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Stockpiling fescue saves money for cattle feeding

A University of Missouri extension livestock specialist says farmers should stockpile tall fescue for winter cattle feeding.

Patrick Davis said stockpiling fescue leads to higher profits.

“As we talk with our economists, there’s much less input cost in putting a stockpile up verses deeding hay all winter,” he said.

Davis tells Brownfield farmers can start stockpiling by cutting fescue pastures to below four inches and adding 40 to 50 pounds of nitrogen in August. Davis says the fields should be taken out of the grazing rotation until winter.

He said farmers should wait until after mid-January to feed the stockpile to their cattle, so the fescue falls below the cattle’s toxic threshold.

“The key is that waxy cuticle layer on the fescue and it does allow it to store and retain pretty good quality for a long period of time,” Davis said.

He said if the cuticle layer of the fescue is damaged in storage the quality of the fescue will decrease rapidly.