Small Angus Herds and Feed Risk: Buying Feed Versus Making Hay

Every cattle operation has to answer the same question each winter: where is the feed coming from? For a small Angus herd, the answer usually falls somewhere between two poles. At one end you cut and bale your own hay. At the other you buy hay, cubes, pellets or byproduct feeds and never own a baler. Both choices move risk around rather than removing it, and understanding where the risk lands is the heart of the decision.

What "feed risk" actually means

When producers talk about feed risk they are usually talking about three separate things. The first is quantity risk: will you have enough pounds of dry matter to get every cow to spring? The second is quality risk: will those pounds carry enough energy and protein for a cow that is pregnant, lactating or both? The third is price risk: will the cost of feeding swing far enough to turn a modest margin into a loss?

Homegrown hay is exposed mostly to quantity and quality risk. A dry summer shrinks the yield, and a wet spell at cutting time can turn good grass into poor hay. Purchased feed is exposed mostly to price risk, and to availability when a drought hits your whole region at once. The two are not mirror images, and a small herd often benefits from holding a bit of each.

The case for making your own hay

If you already own the land, hay can be the cheapest source of winter forage, especially when the equipment is paid for and the labor is your own. You control the cutting date, which is the single biggest lever on quality, because hay cut earlier in the plant's maturity generally carries more protein and digestibility. You also keep the nutrients on the farm and can plan fertility around them.

The weakness for a small operation is the equipment. A mower, rake and baler are a large investment to spread across a small number of tons, and each machine needs shelter, repairs and a person who knows how to run it. Many small producers find that the true cost per ton of their own hay is higher than they assumed once they count depreciation, fuel, twine or wrap, repairs and their own time. The University of Nebraska beef extension at beef.unl.edu publishes budgeting tools aimed at exactly this kind of comparison.

The case for buying feed

Buying feed converts a bundle of fixed costs into a variable cost. You pay for what you use, you can scale up or down as the herd changes, and you keep your capital out of machinery. Purchased feed can also be tested and specified before it arrives, so you know what you are getting. For a herd of modest size, hiring a custom operator to bale your own fields, or buying hay outright, is often the sensible middle path.

The exposure is the market. Feed prices can climb quickly in a regional drought, and the hay you were counting on buying may not exist at any price. Freight also matters: a cheap price per ton can disappear once you add hauling, and the cost of moving bulky hay a long distance rarely pencils out.

A fair way to compare the two

The most useful habit is to compare feed on the basis of cost per pound of usable nutrient delivered to the cow, not cost per bale or per ton. Here is a simple approach.

• Get a forage test. A lab analysis of your hay, and of any hay you are offered, gives dry matter, crude protein and an energy estimate. Without it you are comparing guesses.
• Convert to dry matter. Hay that is sold wet or poorly cured carries less feed per pound. Compare on a dry matter basis.
• Count waste. Feeding hay on the ground, or in the open, loses a meaningful share. Ring feeders and hay stored under cover reduce that loss, and the loss belongs in your cost.
• Count every cost of your own hay. Fuel, repairs, twine or net wrap, fertilizer, equipment depreciation and labor all count.
• Add freight and handling to purchased feed. Include delivery, unloading and any storage you need.

Once you have a cost per ton of dry matter for each source, you can compare them to the nutrient requirement of your cows. Angus cows in late gestation and early lactation need more energy and protein than a dry cow in mid-pregnancy, and a cheap hay that fails to meet those needs usually ends up costing more through supplement, lost condition or poor rebreeding.

Managing the risk instead of picking a side

Small herds do well when they spread their exposure. Several practices help.

Carry a feed reserve. Holding some carryover hay from a good year is the cheapest drought insurance there is. Many producers aim to have a reserve before the next cutting is made.

Line up a second supplier. Know in advance who you would call if your own crop came up short, and ask about their availability, not only their price.

Stretch your stored feed with grazing. Extending the grazing season through rotational management shortens the feeding period, which is the most direct way to cut feed need. Our introduction to rotational grazing for beef cattle covers the basics, and farm.fm's page on pasture management for Angus herds offers another view of keeping pasture productive.

Match herd size to forage, not the other way around. The simplest risk control of all is a stocking rate that leaves room in a poor year. A herd sized to a good year will be buying feed in a bad one.

Know your cow's needs by stage. Feeding every cow the same ration wastes money. See our guide to winter feeding Angus cows for how body condition and cold change energy needs.

Where the numbers live

The USDA Economic Research Service tracks cattle and feed markets at ers.usda.gov, which is a useful place to see how input costs move over time. For practical forage guidance, your state extension service and the University of Nebraska beef program publish budgets, forage testing advice and drought-planning material. Local hay prices vary widely by region and season, so check current figures near you rather than relying on any national number.

If you are building a broader plan for your operation, the directory at agriculture.directory can help you find extension offices, feed suppliers and service providers in your area.

A simple decision rule

If you have the equipment, the labor and good ground, make hay and keep a reserve. If you lack any of the three, buy hay or hire a custom operator and keep your money in cattle rather than machinery. If you are somewhere in between, and most small producers are, make what you can reliably make and buy the rest from a supplier you have already talked to. Whichever route you choose, test the feed, count every cost and keep a reserve. Those three habits do more for a small herd than any particular source of feed.

The figures and prices that govern this decision change every season, so treat this article as a way of thinking and confirm current numbers with your extension agent or local market reports. This site is independent and is not affiliated with the American Angus Association or Certified Angus Beef.