Starting in late spring, the Wolfe’s Neck Center dairy and farm operations teams look towards the next winter. As the weather gets colder, we move our cows into the dairy barn to keep them warm. With fewer opportunities to graze in the winter months, we feed our herd with the hay we bale in summer.
Our goal is to harvest all the hay our cows need from our land; this is much more cost-effective than purchasing organic hay from other farms. And the environmental impact is far less when we don’t have to bring in food for the cows (“inputs” in farm parlance) from off-farm.
Did you know?
Our hay bales come in two different types, wrapped and dry.
Wrapped bales, also known as baleage, are bales that get wrapped in plastic after being collected. This allows the hay to retain more moisture and ferment slowly. This helps the hay to retain its energy and quality that fresh green grass offers, ultimately keeping it more digestible than dry hay.
Dry bales, also known as haylage, are unwrapped hay that can have a higher fiber content, but do not offer as many benefits as wrapped bales. So, at Wolfe’s Neck Center, our Dairy tries to have more wrapped bales than dry by the end of the haying season.
As we enjoy the changing seasons here at Wolfe’s Neck Center, our Dairy team continues to look towards the colder months and prepare to keep our cows warm, fed, and healthy this winter.
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