If you have a 1,200-pound cow that’s not lactating, it will need around 24 pounds of average-quality forage per day, assuming the hay is 100% dry matter. But remember – all hay contains some moisture in it! However, most bales only have roughly 6% to 10% moisture. That means your cow might only get 21.6 pounds of fodder from every 24 pounds of hay! To meet that cow’s nutritional requirements, therefore, you need to increase the amount of hay you feed daily to compensate for the amount lost in moisture. So – your cow now needs roughly 26.4 pounds of hay per day. (I’ve also read that some food sources for cows – like fresh forage – may contain even higher moisture content.) There are also other variables to consider for winter cow feeding. If you’re feeding your cows loose hay in the field, you’ll lose around 30% of that hay as it gets trodden into the ground. That means each cow now needs just over 34 pounds of hay a day.  Feeding in bale rings can reduce hay wastage to just 6% of your hay, but that still means you now need nearly 28 pounds of hay per cow per day instead of your original 24. (Your results may vary! These figures are our best estimates – but should serve as useful guidelines.)