Profit Tips: Equipment - Keep an accurate bale count

Hay has become a precious commodity with many producers now storing round bales under a roof. Stacking hay in a barn, however, often makes it difficult to keep track of the number of total bales left, especially as winter progresses and hay is being fed. Bruce Shanks, Sassafras Valley Ranch, Belle, Mo., implemented an idea from his neighbor, Wes Smith, with a $3 can of spray paint. “As hay is stacked in the barn we count the bales and paint the number on the end of one bale of hay in every row. This is continued as each row is added,” Shanks says. “As the hay is fed, you instantly know how many bales are left in the barn. The time savings is significant.”

1. UNL crop-residue presentations available online
2. Cow slaughter through May likely to exceed same period in 2012
3. Beef Quiz: Growing beef demand
4. AFBF president issues statement on U.S.-EU trade negotiations
5. E. coli test leads to National Beef recall
6. Buckle your seatbelt for the House consideration of the farm bill

1. Will Smith dethroned in latest Peterson Farm Bros. parody
2. 3,000 pounds of copper wire stolen from Oklahoma ranch
3. Changes in U.S.-Mexican cattle and beef trade
4. Crude oil expected to peak and cost of electricity to go down
5. Peterson Brothers: What summer vacation?
6. Experts weigh in on lowest beef supply in 60 years

1. COOL isn’t working
2. Feedyard margins a train wreck, packers cozy
3. 2100: 11 billion mouths to feed
4. New tools emerging to measure soil health
5. Changes in U.S.-Mexican cattle and beef trade
6. How to grow beef demand