rather roll the carryover hay into a ditch than try to get by on what's available on the open market. And if you need hay for horses, how do you know there aren't blister beetles in the hay you're bringing in?
Not a farmer, here.What caught my attention was that "we dont provide any kind of warmer" and "keeping the grass taller" deals with the parasites.
In all the videos i have watched on regenerative farming, they do mention reduction on medical costs, but i have not once heard that taller grass keeps parasites away from cows.
I think the idea is the cattle are eating the top part of the grass, then are moved to new ground. If they don't graze down to ground level, they won't get parasites from the manure on the ground. Also if the cattle are kept moving from one area to the next, the parasites can't complete their life cycle before the cattle have moved on.
Parasite cycle counts on dung expulsion, then reingestion. Fewer climb long stems to higher feeding zone. Longer rotation also breaks cycle.
He said wormer, not warmer
Worms climb taller grasses to lay eggs
What farm is this I'd like to work for these guys
Any years that you can't find the hay to buy for winter?
people don't always look at the big picture like you did, the ROI wasn't there to do it yourself...buy it instead. Great idea and simple math!
More time with family = more time to watch football, more time sleeping in, more time hanging out at the co-op or local store.....
There's a LOT more chores in winter
@@janethompson2305 Don't think he is bailing hay in the winter. I understand it was just easier to add a couple cows to replace the loss of not doing it anymore but to say it was so to, "spend more time with family"..... just say it was a good business / time decision.
So answer me this how are you feeding your cows in winter.. ? Having more cows mean more hay in winter needed. Having taller grass is ok in summer but it won't grow in winter, and not when it's covered in snow.
Again i ask how do you feed your cows then in winter ?
Fence in your hat fields and graze your livestock. If you need hay for the winter, buy it and have it trucked in. Healthier animals and way cheaper.
So he doesn't bale his own hay he instead buys it from other farmers, so if everyone follows hus example whose gonna be producing the hay
Why doesn't he explain if he is buying hay or not feeding any hay? He does not make it clear, just wants to appear that he's doing a great job raising cows. I'm not impressed.
This is a small clip from the full film “I sell water and sunshine” available free on our channel! If you’d like to learn more that and “soil carbon cowboys” are great places to start!
Ill tell ya. Greed takes over and you are faced with $100-$125 a bale to feed cows
You are doing the math in a wrong way. It is called pushing limit to the absurd.
What is he doing is following the rule of modern economy. You know, long time ago, everybody was doing everything on their land, growing wheat, grinding it, cooking the bread. But then, a guy invented the windmill, other one, the watermill, and could grind the wheat much easier. Nobody used a hand grinder anymore. then some specialized in baking. And nobody cooked bread at home anymore, they just bought it. The same here, it is not like nobody will bale hay anymore. You cannot get there. If too many stop baling, there will be not enough hay on the market, the price will get up. And in this situation, those who were losing money making hay, can be profitable again, and return to making hay again.
What you point is not a problem. Degrading the land is the actual problem. The land needs to be protected. Not looking at the future you can destroy the land and make it a desert. It happened before. The first civilization, Mesopotamia vanished because of this. It was the climate too, but industrialization also. They used too much irrigation, the land got too salty, got degraded, and turned to desert. And it is not the only example. Excessive grazing destroyed land also. And back then industrialization was not at current levels. It took centuries to ruin the land. Now, with the machines you do not need too many decades. So, this is a real problem.
You feel you have eliminated the parasite issues? Isn’t there a way to test that?
Unless he is taking a fecal sample he doesn't know if he is controlling worms.
What if he feels that way because he has done fecals? Most of us with farm animals also know how to run the fecal test ourselves. It's just a poo slide under a microscope, and you look for each type of worm and count.
Also, parasites do not mess with healthy animals. If they are getting all the nutrients and proper diet, and especially if they are rotating them, it's very easy to avoid parasites.
@@PrairieNursery and @oolala53 What if he feels that way because he has done fecals?
Most of us with farm animals also know how to run the fecal test ourselves. It's just a poo slide under a microscope, and you look for each type of worm and count.
Also, parasites do not mess with healthy animals. If they are getting all the nutrients and proper diet, and especially if they are rotating them, it's very easy to avoid parasites.
What if he feels that way because he has done fecals? Most of us with farm animals also know how to run the fecal test ourselves. It's just a poo slide under a microscope, and you look for each type of worm and count.
Also, parasites do not mess with healthy animals. If they are getting all the nutrients and proper diet, and especially if they are rotating them, it's very easy to avoid parasites.
What if he feels that way because he has done fecals? Most of us with farm animals also know how to run the fecal test ourselves. It's just a poo slide under a microscope, and you look for each type of worm and count.
Also, parasites do not mess with healthy animals. If they are getting all the nutrients and proper diet, and especially if they are rotating them, it's very easy to avoid parasites.
Cheaper for me to bale then buy and I put up 225 round bales 1 cutting I used 120 gallons of diesel fuel and 4 boxes of twin which is 8 rools of twin
Bringing other peoples weeds onto you own farm can add up to a huge cost.
I bale my own hay and I sell it to off set my hay for my cows
Then Ur one of the lucky ones
Cow calf producers usually can’t make it on cow/ calf production. They almost always have to subsidize with grain farming, existing family ground or full time jobs outside of the farm. You can thank Walmart and all the other mega greed retailers for that. Need to Make Cattle Great Again!
u r the guy I make a living off of only I do horse feed for sell.
I do beef on side hill where u cant get a tractor (rotational grazing) with Hay on my relatively flat hill top land I grow hay. Here at 43N 77W we have about 2 inches of the white crap on the ground. Not enough to feed hay yet and come Sunday it will melt. I do have myself 50ac of real nice bottom land where I wo veggies. Also have a Saw mill and do lumber. A Man has to do something with the 14 hr a day he is not eat or sleeping after all.
Time with fam We work this farm as one we spend all day together. My Love Twine girls with 4 Gkids is how we run this place these days. 50 yr ago it was just My love and I with 100 ac of side hill pasture and town jobs. Now it is over 2000ac owned or controlled
Here here, are U boasting.? U better all get down on Ur knees & pray to God🙏🤲 Thank Him deeply every day for His blessings He bestowed on U, or He can take it away 🙏🤲🕊✝️😇
Work smarter not harder.
Degrade someone else's land
You FEEL you have eliminated the parasite issues? Isn’t there a way to test that?
Yes look at a fecal sample under a microscope.
You cant 'feel' your way out of parasites man.
AMP grazers find their input costs - no dewormers and vet bills - drop tremendously as ecosystems rebalance. You can learn more about our ten year research project at rootssodeep.org !
How do you feed in the dead of frozen winter with snow on the ground?
If you have fescue grass you can graze in the snow. I’ve seen them graze in those conditions rather than eat hay.
Getting down to 15 -25 at night here and my black angus are grazing tall fescue. I don’t have a foot of snow on the ground, if I did I’d definitely give em access to hay but nutritionally they can make a living over winter on fescue. Supply a protein tub if needed. A lot cheaper than feeding tons and tons of hay
How did bison do it? Cattle will dig through snow to find forage if it’s been stockpiled. You can buy some hay for the times when snow has an ice cover or you can’t move them to for whatever reason but it’ll be a lot less hay than continuous grazers are buying.
He's buying hay
ya id like to know carrying capacity in the winter with no hay. bison go through the snow, but they have vast ranges.
@@paulkica4129 yes, but a lot less. Just watched the latest Greg Judy video. December and his cow calf mob are grazing fescue through snow and they plan to return to that paddock in February.
U..MEAN ..U DON'T. WORM...UR CATTLE .. REALLY. .!! DO. U. VACINATE. EM ...
Then everyone should just run cows on a hay field instead of baling hay? Someone has to make hay. And God forbid a drought hits. This is the dumbest thing a real farmer has ever heard.
There's one thing that doesn't make sense.
the increase in cancer in US adults under 50 isn't surprising, especially colon cancer. Americans love their meat, even though processed meats such as hot dogs, sausages, ham, bacon, salami, other cold cuts, etc. are known human carcinogens. The World Health Organization has classified red meat, including beef, lamb, and pork, as a probable human carcinogen
Don't eat it. Humans are meat eaters.
Maybe washing meat in ammonia is the problem.
Oh yeah, the W.H.O. ... the ones who say CO2 is poison gas ? ... yeah, the guys with the "shot" ?
Stats are combined for colon and rectal cancer. Processed lower ruffage/fiber food, chemicals in modern diet, and even the rise in anal sex are likely more related than meat consumption (which has been in diet much longer than the cancer rise). As for WHO, it has more pol than scientific cred.
Smart man. Work smarter
Buy used equipment learn how to repair or rebuild it, and cut your own hay. Just have a hunch this guy's hay equipment was all new, well of course it's going to cost alot if you're making a big payment on it. In TN round bales go between 40-50 dollars bale I feed out between 100-250 bales a year depending on the weather for the year. The last two years its been so dry in my part of Middle TN I've had to start feeding hay by September. Its possible if you have enough land to rotate, but I leave in a part that has almost tripled in population growth in the last 8 years, farms are disappearing because grandkids would rather farm houses instead of livestock around here. Lost leases on two farms within the last four years because the owners passed. Now we have our farm and one leased one. Had to sell down after lossing my leases. So if live somewhere that has almost unlimited ground you can find to run your cattle on I can see buying your hay because you can keep them rotating, but when that's not the case you can only rotate them so many times before your out of grass especially when there's no rain.