Hay loss can also be excessive in feeding. Feeding loss is greater when weathered bales are fed since cattle readily sort the weathered from the unweathered hay. Use of bale feeders can also reduce loss. Round bale feeders limit access

to the hay and thus limit waste from trampling and soiling. Dr. Dan Buskirk is leading a team of researchers in evaluating round bale feeding loss with beef cows. Preliminary results show waste when feeding shed-stored 5X4 bales of about 3% with a cone-type feeder, 6% with a ring-type, 11% with a trailer and 14% with a cradle-type feeder. Feeding loss would have been much higher had the hay been unprotected in storage or fed without benefit of a feeder.

Table 1 lists estimated storage and feeding costs for five storage and two feeding methods. Costs include storage, additional machinery costs beyond the basic machinery needed to handle bales stored outside, additional feed needed to replace the storage and feeding losses associated with each system. Each storage method offering some protection from the weather is more profitable than storing the bales uncovered on the ground. In all cases, using a cone-type feeder is more profitable than giving cattle unrestricted access to bales placed on the ground.