kenny thomas":1elv1r4h said:
edrsimms, where are you located? It seems you have a very good plan but it does not match our growing season. Do you think it is cheaper in the long run not to have permanent pasture? Well evidentually you do or you would not be doing it. I am still learning the grazing side and have been planting several different things the last couple of years but with the drought in 2007-2008 nothing done well.
I would like to know how the millet does in the fescue. Keep us informed. Has anyone tried haybeans in fescue?
I haven't had any success with Millet planted
no-till in Fescue-- especially on red clay land. (Northern VA)
It is cheaper to NOT have permanent pasture because
1. Fescue with the amount of N needed for "exceptional grass" still will not supply good enough Nutrition for cows+calves (maybe it will during spring flush), but that is it for a 12 month period and is not good enough for a "permanent pasture".
2. It doesnt matter how much N fertilizer you apply to Fescue as you are only going to get 50- 55 % TDN, which means that for every 1 lb of fescue a cow eats only half of it is digestible. You wont make a single dollar fertilizing fescue. So, why have permanent pasture?
Fescue does terrible things to cows like: calcified uterus, lower extremity blood circulation problems (loss of tails), Pink eye just to name a few......... Fescue is evil (have you ever tasted any grass fed beef coming off Fescue?
Example:
If a cow weighs 1200 lbs she will eat ~3% of something (fescue in this case) of her total body weight per day.
1200 lb cow x 3% = 36 lbs total. If fescue has CP and TDN of 10 and 50 (fresh) this is the facts: 36 x 0.50 x 0.10 = 1.8 lbs of Total Protein(TP) is all she is gonna get. All the protein she does get will go to milk production and she will lose weight and possibly not re-breed.
If she calved in March (early- Spring in SW VA) and during peak milk production (month 2 post-calving = May) Past Spring flush and her highest nutrtional requirement all yearand breeding season (and for a 1200 lb cow with medium milk production her requirement is 2.6 lbs of TP/ day)
you are supplying 1.8
3. You need some tillable land then plant your millet or a millet/soybean mix is good too. It is cheaper in the long run because you have higher quality forage than Fescue; It takes less fertilizer to grow Millet; Yeild per acre is so much higher in Millet vs Fescue; and Feed value is MUCH higher than Fescue (Millet has a 17 to 21 % Crude Protein with 70+ % TDN) Fescue isnt even close.
One thing that does work quite well if your land isn't suitable for tillage is Orchard Grass mixed with Clover. The Clover we use here puts about 80 to 100 lbs of N per Acre per year>>> which feeds what permanent pastures we still have around here.
I guarantee that you are planting Millet No-till behind permanent pastures that have been grazed off after Spring Flush-- Your land is compacted like a red brick and without some kind of disturbance (TILLAGE), the chances of your Millet even coming up is slim.
We use permanent pastures as lounging areas only and for cows to sit out the summer post-weaning.
