Winter here is typical so far. The seven day outlook I check every morning pretty generally shows either one or two "down to below zero trends" each time. We have not had any severe sub zero nights(twenty-five below or colder) but it does become a challenge to keep bedding up to standard and water free of freezeup.
I have found that we need to go back to strings on the hay bales, or enough of them to get us through Dec-Feb. This is so that the bales, which sit outside here no matter what, can be placed out on the pastures in rows of five or six in late October setting up for the cattle to graze through the winter. They can be set on their round sides so that the strings may be cut and pulled off in two or three handsful and yet the hay would have some protection from late rains. Taking strings off can be done ahead in about a half day's time. This will not work with netwrap unless I go with a tractor and loader to tip them over after removing the nets, which I would rather not do.
What I also would rather not do is to start a tractor three to six days out of each week to carry snow and ice covered bales out there and then pull the nets off complete with a load of ice and hay. This has to be simpler. There simply is not enough return even to grassfed beef to pay for that kind of tractor wear and senseless labor.
I have already found that I need to be careful of getting into March with this because of the chance of mud. But through the hardest of winter, the easiest thing to do is to walk out there every week or five days to reel up a length of fence and put up another and move the bale rings. And I hear some do not even use bale rings for this setup. Once again, time for change.
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