Welcome to Cottonwood Hill Farms! We are a small regenerative family farm in southwest Iowa. We raise chickens, a few hogs, grass-fed beef and a small grass-fed Dairy herd. Although we have been farming for 10 years, we finally purchased the family farm in late summer of 2022. This farm is where John's mother grew up and has been in the family since the mid-50s. Come along with us as we show you our life and day-to-day chores. This is our story. We hope you enjoy and thanks for watching! God Bless!
We tried that. Made 1 pile and learned a lot about farming, both good and bad. The only good thing we learned is " haylage " was a heck of a lot better than just dry hay. And that pile changed our farm forever. Then the bad . Well, all the talk you hear about managing the pile, especially the face durring feed out, is no joke . Piles or bunkers are for feeding a lot of cattle and fast. The recommendation removal rate is 6 inches in cool weather, and it is like 12 to 18 inches in warmer weather. Across the entire face . I would be pro chopper if you were chopping corn. I feed thats all they are good for. Long story short . We traded the choppers in towards a round bale wrapper and haven't looked bace. We shoot to wrap at a minimum 500 bales and on a wet year like last year, almost 900 . So im pro decent ss baler and that 3500 dollar wrapper to start with. As for a hugger only needed, if you plan to stack them or even sell after wrapping because feedout can be done with a spear. If chopping is your thing, then look at renting or buying a bagger. Its a smaller feeding face to work with
I am looking at a 15-20' wide by 30-35' long pit that is about 8' deep. Keeping it narrow for that exact reason as I know managing is VERY important. If only we had an old silo close by. I could see us going to bales some day but we just don't have the money at the moment. I have considered bags but again, we can't afford a bagger and no one uses them around here. That is another option I am considering down the line. We will just have to see how this year goes and adjust from there. One thing is for certain, a year from now, I will know a lot more! Thank you for the knowledge and info!
A suggestion is to look at how Gierok farms does their silage. They make a haylage pile and then cover it with corn silage. Making good haylage is tricky as the moisture content has to be spot on otherwise the cows will not want eat enough of it. Often it dries too quickly to get it into the pile with optimum moisture. Sweeten the haylage by blending it with the corn silage. Good corn silage is like candy to dairy cows.
I really enjoy Gierok’s channel. They have great content. We are actually 100% grass fed so we will not be doing any corn silage. This will all be alfalfa and grass. Thank you for the input, though, it’s much appreciated!
If you do a pit for silage you will want to cement the floor or it will be a pain to feed out.. Make sure to get the pile packed really good or you will get a lot or spoilage. Keep the videos coming.
I've been discussing the pit floor with a fellow farmer. He currently doesn't have cement and just uses rounds to make the walls and then covers with a tarp. Moisture is obviously an issue for him. I can't afford cement this year but we were both kicking around the idea of trying to use a bottom tarp. One thing that should help me (I think) is that I will be using my skid steer with tracks to pull out of the pile/pit so rutting (hopefully) shouldn't be as much of an issue. Packing is something that has already been on my mind. I am thinking the 1130 might be the best as it has cast wheels and has a fair amount of weight in it. I've seen some guys put duals on for packing. I am thinking that would be counterproductive for me as I need more lbs/sq". Thoughts? Thanks for offering your knowledge!
@@cottonwoodhillfarms Duals are great for 2 reason they help to pack the edges of the pile and safety on the pile when doing the edges. I understand the dollars of concrete. Might want to think about doing the pile on a slight slope for water drains away and feed out from the lower side for it is easier to back out when it is wet. Just ideas everyone has to do what works for them. I know it is hard to get started farming.I still use older equipment.
@@cottonwoodhillfarms We always packed with duals, and a tractor with a good ROPS cab. I suppose it depends on the pile size, but I always found packing to be quite unnerving. You have to be very careful.
20-30 cows seems like a lot to milk with your setup, but I'm sure you know what you're doing. I grew up milking in a stanchion barn and then we progressed to a double 6 herringbone. Today, my cousins are milking several hundred, all with robotics. Chopped a lot of hay and corn back then with a Fox chopper, then a JD (for only a few days before we sent it back), and then a New Holland. A lot went into concrete silos but a lot went into bunkers made out of big rounds. Sometimes we covered with plastic and tires, and other times we just seeded oats on top. Now most of it is going into bags. Hope it all works out!
It is a lot for our current set up. That little barn is not our long-term solution. We've got some exciting plans in the works. We just need to keep our growth consistent and we can keep everything on track. I looked at a few Deere's (3940,3960) but they were 4+ hours away. Got this New Holland from up by Casey, IA. Bags may be an option in the future but right now we can't afford a bagger and I don't know anyone around that has one. I've never heard anyone use oats on top, that's very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Great video. We had 0.75 of rain here in Eastern Nebraska last week. Talking some rain the end of this week here. Hope to get 14 acres of oats planted tomorrow. Have you ever thought about having your round bales ground? I have most of my bales ground, saves a lot hay and makes it go farther. And makes manure hauling easier. Just an idea. Have a great spring
Thanks! Yes I have. Don't have access to a tub grinder at the moment, I could have it custom done but I don't really want a massive stack of hay sitting out plus with the skid steer broke down I don't have a very efficient way to feed it. An older tub grinder or processor is a want for the near future. This year my number one focus is feed quality as well as increased feeding efficiency for next winter. We do waste quite a bit, and at the moment a lot of the hay we are feeding is very low quality. We are not certified organic but I will only buy hay that is organic or raised with those standards and it is very hard to find around here. I do have some plans to help increase quality/add more energy this summer so we will see how that goes.
@@cottonwoodhillfarms I understand. I have it custom done. I use a electric fence and feed the ground hay by them eatingf rom the pile and do not have use any equipment to feed.
One of the nice features of a air pipe to the bottom is a small air tank at 100 psi can be regulated down to output 40 psi and that's enough psi to ..... 1 help start the fire. 2 blast ashes out the chimney so you don't have a winter's worth of ashes clogging it up before spring arrives. Even a 1" pipe inlet is a big help.
Now that's how i grew up when having to give milk to calf We go to auction and buy calf that lost its mom We had fantastic milk cow that could feed 3 and our family
I would’ve just taken the gate off the hinges until the snow was gone and then put it back on and raise the gate up! I’m from South Central Iowa and it was a really pain when it was -20 out cuz the feed wagon tractor and skid steer we use everyday to feed with wouldn’t start of course lol.. I’m glad we are done with that weather for awhile
That gate is pretty heavy. There was another smaller galvanized gate I did just pull of the hinges and let the snow hold it up. Agreed, this early "spring" weather is wonderful!
I am about hour plus SW of you over in Nebraska. That was no fun feeding cows in and I have no cab tractors . The cows went through a lot feed those days. 60 plus here today. Great video. 1 suggestion for your videos you might want to mention the date in them for the viewer has an idea when they are filmed and you have a reference as time goes. Just an idea. Keep the videos coming.
No Matter The Weather, A Farmer/Rancher Has To Work In All Conditions. Cows Look Healthy😊😊. Greetings From South West Georgia Where We're Already Getting Weather In The Mid 60's To Low 70's..
Just found your channel. I am just just south of Lincoln and have dairy nurse cows and buy bucket calves keep the videos coming. Have a great new year.
@@cottonwoodhillfarms Mine has two 6volt batteries in series like they came from factory. Once they go bad I’ll put two 12volts in parallel like the 40 series.
