For Steve - Soil test results on bale-grazed land

[Aaron]

Here's the soil test results for the bale-grazed land that the cows were pictured on in the thread 'Photos - Bale Grazing 2012'

The top highlighted sheet is the remaining part of the field that has yet to be bale-grazed. So the 'Control'.

The bottom sheet is the parcel of the field that was bale-grazed in the winters 2009-10/2010-11. I sampled between rows and columns to avoid heavy accumulations of litter and manure, that would skew the results.

You do notice a bump in the pH, organic matter and sulfur levels. What I like is the change in recommended rates for commercial fertilizer application.

For some reason, it's not showing me the entire picture. So I just right click and select 'view image' and you can see the full copy.

 

[snake67]

Here's the soil test results for the bale-grazed land that the cows were pictured on in the thread 'Photos - Bale Grazing 2012'

The top highlighted sheet is the remaining part of the field that has yet to be bale-grazed. So the 'Control'.

The bottom sheet is the parcel of the field that was bale-grazed in the winters 2009-10/2010-11. I sampled between rows and columns to avoid heavy accumulations of litter and manure, that would skew the results.

You do notice a bump in the pH, organic matter and sulfur levels. What I like is the change in recommended rates for commercial fertilizer application.

For some reason, it's not showing me the entire picture. So I just right click and select 'view image' and you can see the full copy.

Hi Aaron

Wife and I have bale grazed for years - we turned about 50 acres of willows into nice pasture with no work and no cost. It took about 6 years for the cows to kill all the willows and I can safely say that it was very cost efficient.

We tiled that land and then turned it over last year and grew corn on it.

I figure it will go into hay in about another three to four years.

Probably one of the best methods of rehabilitating land I have ever experienced.

And by not starting a tractor on a regular basis in the winter time we saved a pile of money on fuel, repairs and simple wear and tear. Those diesels hate to start at minus 20 or better. And the cows spread the manure for us.

The hay loss was more than made up for by the lack of inputs into the field in my opinion and the pencil actually proved it for us.

Glad to see yours worked out as well.

Stay safe

Merry Christmas to all

Bez

 

[Aaron]

Thanks Bez. Are you done overseas now, or just on leave?

Always watching the OCA Beef magazine to see photos that your wife took. Hope all is well with your family and operation.

Parents were in that part of the world this summer visiting former neighbors and saw the impact of the drought first hand. Lucky you have good Herefords that are hardy enough to handle those conditions.

Take care,

Aaron

 

[snake67]

Thanks Bez. Are you done overseas now, or just on leave?

Always watching the OCA Beef magazine to see photos that your wife took. Hope all is well with your family and operation.

Parents were in that part of the world this summer visiting former neighbors and saw the impact of the drought first hand. Lucky you have good Herefords that are hardy enough to handle those conditions.

Take care,

Aaron

I am home now - after five tours in those wonderful holiday places I am glad to be home for good.

I will tell Wendy she has a fan. LOL

We are moving more into the sheep side of things as they mix well with cows and profits are much higher.

We have made far more cash on lambs as the province only produces 40% of what it uses. It was a steep learning curve but we have it fairly well sorted now.

Planning to put up a new building in the next year or two.

The Herfs are living on a mixture of 30 pounds of hay and 10 pounds of corn a day right now - I have unlimited corn and very little hay - so we will see how it goes.

If I had known your folks were in this area they would have been very welcome to stay for a couple of days while we showed them around.

Stay safe

Merry Christmas to all

Bez

 

[Aaron]

How many problems have you had with the sheep and coyotes/wolves? A number of smaller/start-up guys doing the same thing here - cows/sheep/goats. Few guys asked when I would start with them....I just laugh - I learned well from my uncle's sheep farming operation.

But the few that are running sheep, are learning quickly why they left this area 30-40 years ago - they taste great to wolves.

How are the prices for sheep nowadays? I heard they dipped a fair bit in the latter half of this year.

 

[snake67]

How many problems have you had with the sheep and coyotes/wolves? A number of smaller/start-up guys doing the same thing here - cows/sheep/goats. Few guys asked when I would start with them....I just laugh - I learned well from my uncle's sheep farming operation.

But the few that are running sheep, are learning quickly why they left this area 30-40 years ago - they taste great to wolves.

How are the prices for sheep nowadays? I heard they dipped a fair bit in the latter half of this year.

Hi Aaron

I do not have a predator problem - that being stated, I know it can happen - but there are ways to keep it from happening. 30 - 40 years ago, things were vastly different from today - and we are not short on wild dogs here. That was part of the learning curve - and no - we do not shoot the coyotes here. If they do not touch the lambs and calves we leave them alone - the replacement coyotes might like the taste of beef calves and lambs.

The grey wolf is easy to keep away - you just have to do a few things the right way.

Heck, there are flocks of two and three thousand sheep running in the mountains of BC - right in with the wolves and the grizzlies - and they are doing well. There are ways to keep the flock safe and it is not expensive! But the big thing is you MUST NOT think like a cattle guy!

Prices have dropped but I am still well into the profit position at this time - like all animal production, we are price takers not price setters.

However we have developed markets other than the sale barn - which makes it even more worthwhile. We sell farm gate, farmers market, and of course the sale barn. We also have buyers from major centres come to us at certain times of the year. Having those guaranteed additional streams of income has made a huge difference.

I would rather four people give me 25 bucks a month over one person giving me 100 bucks a month any day of the week!

What I get for money for one calf I about double in lambs in one year and four times that in the next year - we figure it costs the same to keep a cow or to keep six sheep - and those sheep give us 10 - 12 lambs in one year and up to 20 - 24 in the second year - that five months gestation period sure makes a difference in production rates!

So cattle management takes me a bit of time and now sheep takes up most of that time - but between the two we are about to tell the military I am leaving soon. LOL

There will always be a few cows here - but the sheep population will grow faster and larger than the cows will.

Anyways I have to go to the barn - stay safe and Merry Christmas to all

Bez

 

[Stocker Steve]

Thanks for the test results. I know now that making and feeding hay are evil ;-) but I try to view the cows as winter soil builders. We purchase a lot of our hay. In general after bale grazing:

We see a small increase in OM, but we start from about 2% rather than 4%...
We see a modest increase in ph. Speculate that lime in being incorporated better.
N and P are both surplus, and only a small amount of K needed, for grass/forage. Trying now with bales farther apart.

The quack grass will feel bad - - but with the current grain prices I plan to put in corn for a year after bale grazing to utilize some of the N. A 7 year rotation for us would be Corn/Beans on well drained soil only/under seeded Oats/3 yrs clover and meadow fescue dominated pasture.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Found the after bale grazing test results in a stack file:
OM - 2.4%
P1 - 57
P3 - 80
K - 382
pH - 6.5
Ca - 64%

What do you think?

 

[Aaron]

Seems similar to my results, but with no control to compare it to, I don't know how much it changed.