1st pasture rotation this year & 3rd year clover (pics)

[SRBeef]

For the past two weeks or so, I have had my cows, yearling heifers and this spring's calves on odd patches of grass. They are not really interested in hay any more and I have been waiting to finish calving and for the grass in my starting paddock to get to about 10" tall.

This paddock had little naturally occurring clover so I no-till drilled a persistent, innoculated red clover into the existing sod 3 years ago. The clover has done very well and is ahead of the grass this spring. Maybe has something to do with the very cool spring weather. So I have been stalling putting the cows on it until the grass in the mix is 10" but the clover not over-mature.

My last cow to calve finally had her calf this past week while I was on a trip out west. A nice bull calf which I needed. 41 days from first to last calf this year. Was 21 days last year but I shared my bull with a neighbor last summer which evidently spread the calving season.

Here are some pictures from today. You can see the clover and the grass-only spot where I missed with the drill. The clover keeps coming back for summer grazing as long as I don't let it get too mature.

Even some of this spring's calves seem to like grazing the fresh paddock and clover. They should really start to grow with the calves and their cows on good rotated pastures like this.

Good persistent red clover seed is expensive but it looks like this stuff was worth it. Grass in the stand looks good but slower getting started. It was supposed to rain from about noon on but kept going around.

I am estimating this as about 80 Cow-Day/acre grass. I'm a bit rusty on my estimating but will see how this first rotation comes out. It might be closer to 100 CD grass this first time around. I am trying to give them enough grass to hold to Saturday, no more, no less.

I have not had any bloating on this clover so far but want to keep it that way. Having the grass in the mix may be an important part of that. I have been waiting for the grass to catch up. If clover gets too mature the stems get thick and they leave them.

This is a very different sort of cattle raising than the traditional dryland western ranch methods.

Here is also a picture of some of the stragglers coming up the hill from the waterer. The cows are used to this system. The yearling heifers seem a bit slow to recall and the calves just follow Mom, most of the time. As they are often within arm's length this type system takes (or maybe partially makes) calm cattle. FWIW.

Jim

My bull is patiently (so far) waiting in a pasture on the other side of the ridge for June 15th.

I want to say thank you to Angie and others here who made suggestions in helping me get started.

 

[Kingfisher]

For the past two weeks or so, I have had my cows, yearling heifers and this spring's calves on odd patches of grass. They are not really interested in hay any more......"

lol Yea that stuff must look like candy compared to hay ! What do your " odd patches of grass" look like? Thanks for your post.

 

[Roan]

You keep on having great pics!

 

[SRBeef]

For the past two weeks or so, I have had my cows, yearling heifers and this spring's calves on odd patches of grass. They are not really interested in hay any more......"

lol Yea that stuff must look like candy compared to hay ! What do your " odd patches of grass" look like? Thanks for your post.

Before the frost goes out they have the run of a couple pastures and the woods (for winter shelter).

My cows heifers and calves (as they are born) spend the last part of winter (after the frost goes out) on about a 2 acre "sacrifice" area around the hay feeders and corrals. I last put out hay about April 20th but they were grubbing around for anything green in the sacrifice pasture.

So I rigged up some electric wires to let them into a lane along the woods, cleanup the grass around my apple trees, etc all with still access to hay but they didn't seem to eat much of it. They did clean up a lot of the undergrowth on the edge of the woods in the background behind the waterer in the last picture though.

This first rotation is a longer pasture and I move the back wire. The next one down the hill should be ready about the time they cleanup this one. My problem is that with the rain and cooler weather some pastures will all be ready at the same time. I am tempted to move them along quickly but then they eat just the "candy" and don't eat the small weeds as they will if i leave them on a paddock a bit longer.

The "odd patches" don't have this much clover in them. Thanks for the kind words. Jim

 

[bigbull338]

your cows an calves sure look good.an they love being in that belly deep grass.will take awhile to graze that pasture out.

 

[VanC]

I always enjoy your pictures, Jim. Nothing prettier than good-looking Herefords knee deep in green and doing what they do best.

 

[agmantoo]

Your statement "I am estimating this as about 80 Cow-Day/acre grass."
I cannot tell the frame size of you animals but I think you will break 100 Cow-Day/acre

Nice place! Forage management looks great.

 

[SRBeef]

Your statement "I am estimating this as about 80 Cow-Day/acre grass."
I cannot tell the frame size of you animals but I think you will break 100 Cow-Day/acre

Nice place! Forage management looks great.

Thank you. I hope you are right and this is 100 CD/a or better grass. Like I said I am a bit rusty on my estimating. I was finally getting where I could predict pretty well toward midsummer last year but when the grass and clover is this thick I may be underestimating.

I paced off the area I gave them and will use this to check myself. I will know for sure in a couple days or so.

Jim

 

[plumber_greg]

Jim, what I have noticed more than anything in the five years I have been using MIG, is the way the legumes have come on. The need for fertiizer is nearly over in most of my pastures. My paddocks are about 5 acres and just this year I divided up a 40 acre pasture that had been an open pasture. I applied 60 lbs of N on it, put 25 pairs, and am gonna' have to move them to the 40 right beside it that has 27 pairs on it and combine the two. I have had this pasture divided up for 5 years and it has had no fert on it for 3 years, and the 27 have been in only 3 paddocks so far. The difference in the two side by side pastures is really evident. My pastures are brome, clover, and crown vetch. The crown vetch came from a watershed lake dam, and takes some special managment, but it really produces some grazing forage. Some type of grazing system is the only way to go. gs

 

[agmantoo]

I move my beef herd daily. Six tenths of an acre is feeding 92 cows and approximately 50 calves of various ages plus a mammoth donkey. I have been off commercial fertilizer for 3 years and have not done any spraying except for minimal spot spraying under the fence where I cannot get the bushhog. Weed control in the grazing areas is great. Choking out the weeds with desirable forages has worked rather well. My neighbors are having an explosion of buttercup weed. Truthfully I have only seen 3 plants on my entire place.

 

[SRBeef]

I move my beef herd daily. Six tenths of an acre is feeding 92 cows and approximately 50 calves of various ages plus a mammoth donkey. I have been off commercial fertilizer for 3 years and have not done any spraying except for minimal spot spraying under the fence where I cannot get the bushhog. Weed control in the grazing areas is great. Choking out the weeds with desirable forages has worked rather well. My neighbors are having an explosion of buttercup weed. Truthfully I have only seen 3 plants on my entire place.

I am jealous! That's the sort of program I would like to do. Daily moves with very high density. That is why you don't need fertilizer nor weed control spray. Generally I need to leave them on a week's worth of grass as I am not here to move them daily.

Daily moves and your numbers would give more of a "mob grazing" effect which I can see would be beneficial. Now I see why you are a good judge of cow-days. Yes, mine pictured above is probably more like 100 days or more. But being able to move them only once a week or so I can't cut it as close as you can when you have eyes on the pasture every day. I don't want them running out of grass when I'm not here. Thank you for the reply. Jim

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Jim, your 2nd pic looks like it is mostly clover, so I'm not sure I understand what you mean that you are waiting for the grass to grow in your other fields??? they are already on just about straight clover. You are definately correct on needing the grass mix to prevent bloat.
I wouldn't dare let my fields get that far ahead of my cattle. I start letting them graze as soon as it's up a few inches - with hay available. But, in my case, I will/can move them 1 or 2 days quickly to begin with because it's growing so quickly. Even if I only had 7 paddocks, by day 7 the first paddock is ready to be grazed (this time of year) (I actually have about 15 paddocks, but some are sacrificed for winter like you). As it grows, I'll start dividing all the paddocks but for now, they get the whole thing. Never want them in same paddock over 7 days because they would be eating re-growth. We probably have about the same lush grazing as in Mich.
We (hubby) whirly-gigged mammoth red clover in our hay fields. 2nd year, we had so much clover in our "played out" hayfields, we didn't think we would be able to put it up dry (we actually had the right weather for about 5 days straight - thank goodness!).
Cattle look great. We're on full grass now also (about 1 week.)

 

[agmantoo]

Here is a look at the clover on my place. My cattle have become conditioned to such forage and I do not expect a bloat issue.

These cattle have only had minimal hay during the 2007 drought. Other than the drought they have grazed 365 days for 7 years. They have never had any grain.

 

[SRBeef]

Jim, your 2nd pic looks like it is mostly clover, so I'm not sure I understand what you mean that you are waiting for the grass to grow in your other fields??? they are already on just about straight clover. You are definately correct on needing the grass mix to prevent bloat.
I wouldn't dare let my fields get that far ahead of my cattle. I start letting them graze as soon as it's up a few inches - with hay available. But, in my case, I will/can move them 1 or 2 days quickly to begin with because it's growing so quickly. Even if I only had 7 paddocks, by day 7 the first paddock is ready to be grazed (this time of year) (I actually have about 15 paddocks, but some are sacrificed for winter like you). As it grows, I'll start dividing all the paddocks but for now, they get the whole thing. Never want them in same paddock over 7 days because they would be eating re-growth. We probably have about the same lush grazing as in Mich.
We (hubby) whirly-gigged mammoth red clover in our hay fields. 2nd year, we had so much clover in our "played out" hayfields, we didn't think we would be able to put it up dry (we actually had the right weather for about 5 days straight - thank goodness!).
Cattle look great. We're on full grass now also (about 1 week.)

Jeanne, if you look at the third picture you can see the grass in the foreground - this is a spot I missed with the drill. There is lots of grass under the other red clover but for some reason it was just way behind the clover this year. It is catching up on other paddocks. I would love to move them at 1 to 3 days like you and agman but I can't so I manage as best I can on 7 days.

Where the clover really comes in handy is in July. That will be about the third time thru this paddock. I let them rest about 30 days between grazings. I don't let them graze unless it is about 8-10" tall then graze it down to 4" or 3" min so there is some leaf area to regrow. They will eat it down to a golf green if you keep them on it long enough but that's tough on the grass over time, unless you have bermuda like the golf courses do! Thank you for the kind words. I am especially pleased with how the calf crop turned out this year and how they are growing.

Jim

 

[SRBeef]

Here is a look at the clover on my place. My cattle have become conditioned to such forage and I do not expect a bloat issue.

These cattle have only had minimal hay during the 2007 drought. Other than the drought they have grazed 365 days for 7 years. They have never had any grain.

What can I say but "Wow"!? Your clover looks different than mine - what type of clover is that? I sure would like to be able to do the daily rotations. Great photo and cattle. Did you say you finish them on grass?

Jim

 

[agmantoo]

SRBeef
I am constantly planting something that I perceive has potential to provide forage. I have both Arrowleaf and Alice white clovers interspersed. What is in the pic is one or the other. These are much more productive for me than the common ladino clovers that are so prevalent in the area I live. I want to comment regarding the frequent moves of the herd. I understand your situation and I would do the same under the circumstances. My observations are that the cattle and the pastures both benefit from the frequent moves. Yes, it may be a bit more troublesome but should your circumstance change I suggest you try it. The cattle seem to anticipate the moves and are much more manageable. The paddocks recover rapidly. Rotational grazing in itself is good and beneficial but the frequent moves just enhances the method. I grow feeder calves and until I switched from conventions production I was just "getting by". This afternoon I was speaking with a young man that was considering how to get into the cattle business and I had to emphasize for him to consider rotational grazing if he intended to be profitable. If he elects to go that route I plan on mentoring him provided he wants assistance. Why anyone that is in the cattle business for profit wants to continue the conventional method is beyond me. On a different note, I am interested in the grasses you are growing, variety and duration of growth mostly. Thanks

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

agmantoo - I'm a little confused. Your forage is way ahead of what I would consider ideal for turning cattle out on. Did you wait too long to get started rotating? For all the forage shown in the pic, your cattle appear a little thin, so I'm assuming you had them in sacrifice winter areas?
If I understand what you said, you will turn them into an area (less than an acre) like what we see, daily??
With the forage this far along, will you hay some of it?

 

[agmantoo]

Jeanne

My cattle are fed stockpiled forage through the Winter. I feed no hay, no grain. The herd produces calves year round. Recent sale of feeder calves created a good price as the calves were in great condition. This method is a little rough on heifers but the mature cattle maintain good body condition all year long. About the worst body condition score with the heifers with calves will be in the low 5 range and they have no problem breeding back. I have more forage at this time of year than the cattle can consume. No, I do not think this forage is past maturity as the manure piles are still indicating a very high protein. It is dry here now. I am starting to stockpile forage in event we do not get adequate rain to carry me through the Summer. Come mid July we will normally start to suffer from lack of moisture and August will be even worse. Letting the forage grow to this height greatly reduces the growth of weeds and with the right animals they thrive without the costs associated with hay and grain. I also do not apply commercial fertilizer. I am not a newbie at doing this and I suggest you consider extending some of the methods into your operation if you are in the business for profit. Thanks for your interests. I thought I would share a pic from about a month ago so you could see some of the cattle from a different view.

 

[SRBeef]

Jeanne

My cattle are fed stockpiled forage through the Winter. I feed no hay, no grain. The herd produces calves year round. Recent sale of feeder calves created a good price as the calves were in great condition. This method is a little rough on heifers but the mature cattle maintain good body condition all year long. About the worst body condition score with the heifers with calves will be in the low 5 range and they have no problem breeding back. I have more forage at this time of year than the cattle can consume. No, I do not think this forage is past maturity as the manure piles are still indicating a very high protein. It is dry here now. I am starting to stockpile forage in event we do not get adequate rain to carry me through the Summer. Come mid July we will normally start to suffer from lack of moisture and August will be even worse. Letting the forage grow to this height greatly reduces the growth of weeds and with the right animals they thrive without the costs associated with hay and grain. I also do not apply commercial fertilizer. I am not a newbie at doing this and I suggest you consider extending some of the methods into your operation if you are in the business for profit. Thanks for your interests. I thought I would share a pic from about a month ago so you could see some of the cattle from a different view.

Your last picture is more like what we northerners are used to looking at as ready to graze. I have been told by a county agent that grass as tall as your earlier picture showing seed heads is past its best grazing period. This is what Jeanne is referring to. A couple years ago this WI county agent did pasture evaluations and saw mine looking like your initial picture above. I thought it was great. She said to mow it. In the end she was right for the north. However knowing about your drought conditions at certain times, tall, over-ripe forage gone to seed is better than no forage at all.

I think we need to keep in mind you are in NC we are in NY, WI and points north. Very different conditions. I am also curious about year round calving. Why do you do that. Around here having calves in Jan and Feb is a disaster if you outwinter as I do.

Thanks for the pictures.

Jim

 

[Douglas]

agmantoo, is all of that clover from your system of mixing it with the mineral? Do you do that year round or just in the spring and fall? I have looked far and wide on this topic and have not found anything definitive about establishing clover with the mineral. Anything ideas you have on this subject would be appreciated.