Extended & High Stocking Rate Grazing Season in the North ?

[Stocker Steve]

The traditional grazing season here is about 4+ months - - from mid May to late September. Less is a dry year. With some annuals or stock pile or supplement, I have been able to graze for 7+ months - - till late December. Less is a snowy year.

In the October Stockman Grassfarmer - - Jim Gerrish explains how 3+ MIG grazings per season (which leave 50% residual each time it is grazed, rather than mobbing it in to the ground) can yield 60 to 75% total utilization for the season.

I think mob grazing is great if you need to build up the soil health - - but a combination of the two methods above on good ground could result in a high stocking rate approaching 1 cow per acre! I think a key here would be keeping inuts under control so that the increased output with almost the same same overhead is almost all profit. Have you seen someone do this successfully ?

 

[Banjo]

I like doing the latter...leaving 50% or more at each grazing. I'm not sure about mob grazing as is described by most people. If you watch the grazing habits of cattle, they like to walk along and eat the tops off of plants, i.e. grass, clover, etc. Grass that has been left lots of leaf area will recover rather quickly by photosynthesis.....leaving the root reserves untapped.
Grass that is eatin too short, has to grow back from the root reserves, and that is slow.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I agree. IMob grazing is not a way to get top animal performance. I think the mob grazing works best with poor quality forage, and/or dry cows, and/or when your top prioirty is building up the soil.

 

[toughntender]

I went back and reread Jim's article to refresh my memory. It makes sense, and he's right to a point as far as temporary utilization rate vs. seasonal/ total utilization rate. The problem that I have seen when I was shooting for high/ efficient utilization rate was that it just wasn't enough rest year after year and my stand density went down. I was grazing stocker cattle and was on a 28 to 40 day rotation. My legume content went down, grass diversity went down and my overall yield went down. In fairness I was probably not leaving enough residual. Has anyone else noticed that? I have tried high stock density grazing but am not sure it works all that great in wet weather. We have fairly heavy soils and the pugging can get out of hand. My theory on ultra high stock density is that most of the benefits come from slowing down the rotation, allowing the plants to accumulate a large amount of energy reserves, and rebuilding the seed bank. I think that just letting the plants go to seed every once in a while really makes the pasture more forgiving. Especially when it gets beat or damaged. I'm still trying to get a handle on it. Anyone else having any luck?

 

[toughntender]

Steve- I agree. I also think Mob grazing works a whole lot better if you have very low land costs. The proponents of ultra-high-stock density/ mob grazing are all in areas with ample amounts of cheap pasture/ grazing land. I have to compete with all the "corn cowboys" for land rent, so I need higher utilization rates in order to lower my overhead per unit. Anybody facing the same issues?

 

[Stocker Steve]

I average 3 rounds per northern summer so that is about 40 days of rest.
Maintaining legume content really depends on the residual and the type and the soil. I think NPK balance and ph have a big effect on some legumes. White clover seems to (reseed and) persist the best on heavy or sour soils.
Complex mixes usually get less diverse. OG tends to take over here if the soil is well drained and the cattle can be more selective. If your ph is not right, and you want alot of legume, and you don't leave enough residue to grow BFT - - then you have to consider renovating every 6 to 10 years.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I don't think there is cheap graing ground in corn country. I don't think you can copy Missouri experts who bag about their thin top soil to compete in corn country. I do know a few copy cats - - but they inherited land or married money and so they can just like to drive around each morning in their bitch buggy before going to town.

The WS dairy guys have a corn/alfalfa rotation optimization spreadsheet on line. The crops might be wrong but the idea is valid. If you have good soil and access to iron and need alot of legme then there is a place for traditional lay farming. I think you need some planting equipment, but then let the cattle do the harvesting.

 

[toughntender]

I started to get a lot more diversity/ legumes and much more production once I slowed down my rotation. I've started to see some great things from "tall grazing". Animal performance went up, plant health went up, and the mud level went down. In my situation, I figure that I make up for lower utilization rates during the grazing season, by grazing a lot longer into the winter. Not having to feed as much hay/ supplement has made me more money than trying to balance stocking rates by buying and selling animals during the growing season.

 

[Banjo]

I started to get a lot more diversity/ legumes and much more production once I slowed down my rotation. I've started to see some great things from "tall grazing". Animal performance went up, plant health went up, and the mud level went down. In my situation, I figure that I make up for lower utilization rates during the grazing season, by grazing a lot longer into the winter. Not having to feed as much hay/ supplement has made me more money than trying to balance stocking rates by buying and selling animals during the growing season.

I agree. I'm not that sure the length of recovery time is all that important, though. If they are just "topping it then you can rotate thru every 21 days or 30 days. But if they are picking it real short then recovery time needs to be much much longer. 45 days is about right overall for me.
I experimented with a pasture close to my house this past spring and I gave about 50 cows a half acre twice a day. after they left that section I gave them about 2 acres once a day. The half acre twice a day field has been the poorest all summer. So imo the taller you can leave it the better it will be and I think the taller grass will catapult you farther into the winter too.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Ideal residual depends on type of plant and time of year and ... Waaay too many variables for a cow to calculate.

 

[dun]

I started to get a lot more diversity/ legumes and much more production once I slowed down my rotation. I've started to see some great things from "tall grazing". Animal performance went up, plant health went up, and the mud level went down. In my situation, I figure that I make up for lower utilization rates during the grazing season, by grazing a lot longer into the winter. Not having to feed as much hay/ supplement has made me more money than trying to balance stocking rates by buying and selling animals during the growing season.

I agree. I'm not that sure the length of recovery time is all that important, though. If they are just "topping it then you can rotate thru every 21 days or 30 days. But if they are picking it real short then recovery time needs to be much much longer. 45 days is about right overall for me.
I experimented with a pasture close to my house this past spring and I gave about 50 cows a half acre twice a day. after they left that section I gave them about 2 acres once a day. The half acre twice a day field has been the poorest all summer. So imo the taller you can leave it the better it will be and I think the taller grass will catapult you farther into the winter too.

That's the reason for the MIG ROT to take half and leave half. By the 3rd rotation that remaining half is significantly less then the remaining half after the 1st rotation.

 

[toughntender]

The problem with take half/ leave half is that it doesn't actually tell you if the grass is ready to be grazed or not. Half of a 28 day rotation in a wet May can be a lot different than a dry August. Half of a fully rested mature plant might not be enough. As with most blanket statements and rules of thumb, it depends.

 

[Banjo]

A few years I got to noticing how the grass in my ditchline along the road in front of my place always flourished. And wondered if I could grow grass in my pastures that good. most of that grass in the ditch was fescue and orchardgrass.
The county road dept. comes in about 3 times a year and mows it, but the first time is usually not until it has headed out. So now a lot of my pastures are as good as my ditchline. I let everything head out in the spring, but clip it while its still green and NEVER clip too short, that's just the same as grazing too short.
Fescue and OG becomes less palatable during the summer months and on up into the fall. Cattle are not as apt to graze it too short unless they are forced to. It takes a few frosts and freezes to make it palatable again....raising the sugar content significantly. We have only had one light frost here so far and generally don't get a killing frost until close to November.
So when cold weather sets in, all this grass that has been kept tall all year, becomes like candy to cows, and they can graze it short at that time too and it don't hurt it.