benefits of clipping

[agmantoo]

Like most others here in the southeast US the drought is having its impact. Where I have not clipped my paddocks to prevent the forages from going to seed I am seeing again what lack of rain and high heat can do. I stated previously that I was conserving forage to get through our two worst warm/hot months, July and August. I gathered another group of feeders yesterday to send to market. I am concerned over the volatility of the market. Here is what the set aside paddocks looked like when I was on the back of the place.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

At what height did you clip them Agman? Has this field been grazed at all this year?

 

[mnbryant2001]

Looks great agman. Like you I am worried about drought myself. Especially since this is my first year doing it myself. I notice a very small amount of Carolina horse nettle in your photo. I am having to get my pasture back in shape as the weeds took control the last few years. I am converting to rotational grazing over the next year. I know you don't spray any more since you switched to MIG. So I assume the trampling provides decent control of those little beast. That and the Buttercups are so bad in mine at this point I am looking at spraying with Milestone or something similar.

 

[shaz]

What's killimg me is the lack of topsoil and dirt in general. No root depth, all rock for the most part.

 

[agmantoo]

At what height did you clip them Agman? Has this field been grazed at all this year?

The grass was clipped as the dough stage was developing to prevent seed production. Usually I try not to hit any more than the tips of the grass blades.

Yes, this area has been grazed as recently as April. I have been holding the area for the upcoming hot and typically dry period we experience.

 

[agmantoo]

mnbryant2001

You are correct that I do have some nettle. Nettle is hard to control and not impact the desirable forage. The nettle seed seem to remain in the soil for years. I plan on grazing the area in July and the cattle will trample most of the nettle which at this time only has immature seed pods.

 

[agmantoo]

shaz

Unfortunate there is no quick fix for reestablishing topsoil. Ceasing to break ground and adding something like chicken litter will add primary and secondary nutrients along with micro nutrients. My topsoil is thin from years of abuse by attempting to grow crops by others without adding nutrients and attempting to bring nutrients to the surface by deep plowing. Continue to use soil sampling and add nutrients as required and by the 3rd year you should begin to benefit from your efforts and expenses. There is a new catch phrase regarding grazing referencing "second bite". The idea behind this is to let the animals graze but do not give them the opportunity to take a second bite from the regrowth. This approach does give far more regrowth forage because the regrowth is not impacted from robbing the roots of stored energy.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Thanks for sharing Agman.

 

[Banjo]

Like most others here in the southeast US the drought is having its impact. Where I have not clipped my paddocks to prevent the forages from going to seed I am seeing again what lack of rain and high heat can do. I stated previously that I was conserving forage to get through our two worst warm/hot months, July and August. I gathered another group of feeders yesterday to send to market. I am concerned over the volatility of the market. Here is what the set aside paddocks looked like when I was on the back of the place.

Are you suspending clipping at this point untill it rains? I have been clipping after each rotation to bring the un eatin less palatable grass down to 5 or 6 inches in order grow up palatable with the rest. But at this point with it getting so dry I am afraid to touch it/cut it untill it rains.

 

[Ruark]

Clipping won't do any good to many weeds - it's like mowing your grass. You cut it, and it just comes back up. It looks like you have some grass trying to come through there. I would consider hitting it with 2,4-d @ 2 qts an acre. Then leave it alone and let the grass come up and go to seed through the fall, then graze or cut it down to 5 or 6 inches. Around February or March, hit it with Chaparral @ 2.5 oz an acre with some fertilizer and pray for some rain.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

I don't think agman does much spraying. Weed will be the only thing green here in another month. Think i will keep them.

 

[Ruark]

I don't think agman does much spraying. Weed will be the only thing green here in another month. Think i will keep them.

That's kinda the whole point. The weeds are competing with the grass for what little moisture there is.

 

[Banjo]

there isn't enough weeds in the above pic to warrant spraying IMO. 2-4 D is going to kill or at least stifle the clover. Anyway, most herbicides need adequate growing conditions ,plenty of moisture etc., to work effectively.
Now some of my fields that I haven't been able to convert to rotational grazing, have a lot of ragweeds competing with the grass. By this time next year, I will have it converted to intensive grazing, the grass will crowd out the weeds to a large extent. Spraying chemicals on top of already stressed drought conditions will add even more unnecessary stress IMO.

 

[agmantoo]

Banjo

I agree with you. Applying a herbicide is about as far away from anything that I would do at this juncture. I am going to feed what is there. With the dry weather we are experiencing even a weed will look good soon. As stated I am not prone to apply herbicides. IMO even if the desirable plants will tolerate the herbicide, the desirable plants will be impacted by stress from the spray. I put forth a lot of effort not to stress the herd and the forages. My current weed load is of no consequence from my view point. Having feed for the next two months is paramount however.

 

[Hondac]

agmantoo:

Typically, how late in the year to you continue clipping pastures?

 

[mnbryant2001]

I agree as well. Spraying is a last resort for me. That is why I posted to agman about the control MIG gives with that particular weed. I wish I had so little of the nettle. Some will always be there. For me, my fathers health declined over the last several years.He wasn't able to tend to it like he once would and unfortunately then I wasn't available to help. He sold his cows after heart surgery and rented the land. After being severevly over grazed it really just went to crap. I took it over in January and after a lot of thinking and option searching spray is my only choice IMO. Then I can resow clover and move on. Milestone will prevent me from having clover one year but should put the worst behind me in one shot. After that if I have twice the nettle in my pasture and 3/4 of the grass in the pic i'll be :banana:

 

[dun]

I agree as well. Spraying is a last resort for me. That is why I posted to agman about the control MIG gives with that particular weed. I wish I had so little of the nettle. Some will always be there. For me, my fathers health declined over the last several years.He wasn't able to tend to it like he once would and unfortunately then I wasn't available to help. He sold his cows after heart surgery and rented the land. After being severevly over grazed it really just went to crap. I took it over in January and after a lot of thinking and option searching spray is my only choice IMO. Then I can resow clover and move on. Milestone will prevent me from having clover one year but should put the worst behind me in one shot. After that if I have twice the nettle in my pasture and 3/4 of the grass in the pic i'll be :banana:

Even with and all other best practices you can;t fix pastures/hay fields in just one or 2 years. Our pastures and hayfields were doing great after 8 years of working on them after many years of abuse and neglect. Now it's quit raining again for a couple of months and the only thing still growing are balckberrys, queen anns lace, red pigweed and nettle. Even the WSG (bluestem, etc.) has stopped growing and is browning off.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Clipping won't do any good to many weeds - it's like mowing your grass. You cut it, and it just comes back up. It looks like you have some grass trying to come through there. I would consider hitting it with 2,4-d @ 2 qts an acre. Then leave it alone and let the grass come up and go to seed through the fall, then graze or cut it down to 5 or 6 inches. Around February or March, hit it with Chaparral @ 2.5 oz an acre with some fertilizer and pray for some rain.

sure it can...bushhogging during the 2nd week in august when the sugar content in the plant is low .... its all about timing you can control alot of weeds with just 2 4 d with the right timing ... but right now you'd kill or knock back the clovers,, which is like shooting yourself in the foot

 

[mnbryant2001]

I agree as well. Spraying is a last resort for me. That is why I posted to agman about the control MIG gives with that particular weed. I wish I had so little of the nettle. Some will always be there. For me, my fathers health declined over the last several years.He wasn't able to tend to it like he once would and unfortunately then I wasn't available to help. He sold his cows after heart surgery and rented the land. After being severevly over grazed it really just went to crap. I took it over in January and after a lot of thinking and option searching spray is my only choice IMO. Then I can resow clover and move on. Milestone will prevent me from having clover one year but should put the worst behind me in one shot. After that if I have twice the nettle in my pasture and 3/4 of the grass in the pic i'll be :banana:

Even with and all other best practices you can;t fix pastures/hay fields in just one or 2 years. Our pastures and hayfields were doing great after 8 years of working on them after many years of abuse and neglect. Now it's quit raining again for a couple of months and the only thing still growing are balckberrys, queen anns lace, red pigweed and nettle. Even the WSG (bluestem, etc.) has stopped growing and is browning off.

I completely agree dun. What I meant was I believe spraying is the best place for me to start and get to where I want to go quicker. Milestone has twice the success rate from what I have read than 24d with nettle. So in one shot if I will make a sacrifice of my clover for a year and spend a little more I may get there faster. It is great for buttercup as well. That was the reason for my post to agman. I haven't found any info on the trampling effect on nettle. I know it will come back to some degree.Where as my buttercup problem is not helped by trampling. To the plus side the ph and other fertilizer needs have always been kept in check. No wait to get that in check. I'm still green here but it won't be next week if that doesn't change.

 

[Ruark]

Clipping won't do any good to many weeds - it's like mowing your grass. You cut it, and it just comes back up. It looks like you have some grass trying to come through there. I would consider hitting it with 2,4-d @ 2 qts an acre. Then leave it alone and let the grass come up and go to seed through the fall, then graze or cut it down to 5 or 6 inches. Around February or March, hit it with Chaparral @ 2.5 oz an acre with some fertilizer and pray for some rain.

sure it can...bushhogging during the 2nd week in august when the sugar content in the plant is low .... its all about timing you can control alot of weeds with just 2 4 d with the right timing ... but right now you'd kill or knock back the clovers,, which is like shooting yourself in the foot

There are some weeds that can be injured by clipping, but many that aren't, no matter when you do it. I've clipped many weeds in August and just stood there and watched them come back. Like I said, it's like the grass in your yard. Further, if you wait until August, those weeds are going to be thigh-deep and by then your precious grass will be smothered beyond hope, clover or no clover. Kill them NOW, while they're small. Use 24d or whatever you want to, but kill the stuff and free your grass. And watch out for winter weeds.

I was looking at this mainly from the perspective of saving the grass and letting it re-establish, a process that, like Dun said, can take more than a couple of years, depending on how bad the pasture is.