Recent content by opensky

Thanks all! Great points, some I was aware of and others I I wasn't. Definitely gave me some things to think about. I'll keep you posted.

I'm just finishing my third year as a small cow/calf, grass fed beef producer. I relocated "back home" last year for more access to land. I started out with 190 acres of pasture last year. This year, I'm leasing 50 acres of dryland ground next to the pasture to plant annual forage crops (BMR...

Will they eat the grass hay though? I thought they would eat more cornstalks. I also forgot to mention that there is some grass that wasn't hayed this year. They don't have access to it currently but it didn't seem like it did much good when they did. I guess I should probably let them back into...

There is also some rye that was aerially seeded into the cornstalks but there wasn't a ton and they have grazed most of that out by now. I have a few salt blocks out there but that's it for minerals/supplements.

My cattle are on turnips and cornstalks right now. I was hoping they would pick up enough cornstalks to balance out their diet but that doesn't appear to be the case. They could poop through a strainer... I have some brome and prairie grass hay that I can try feeding. I'd rather not but it...

Hi All, I did a search and couldn't come up with much on current custom grazing rates. What does everyone see out there? I'm potentially going to winter some cattle for a person that has some pairs and yearlings. This will be a six month agreement so I'll have them for a while and there are a...

I'm in southcentral/eastern Nebraska and I pay $35-40/acre. That's for mostly native ground that has fence around it but the fence needs some TLC. Most of it is not suitable farming otherwise it would be higher. I definitely prefer per acre over per head because I rotationally graze and am able...

I have my small herd on soybean stubble and CRP hay and I'm wondering if I should be supplementing. They do also have access to any remaining forage from waterways/field edges and the timber along the creek but they've been there for about two months now so that's been fairly well picked over. I...

Thanks for the replies everyone. Too bad, seemed like something that would work for my water situation. Looks like it will be a DIY setup.

I already feel silly for asking the question, so I might as well lose all pride and try to draw a picture..

Thanks for the link. What I'm referring to looks like a livestock tank with a domed lid on it, not like an automatic waterer.

I'll see what look like yellow water tanks with a lid and balls for drinking out in the fields. They are yellow with red balls and a red cap in the center. Is that what they are and if so, who makes them. I know it's a stupid question but I can't find them anywhere. I figured it was a ritchie...

Questions for my fellow grass finishers: Have you ever finished on legumes (in this case it would probably be alfalfa) and what were the results? Tips or tricks for finishing bulls? I have a three year old bull that is ready to be butchered and has been on clover for the past week or so. I...

Any feedback on using black poly pipe? Sounds like it's no good but I'm wondering what problems you had and what you recommend instead. I hope to get pipe buried in the next week or so.

That's what I was wondering. Any ideas how much tractor a person would need for something like this?