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Beef specialist recommends stockpiling tall fescue

University of Missouri’s extension beef specialist says in the fescue belt stockpiling tall fescue is a good alternative to feeding hay in the winter.

“It costs about twice as much to feed hay to a cow as for her to graze it herself.”

Eric Bailey tells Brownfield the quality of stockpiled fescue matches up with the peak nutrient requirements for fall calving cows.

He says putting hay in storage is often at the bottom of the chore list which can impact quality.

“We don’t make a priority out of it. So, then what happens is we end up producing a lot of hay in terms of quantity but the quality of that hay is sub par.”

Bailey says hay that is stored or bought should be hay tested to determine the protein and energy content is sufficient for the herd.