From Field to Bale: Saving Every Nutrient
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Is your hayfield ready — or are you risking a nutrient disaster?
In this episode of The Bovine podcast, host Kara Mastel dives into the delicate art and science of haying under tough conditions with expert ruminant nutritionist Brianna Sentes from Beef Smart.
They unpack when to cut for maximum protein and digestibility, how weather forecasts can help (or mislead) your timing, why cutting height matters for regrowth, and how to protect hay from mold and nutrient loss.
Listen For:
4:39 What Is NDF? And Why Should You Care?
7:30 Haying in a Drought: Cut or Wait?
11:08 Research Insights: How Cutting Height Affects Regrowth
14:23 Tricks to Speed Up Dry Down
25:10 Bale Size and Density: Surprising Impacts on Loss
26:23 How to Avoid Hay Heating and Nutrient Burnoff
GUEST: Breanna Sentes, Beef Smart
CONNECT WITH HOST: KARA MASTEL
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Chapters
1. From Field to Bale: Saving Every Nutrient (00:00:00)
2. What Is NDF? And Why Should You Care? (00:04:39)
3. Haying in a Drought: Cut or Wait? (00:07:30)
4. How Cutting Height Affects Regrowth (00:11:08)
5. Tricks to Speed Up Dry Down (00:14:23)
6. Bale Size and Density: Surprising Impacts on Loss (00:25:10)
7. How to Avoid Hay Heating and Nutrient Burnoff (00:26:23)
45 episodes