What Stockpiling Means
Stockpiling forage means letting pasture grow and accumulate late in the season specifically to be grazed in place during late fall and winter, cutting down on the amount of stored hay you need to feed. Certain grasses, like tall fescue, hold their nutritional value remarkably well after a frost, making them well suited to this approach.
Making Stockpiling Work
Set aside specific paddocks in late summer, apply fertilizer if your soil test calls for it, and rest that ground for six to ten weeks so it accumulates enough growth to matter. Use strip grazing with portable fencing to ration the stockpiled forage a few days at a time, which stretches it much further than turning animals loose on the whole area at once. This approach can meaningfully cut winter feed costs on many operations.
