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Free Winter Hay Plan for Cattle (Printable PDF)

How much hay each cow needs, how many round bales that is at your bale weight, how much you lose in storage and at the feeder, and a fill-in worksheet. Two printable pages built from Extension figures. Free, no signup needed to download.

Free download

Winter Hay Plan (2 pages, PDF)

Page 1: hay per cow, bales per cow by bale weight, storage and feeding losses, sources
Page 2: worksheet for hay needed vs. on hand, what to buy, and a feeding log

Download the Winter Hay Plan (PDF)

Prefer to run the numbers first? Use the free hay calculator.

1. The rule of thumb

A cow eats about 2.5% of her body weight in dry matter a day (NDSU Extension). Divide by the hay’s dry matter, about 88% if you haven’t tested it (dry hay usually runs 85–90%), to get pounds of hay as fed. Then add your storage and feeding losses.

Example: 1,200 lb cow × 2.5% = 30 lb dry matter ÷ 0.88 = 34 lb of hay as fed × 1.20 for 20% waste = about 41 lb a day. Over 120 days that is about 4,900 lb, or 2.5 tons.

2. Hay per cow for the winter

88% dry matter hay, 20% storage and feeding waste.

Cow weight	Dry matter/day	Hay as fed/day (88% DM)	With 20% waste	90 days	120 days	150 days
1,000 lb	25 lb	28 lb	34 lb	3,068 lb (1.5 t)	4,091 lb (2.0 t)	5,114 lb (2.6 t)
1,200 lb	30 lb	34 lb	41 lb	3,682 lb (1.8 t)	4,909 lb (2.5 t)	6,136 lb (3.1 t)
1,400 lb	35 lb	40 lb	48 lb	4,295 lb (2.1 t)	5,727 lb (2.9 t)	7,159 lb (3.6 t)

3. Round bales per cow, by bale weight

For a 1,200 lb cow, same assumptions. Weigh a few of your own bales: a “1,000 lb” bale that really weighs 800 lb leaves you 20% short. Illinois Extension’s shortcut is about one big round bale a month for a 1,300 lb cow eating free choice.

Days on hay	800 lb bales	1,000 lb bales	1,200 lb bales	1,400 lb bales
90 days	4.6	3.7	3.1	2.6
120 days	6.1	4.9	4.1	3.5
150 days	7.7	6.1	5.1	4.4
180 days	9.2	7.4	6.1	5.3

4. Storage losses

Round bale dry matter lost in storage, from Oklahoma State University Extension. The low end is well-made bales in dry country; the high end is high-rainfall, humid areas. NDSU puts it simply: up to 20% stored outside, about 7% inside.

Storage (dry matter lost)	Used within 9 mo.	12–18 mo.
On the ground, uncovered	5–20%	15–50%
Elevated (pallets/rock), uncovered	3–15%	12–35%
Covered (tarp), on the ground	5–10%	10–15%
Covered and elevated	2–4%	5–10%
Under a roof (open sides)	2–5%	3–10%
Enclosed barn	under 2%	2–5%

5. Feeding losses

Dry matter wasted by feeder type, measured by Michigan State University with cows on concrete; the unrolled figure is from NDSU when cattle get several days of hay at once. Feeding daily cuts waste.

How it’s fed	Hay wasted
Cone feeder	3.5%
Ring feeder	6.1%
Trailer / wagon feeder	11.4%
Cradle feeder	14.6%
Unrolled on the ground, several days at once	up to 45%

6. The worksheet

This is page 2 of the PDF. Fill in each group (cows, bulls, replacement heifers), then compare what you need with what you have.

A. Hay needed

Group	Head	Avg wt (lb)	Lb/head/day wt × 0.025 ÷ 0.88 × 1.2	Days on hay	Total lb head × lb/day × days



Total

B. Hay on hand

Lot / where stored	Bales	Avg bale wt (lb)	Total lb	Minus storage loss %	Usable lb



Total usable

C. Short or long?

Needed (A) − usable on hand (B) = __________ lb	÷ 2,000 = ______ tons to buy
÷ bale weight = ______ bales to buy	× $ ______ /ton = $ ________ budget

This is a planning estimate, not a ration. It assumes hay is the whole diet; lactating cows, cold weather and better hay raise intake. Test your hay and talk with your county Extension agent or nutritionist before setting a ration.

Sources

NDSU Extension: Take stock of your forage supply before winter feeding begins (2.5% of body weight intake, 85–90% dry matter, 20% vs 7% storage loss, 3–14% bunk and up to 45% unrolled waste)
Oklahoma State University Extension BAE-1716: Round Bale Hay Storage (storage-loss table)
Michigan State University Extension (Buskirk et al., 2003): Hay Feeder Design Can Spare Nutrients (feeder waste: cone, ring, trailer, cradle)
Illinois Extension: Budgeting feed needs for the winter (about one big round bale a month for a 1,300 lb cow)