Beat high feed prices with alternatives: you don't need acres and big machines to grow your own.

You don't need acres and big machines to grow your own

Grain reserves are at their lowest levels in years. The price of corn has doubled, and feed costs are soaring. Because of the low stockpiles and increasing world demand, this trend is likely to continue, even with good weather. And if the harvest is below expectations...

Here are some ways homesteaders can cope with the situation.

While cruising through a 1993 issue of COUNTRYSIDE, I came upon an article about using rutabagas as an alternate feed. I just wanted to tell you a little bit about what we have used as alternative feeds.

Whey 

We live in Wisconsin--certainly a land of milk and honey. And where there is milk, there are cheese factories; where there are cheese factories there is excess whey. Whey is the watery yet nutritious byproduct of cheesemaking. It is the liquid that separates from the coagulated solids when the cheese is made. Years ago it was used for feeding animals and also spread on fields as a fertilizer, but now it is widely used in many processed and packaged foods, especially lowfat products. You may have noticed this if you are one of those people who reads ingredient panels. If you make your own cheese use whey as you would buttermilk for coffeecakes, pancakes, biscuits, etc.

We have fed whey to our pigs, and they love it. I have also heard from older farmers that it can be fed to chickens and calves, and our cats like it, too. We have fed it straight in a trough, or mixed half and half in their water barrels. Care must be taken to introduce it slowly, so their systems can get used to it, or they will have an acute case of the runs. This is the only "problem" we have had with feeding whey--an increased use of bedding. Pigs are naturally clean animals, but if there is nowhere for the excess liquid to run, it will still dirty their bedding. Other not-so-careful animals could make a real mess! If you have adequate amounts of straw or wood shavings (which work great) then this might not be a problem for you.

It could be good to feed if you are trying to increase liquid intake, such as in animals that are pregnant or sick. If an animal won't eat their feed sometimes they will still drink, and whey would be a nutritious meal for them.

Transporting whey is the tricky part. We buy ours from the local cheese factory. They pump it from their huge tanks into an old bulk tank that is mounted on an old wagon running gear. Don't be fooled by the size of the tank: there is a lot of weight there and it requires a sturdy system. Used bulk tanks can be found wherever there are dairy farms. Also, you can purchase large plastic tanks at your farm supply store although you might have to order them.

Purchasing a tank may seem expensive. If you have a pickup truck that can handle the weight, put your empty tank on skids and it can be lifted off when you don't need it. Plastic tanks aren't very heavy, just bulky and hard to handle. One tank that we bought to store whey in at home holds 250 gallons and cost around $200 as I remember. The whey, on the other hand, costs 28 cents per hundred pounds in our area. No, that is not a mistake. They only recently began charging for it; it used to be free, and for years they paid farmers to take it off their hands.

When you figure that $200 will not buy you much feed these days, that money is a good investment in a tank, which you can use for many things other than just whey, such as hauling water to newly established tree plantings or distant pastures, or rent it out for this type of thing. We used our wheel-mounted tank to transport it with our pickup truck, and another tank at home to store it in the barn. Whey is perishable, and will start to turn cloudy and grow mold within a week. We were surprised that this didn't seem to bother the animals at all, they love it so much. Any whey that you have left can be dumped onto your garden or field. Remember to wash the tank between fillings. Bleach works great to kill any molds. Our tank is big enough that my son climbs right down in it to scrub it when empty.

Apples

We also have many apple orchards in Wisconsin. They produce tons of unusable apples every year. Some are damaged in handling, others are too small to be sold or have some defects such as apple scab. We mentioned to a friend whose daughter had recently bought an orchard that our pigs would love any leftovers. We did not realize how many "leftovers" there were. They have given us literally tons of apples. We fill our gravity box and haul it home. Or, put them in the box of your trusty pickup truck and shovel them onto a pile next to the barn. They keep quite well, and since animals love them, they are gone before they can spoil. Again, start them out slowly to avoid digestive problems. The pigs have no problem eating frozen apples; they have incredible jaw-power. I would be careful giving them frozen to horses and sheep which might choke, but cattle might be able to handle them.

The answer for small animals might be apple pomace. Orchards make cider out of unsalable but still usable apples. They are ground up and then pressed. The leftover ground apples that they have to dispose of would be great for smaller animals. The people I know have to dump it along their back fence lines to get rid of it. We have yet to figure out a system for hauling this in large amounts, but a truck load of 5 gallon pails would be a lot of apple feed. It is quite dry so it might not present the problem of feeding whole fruit and getting upset stomachs.

Cornstalks

I recently re-read The Contrary Farmer by Gene Logsdon (I highly recommend it!) and of course on the second reading I absorbed much more information. He has many, many ideas for saving on feeds, or using what is already there in a different way. One that caught my eye is cornstalks.

After the ear is sufficiently pollinated and developing, while the tops are still green, cut above the ear and feed the tops to your livestock. This part of the plant is not needed anymore and will eventually dry down and lose much of its food value. Why not use the stalk while it is still green?

Mangels 

My favorite seed catalog, J. W. Jung Seeds, Randolph, WI 53956, lists "mangels." I have read that years ago they planted and fed these to livestock, and the catalog says that sheep especially love them. Last year I tried a short row in the garden for fun, and they grew well even with a late planting of July 15th. They got quite large, and the whole plant is edible. They are something like a large cylindrical beet, only not as dark red-purple. I only had a few pails of them, and cut them up. They would need to be stored where they didn't freeze, I would think. This would fall pretty much in line with the 1993 article on rutabagas. I am going to try a bigger planting this year.

Seed a field or an existing pasture in mid-summer with turnips or rutabagas or mangels, or kale was mentioned, and use it for pasturing your sheep or other animals in the fall. The root crops are supposed to work well because the whole plant is edible and they are quite coldhardy, which the kale is, too.

Garden trimmings

One other way we have fed our animals is by getting the leftover garden plants when people clean out the garden, row by row. My parents bring over the sweet corn stalks, and the neighbor has a steady supply as he pulls the early peas, then bean plants. Carrot tops, corn husks, all kinds of stuff. Ask the neighbors, they will probably be glad to have a place to go with it. This can really amount to a lot of green matter. Although it's quickly perishable, anything that isn't fed while it's green could go into your compost or manure pile.

Canning waste

We also have an abundance of canning factories in our state, and they produce millions of cans of vegetables and tons of waste matter. Sweet corn waste is the husks and unusable ears and kernels after processing. We get it delivered by the semi-load--about $35 per ton. Smells like corn silage, and if covered with black plastic, keeps all winter. My father-in-law feeds pea waste to his milk cows, and I would imagine any animal would love that. Same warning--start slowly.

We have also gotten seed oats from a certified seed dealer. The first spring after it's been harvested, for example spring '96 after '95 harvest, it is the most expensive as seed, with the highest germination rate. The following spring, (spring '97 after a 1995 harvest) it is called a "year-off" and it is cheaper to purchase as seed as the germination rate is lower. After that, they have to get rid of it. Once again, we have gotten it either free, or last year it cost us $26 for a gravity box full. The same goes for other small grains such as barley and wheat.

One caution; make sure it has not been treated. Any treatment of the seed with fungicides or whatever, will make it unsuitable for feed. As far as I know, all seed corn is treated (it's pink!) so I have never looked into using that.

Hope these ideas may help you to start thinking about what is available in your area. Don't be afraid to ask; most people are glad that this stuff won't go to waste. I always like to return the favor in some way, maybe take them to lunch or a gift certificate to the corner cafe, or a handmade article, or homegrown produce. They may think of you again in the future when they have leftovers to give away.