“To prepare for another drought, we brought the cow number down. Then a local farmer agreed to let us take his first cutting on 100 acres to build a hay reserve,” he says. “The object is to produce close to 4 tons of dry matter per acre. That will allow a 1,150-lb cow to produce 45 lbs of milk with 90% of her need for forage off of that acre.

“The exciting part is, this year we are producing more milk on 120 cows than we did with 130,” he adds. “Along with that, we quit feeding corn silage. So they're getting pasture or dry hay, and sometimes baleage, free choice. The other 10% is molasses, in place of grain, and minerals.”

The decision to use molasses rather than corn silage or grain as an energy source was multifaceted. Both corn types were becoming more expensive and to be most effective, they would have needed to be fed several times a day. But with only one employee available, it made sense to feed just at milking, yet that would mean cows would get energy only once in 24 hours.

“By feeding a sugar blend (molasses), they have access to it 24/7 and can eat a couple of ounces whenever they want,” Hawbaker says. To protect grazing ground, the molasses lick is on concrete near the milking parlor.

“The ideal thing would be to have a lick tank in each paddock. But, again, it comes down to energy. Is it worthwhile to put a mobile lick tank in and keep moving it? The cow has to learn how to do it.”

In the future, however, he may put licks in the farthest paddocks. He's noticed cows go for molasses as they come in for their noon milking and around 2-3 p.m. when heading back to pasture. Then, after grazing a couple of hours, they head back to the lick for their last energy slug.

Cows also are fed some timothy hay to offset the lush pasture, he says. “Surpris-ingly, they're eating 4-5 lbs of that a day. It gives fiber and texture and it's dry.”

Hawbaker's herd grazes from early April to mid-October (cows go dry by the end of December). Pasture is divided into 18 paddocks that can be divided again when certain grasses need a longer rest. Cows are moved to new paddocks daily. “We like to see somewhere in that 18- to 21-day rest period.” Some hay is harvested mostly for baleage.