10/04/06 Hay wedges

Hay Wedges I just read about a different way to stack winter hay. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll tell you about it right after this. At Colorado State University's John E. Rouse Beef Improvement Center near Saratoga, Wyoming, Mike Moon stacks the winter hay to feed the university's 400 commercial cows in some very useful shapes. Mike has been manager of the center since 1998 and has worked with Bob Jairell, a hydrologic technician who develops techniques to control blowing snow. The haystack shapes are adaptations of designs Mr. Jairell and his co-workers introduced that have been used around the world. The haystacks are two simple straight lines that come together at a 90degree angle to form a wedge. The point of the wedge is aimed directly at the prevailing winds. Mike Moon's stacks are built with large round bales, but any type bales would work. When wind blows snow against the "V" shape of the wedge the snow is channeled along the sides of the stack and deposited away from the stacks, which keep the hay from being drifted in and needing to be plowed out. This design provides a windbreak for the cattle in the feeding area by reducing wind velocity for as far as 300-400 feet down-wind. On the coldest days, cattle are fed in the protected area and on more moderate days the cattle are fed out away from the stacks to prevent manure build-up in only one place. The twelve-foot tall stacks are fed from each end so the wedge point lasts as long as possible. Ranchers that feed in flat, less protected areas might find this design helpful. I'm Jeff Keane. Beef September 2006