by Chris Hicks, Smith County Extension Agent:
I have mentioned before in this space how important it is to minimize waste when feeding hay. One of the issues with hay feeding that we don’t talk about as often is the destruction of the area where hay is fed.
If you actually look at the damage done after a season of feeding hay on a particular pasture, you will probably notice that most of the damage didn’t come from the animals themselves. Instead, most of it came from tractor ruts throughout the field, and if those ruts are not fixed, it will not be a pleasant experience getting through that area to spray, check fences, or any of the other tasks needed on the farm.
Besides fixing the ruts, those pastures will have to be reseeded and if left unsprayed will be a tremendous seed bank for pigweed, cocklebur, and other weeds. Plus, the mud in hay feeding areas is not healthy for animals and can lead to hoof rot and other problems.
The University of Tennessee has recently been experimenting with fence-line feeders at the Research and Education Center in Lewisburg. These feeding structures, as the name implies, are placed along a fence and designed so that a tractor never has to enter the pasture to feed. The feeders that have been built in Lewisburg were patterned after the work after the Eden Shale farm, which can be seen at https://www.edenshalefarm.com/fence-line-feeders.html.
A farm tour has been planned for December 19 to visit the UT Research & Education Center to view and learn more about the fence-line feeders as well as to tour the Heifer Development Center. We will also be touring the UT Bull Test Station in Spring Hill to view the bulls prior to the Bull Test Sale in January.
The trip will be free to cattle producers in Smith & Trousdale County but you must RSVP by calling 615-735-2900 by December 6 so we can organize transportation. Give us a call if you want more information.
Photo courtesy of Eden Shale Farm
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