Another method is to use an electric fence and put a hot wire about 24 to 32 inches above the feed bunk. Some producers in the Northern Plains spread them on pastures and let them freeze and thaw until they are mummified and then turn the cattle out on the pasture in the spring. Because potatoes contain relatively high amounts of energy and moisture but are almost devoid of fiber, acclimate cattle to potatoes gradually. Start with two or three pounds a day and increase it two or three pounds a day per head until the cattle are getting the desired amounts. Potatoes are very laxative, so a good practice is to have some roughage available free-choice.
Fresh potatoes can substitute for at about one-half of the grain for finishing cattle.
Yearling steers will take up to 60 pounds of fresh potatoes a day without going off feed. Dried potato meal may make up 20 to 25 percent of a growing-finishing diet. Frozen and sprouted potatoes should not be ensiled. Potato processing wastes can be ensiled in the same manner as regular potatoes. Either of the above methods recommended for ensiling potatoes for cattle is equally adapted for the preservation of other high-moisture crops, such as apples, beets, pears, tomatoes, cauliflower, kale, and trimming wastes from market vegetables, provide the added forage is in proportion to their respective moisture contents.