After the burn

[rockroadseminole]

Just burned off half of my newly acquired 120 acres of non-irrigated pasture. Crazy how many ant beds are under that grass. Figure to burn other half next year. Fertilizer spreader should get rolling once all this water drys up.

How tall do y'all let the grass get after a burn before you turn the cows out?

 

[Aaron]

4-5 inches - which won't take long to grow after a good burn.

 

[dun]

ankle high as long as when you tug on it the plant doesn;t come out of the soil.

 

[Ebenezer]

How tall do y'all let the grass get after a burn before you turn the cows out?

Big question: what species? Example - You let bahiagrass get ankle deep and you might as well be feeding ground cardboard.

 

[TexasBred]

How tall do y'all let the grass get after a burn before you turn the cows out?

Big question: what species? Example - You let bahiagrass get ankle deep and you might as well be feeding ground cardboard.

Never found that to be the case. A lot of folks bale bahia and although it's not the best in the world it works well for them.

 

[Ebenezer]

How tall do y'all let the grass get after a burn before you turn the cows out?

Big question: what species? Example - You let bahiagrass get ankle deep and you might as well be feeding ground cardboard.

Never found that to be the case. A lot of folks bale bahia and although it's not the best in the world it works well for them.

Ever run a quality test on it? It is an interesting plant and a great survivor. Just need to realize what happens after 3 weeks.

 

[rockroadseminole]

Never found that to be the case. A lot of folks bale bahia and although it's not the best in the world it works well for them.[/quote]

Ever run a quality test on it? It is an interesting plant and a great survivor. Just need to realize what happens after 3 weeks.[/quote]

It was mostly Bahia. I've never heard about it losing nutrition after a few inches. Also, never claimed to be a grass man.

 

[jedstivers]

Just burned off half of my newly acquired 120 acres of non-irrigated pasture. Crazy how many ant beds are under that grass. Figure to burn other half next year. Fertilizer spreader should get rolling once all this water drys up.

How tall do y'all let the grass get after a burn before you turn the cows out?

You can decimate the ant population with orthene sprinkled on the mound. After burning you can see them all.
If you can get the size containers we spray on cotton it's a lot cheaper than the little ant killer bottles you can buy.

 

[Ebenezer]

Never found that to be the case. A lot of folks bale bahia and although it's not the best in the world it works well for them.

Ever run a quality test on it? It is an interesting plant and a great survivor. Just need to realize what happens after 3 weeks.[/quote]

It was mostly Bahia. I've never heard about it losing nutrition after a few inches. Also, never claimed to be a grass man.[/quote]

This is not rocket science wisdom but just a quick way to observe how feed is probably working out inside the cow. Pass through rate on lush grazing can be too high: not news. One quick check on potential quality and utilization of what the cows are eating is observing cow patties. Liquid and no height: high pass through rate and a lot of nutrients are merely going in and out of the cow. Other extreme: cow patty is tall with defined structure and looks like course potting soil. High fiber and most likely little in the feed to absorb. All are generalizations but give an idea of what's happening and what is needed. Somewhere in-between is ideal.

A lot of the bahiagrass hay I have seen and some I bought was end of season clean up. Cows only eat the middle out of big bales and need protein tubs for that. Sheep like the length of forage particles in the bales but did not get enough nutrition. It is a matter of timing and economics on both ends: hay and feed.

Just saying.