Windigo said:I've spent the better part of a couple days driving to CO and back to IL on I-80 (round trip in 3 days to pick up a dog). Lots of cornfields and cattle! I have a question, I noticed in some of the what I am assuming had been cornfields, as there was still some stubble visible in rows, there were big round bales, like the big round bales of hay, but it looked like corn stalks. What do they use that for? Feed? Bedding? Just curious, I'd never seen that before.
Deb

They are used for feed.
Not common as cost of producing may exceed profit from selling but they are becoming more common.

In 2011 which was a year of severe drought here, not only cornstalks but also failed cotton plants were baled and sold for cattle feed, and the cows were glad to have it.

Here in my area they are used for bedding. I don't think many guys use them for feed; to rough.

Even when there is no drought, cows here are often turned out onto corn stubble fields to prolong the fall grazing season. I guess Texas cows are tougher than Wisconsin cows.

Yes, beef cows are turned out into the fields to "glean" but the bales are customarily used for bedding, not feed.

porkpal said:Even when there is no drought, cows here are often turned out onto corn stubble fields to prolong the fall grazing season. I guess Texas cows are tougher than Wisconsin cows.

My Father would do the same in Minnesota in the fall. But that was many moons ago. I hadn't heard that they would bale it.

Thanks for all the responses! The things us cityslickers learn!!

Porkpal, I guess I should have been a bit more specific...........we have many more dairy operations around here; but the guys that have beef usually put them out on the stalks after the corn is harvested. There would not be enough good quality feed out there (and too much corn if your combine did a cruddy job...........LOL) for a dairy cow to produce milk. The very BASIC nutritional needs would probably be met, but a dairy cow requires more specialized nutrition for milk production. Not to mention that beef cows are tougher. LOL

Not to mention the inconvenience of getting your dairy herd in for milking from some distant field...

porkpal said:Not to mention the inconvenience of getting your dairy herd in for milking from some distant field...

Depends on the farmer.
Sadly they quit dairy farming but when I would drive down South, often at milking time, one farmer had farm way fenced in , at least one half mile and when I drove by the cattle would be strolling back to the barn with the leader ahead of the pack and the usual couple of stragglers trailing by fifty yards or so.
A friend I grew up with lived on a farm and his dad had a similar farm way , only his had big corner, that led to the woods where the cattle would pasture, it was just as long.
I used to hunt on a lake where there was a steep wooded bank, the farmer that owned it had quit his dairy cattle years earlier but we would walk the old cattle paths on the steep hills. Without those it would have been tough to dangerous going.
They remained for long time after the cattle left.
I miss those things from the past.

I was thinking of a good deal farther than 1/2 mile. Our old crop land was several miles from the farmstead.

porkpal said:I was thinking of a good deal farther than 1/2 mile. Our old crop land was several miles from the farmstead.

That is a long, long way.
When I was a boy, up here a giant farm was one section, most were 80-160 acres and the fields, at least North of town were small divided by hedgerows of tall trees and rocks.
South of town there were fields of forty acres plus or minus.
Now single fields, even up north cover the area of what once was two whole farms.

My Dad was a small time Minnesota dairy farmer. He loved herding dogs and always kept one. During summer, us kids unknowingly would train the dog. We would go out to bring in the cows at a certain time and the dog would hang with us. When we went back to school, the dog would pick up the routine and round up the cows and gently bring them in to be milked ~ always at the correct times.

Now single fields, even up north cover the area of what once was two whole farms.

When I go back for a visit these days, I miss the small dairy farms and am so amazed at the size of the fields.

A smallish guernsey farm near us recently sold to development. Sad for me, but the owners were quite elderly. I already miss the cows.

I bet they don't, Deb. I know I don't.

Some dairy farmers are crazier than others. My uncle retired from dairy farming but kept a handful of favorite cows around for years.

My grandparents had a dairy farm. When they sold out and retired they were done with them and wanted to never see another cow.

I still do a little relief milking but not as much. One farmer doesn't need me anymore because his kids no longer show at State Fair.......aged out. :>) One doesn't call me any more, and I would have told her no anyway. Her cows are snots and I don't care to deal with them.

Isn't it funny how animals all have different personalities? We had some really snotty horses and others were just so calm and sweet.

Karen, my first ever horse (a 'papered' gift from my husband after literally years of horse envy) was a butthead and we never really connected. I ended up giving her to a horse-crazy young girl who absolutely loved her. My last horse (a neglected runty mutt) was a sweetheart, came running when you called his name, ran his heart out against much bigger animals, but jumped at a butterfly. I miss ol' Wally.