Cold and Dry and Trying to Die

[Rydero]

Lots of trailers on the road and some panic in the pasture. It will take a lot of rain to turn this around.

Most guys waited till their pastures were short and now have started to move cattle. I leave the trailer hooked up and haul a few per week.

Too many people wait for mother nature to bail them out. Those who were short on feed and pasture last year were rushing pairs out this spring. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. This fall they'll be on the cover of the Ag papers with an aww shucks look on their faces and their pockets turned inside out. Inside - "30% of my cows are open, the government needs to help".

At least you're seeding some annuals that like the dry and giving yourself a chance while de-stocking.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I'm always torn on what to do with the pastures. One thought is to keep moving them quick and not overgraze but after a while you run out of places to go, they also burn worse after being grazed. Last year I just slowed everything down thinking there might only be one good grazing on each pasture.

Have the same rotation question. I think it depends a bit on the grass paletability. I am hitting the low ground now before it gets courser. Reed canary is the only thing growing back much.
0.
I have a lot of OG in places and they avoid it after it heads out. Will try swath grazing some of it.

 

[greybeard]

Agree. I don't see the benefit of replanting without some rain. Perhaps the corn will work out to be forage or silage corn.

Anybody feeding cattle with fallen trees? Back in the day my grandpa would cut a tree each day during a drought.

Never done it on purpose, but I've seen mine really go to work on some big cut or blown downed sweetgum trees. Stripped bare in 1 day.

 

[KAstocker]

Have the same rotation question. I think it depends a bit on the grass paletability. I am hitting the low ground now before it gets courser. Reed canary is the only thing growing back much.
0.
I have a lot of OG in places and they avoid it after it heads out. Will try swath grazing some of it.

I heard Don Campbell, a Canadian holistic management fellow, say that it's better to slow down grazing and take a bit more than you would normally during dry times to give the grass more recovery time.

 

[farmerjan]

Had an older guy here several years ago that cut down a tree a day along some creeks when we had some real drought like conditions... sycamores I think. He had a herd of charolais and they did okay on it until we finally got some rain and some late grass. He also sold off the calves sooner than he normally did but he was trying to get through without feeding his winter hay out too early I think. They stripped those trees.

 

[Banjo]

I heard my Dad say you could cut down Locust trees and cattle would eat the leaves......i think they are a legume.

 

[kenny thomas]

I heard my Dad say you could cut down Locust trees and cattle would eat the leaves......i think they are a legume.

I have cut lots of locust trees for goats. They would take the bark off also. Made good posts afterwards.