manure

I would like clean up some feeding areas this spring .We are waisting a good bit of hay trying to help are cows stay out of the mud. Will a nh 328 spreader be able spread this type of manure?

Yeah, it will spread it, just don't heap it full.

It works best to pile it up in the spring and let it compost in a heap all summer then spread it in the fall.

Tell me about wasting hay this year. I think I got discounted last year because my feeder calves had some matting so I've been keeping them well bedded by unrolling round bales that are poor hay but still edible. It's a real challenge keeping them clean when it's above freezing and raining all the time (still waiting for winter in SE MN). They sure look pretty, but I have my doubts that it was worth it.

(quoted from post at 09:45:52 12/30/11) Yeah, it will spread it, just don't heap it full.

It works best to pile it up in the spring and let it compost in a heap all summer then spread it in the fall.

Tell me about wasting hay this year. I think I got discounted last year because my feeder calves had some matting so I've been keeping them well bedded by unrolling round bales that are poor hay but still edible. It's a real challenge keeping them clean when it's above freezing and raining all the time (still waiting for winter in SE MN). They sure look pretty, but I have my doubts that it was worth it.

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It is best if you can compost it. I do the same thing!

Rick

Skip- Talk to NRCS about a feeding pad and manure storage area. They will design the area, and if you do the work or at least GC the job and do the legwork, it will probably only cost you the interest on the initial money. Cost share here in Maryland for such structures is 87 1/2%. I store all summer, and then all winter, and it is composting from the day it's put into the stack. Our cows are on concrete for feeding, and unused hay is bedding for a few weeks until I clean the barn (about once a month). I spread it with a 185 NH, but I would recommend you get a top beater for your 328. Spreading is done on corn ground in the spring, and as much hay ground as I can cover in the fall. Soil tests are showing better each year, and fertilizer use is down. By the way, I am totally no-till.

Now I know I'll probably catch hail from someone, but I've been using NRCS for years, and even though I don't like a whole lot of G-men around the place, a good working relationship with them has put over $100k into this operation, and literally paid us to improve our operation. Example: 5000' of cross fence, at $2.89/ft.=$14,450. Cost share was 75%, or $10,837. I did the work (was going to, anyway). Material cost was about $3000. That included posts, gates, and hi tensile wire. I took me about a month, but that paycheck ($10,837-3,000) was worth the month of work and busted fingers.

Been on MIG grazing now for five years, carrying 2.5 animal units per acre, and am still grazing grass after a droughty summer in December.

Yes. It's government money. Tax money. But I figure I can use it as well as some low rent legislator in Washington, and if I don't take it, they'll find someone else who will.

Talk to them, and put some concrete in that mudhole- you won't regret it!