Grass Clippings

[Just Curious]

With spring almost upon us and summer not far away, grass is starting to do well...
My wife and I do a little recreational lawn mowing this time of the year... We have about 7 clients and mow lawns from a postage stamp size to seven acres... Three out of the four weeks in a month we pick up the clippings... Some we compost, some we throw into the garden for weed control and mulch... But most of it we throw out for the cattle...
Now these critters have all of the grass that they can eat out in the pasture, but when they hear our truck come in on Thursdays and Fridays, they are waiting by the gate for the clippings... We have thrown out up to a 1000 lbs of clippings on some days...
A question to you all would be, do you see anything wrong with giving the clippings to them?
Chuck
Ronan, MT

 

[msscamp]

A question to you all would be, do you see anything wrong with giving the clippings to them?
Chuck
Ronan, MT

City lawn clippings or rural lawn clippings? I'm asking because the first thing that comes to my mind when talking about lawn clippings is MSMA (hopefully, I have that right) - a chemical that is used on lawns to rid them of sandburrs. It contains arsenic, and arsenic is a cumulative poison. As long as I knew what kind of chemicals were used on these lawns - no, I would not have a problem feeding lawn clippings to my animals so long as they were used to grass. If I didn't know what was used on the lawns in question, I don't believe I would be feeding it to my livestock. There is always the possibility that that is just me, though.

 

[Just Curious]

City lawn clippings or rural lawn clippings? I'm asking because the first thing that comes to my mind when talking about lawn clippings is MSMA (hopefully, I have that right) - a chemical that is used on lawns to rid them of sandburrs. It contains arsenic, and arsenic is a cumulative poison. As long as I knew what kind of chemicals were used on these lawns - no, I would not have a problem feeding lawn clippings to my animals so long as they were used to grass. If I didn't know what was used on the lawns in question, I don't believe I would be feeding it to my livestock. There is always the possibility that that is just me, though.

Good points MS...
What is a sandburr?
Coming from a predominately agricultural community most of our clients yards are hard to distinguish a line from where the "lawn" starts and pasture ends... Since we provide total yard care, we are the ones to fertilize, spray, etc... And everything that we use, we use on our pasture/lawn at home...
I was kind of wondering if the clippings could provide some kind of impaction do to the density ... I mean with grass that they eat off the pasture, they get a little air with it... But when they dive into a pile of grass clippings... Well I guess an analogy might be the difference between eating block cheese and shredded cheese... maybe not a very good analogy...
Chuck

 

[BC]

If there are no chemical residues, then there will not be a problem. Silage is cut and chopped pretty thin and there are no problems.

 

[1982vett]

What is a sandburr?

[/quote]

Don't get out of the mountains much do ya. Kidding aside, it is a pain in the foot of every southern kid.

It is a grass that just loves hot, dry, sandy conditions and kids bare feet.

 

[mnmtranching]

Feeding grass clippings sounds like a good idea to me. Its your clippings, you know whats in it.

 

[bigbull338]

weve fed grass clippings to cows for years.an have yet to have any probs with them.but as said they need tobe used to eating them.because they are a form of greenchop since they not cured.

 

[TexasBred]

Go for it.....especially since you do all the fertilizing and other things. Highly fertilized it should be pretty darn good.

 

[Just Curious]

What is a sandburr?

Don't get out of the mountains much do ya. Kidding aside, it is a pain in the foot of every southern kid.

It is a grass that just loves hot, dry, sandy conditions and kids bare feet.[/quote]
It doesn't look anything like a sand burr, but we used to have something we called a "Goat Head" and quite painful when stepped on when I lived in the desert...
New experience living up here in Montana... Nothing poisonous... Nothing painful... And if you want to something painful, we do it in the winter when to cold temperatures will numb the pain and slow the bleeding
Chuck
Ronan, MT

 

[1982vett]

It doesn't look anything like a sand burr, but we used to have something we called a "Goat Head" and quite painful when stepped on when I lived in the desert...
New experience living up here in Montana... Nothing poisonous... Nothing painful... And if you want to something painful, we do it in the winter when to cold temperatures will numb the pain and slow the bleeding
Chuck
Ronan, MT

Goathead grows around here too and IMO are more painful. As far as pain from cold temperatures, I guess down here in the south, we only think we know what cold is.

 

[J. T.]

It doesn't look anything like a sand burr, but we used to have something we called a "Goat Head" and quite painful when stepped on when I lived in the desert...
New experience living up here in Montana... Nothing poisonous... Nothing painful... And if you want to something painful, we do it in the winter when to cold temperatures will numb the pain and slow the bleeding
Chuck
Ronan, MT

Goathead grows around here too and IMO are more painful. As far as pain from cold temperatures, I guess down here in the south, we only think we know what cold is.

Here it is June 14 and the high today in north Alabama is only 81? I think we've got a pretty good grasp on what COLD is! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. 8)

 

[TexasBred]

It doesn't look anything like a sand burr, but we used to have something we called a "Goat Head" and quite painful when stepped on when I lived in the desert...
New experience living up here in Montana... Nothing poisonous... Nothing painful... And if you want to something painful, we do it in the winter when to cold temperatures will numb the pain and slow the bleeding
Chuck
Ronan, MT

Goathead grows around here too and IMO are more painful. As far as pain from cold temperatures, I guess down here in the south, we only think we know what cold is.

Oh mercy...haven't seen a goathead since the last time I went to Ft. Stockton back in the early 80's. Talking about something that is a real terror...not only bad on the feet but a kid on a bicycle will have to learn to ride on 2 flats all the time. :lol:

 

[tytower]

If you have ever watched your cows on new paddock you will see that first they walk right round the boundaries of that paddock snatching a bite but moving on quickly to be the first to anything different but edible. Then they settle down to eating.

Its my thought that its a race to be first and then they eat the grass which has not been soiled by hoofs or other and which smells good and to them is balanced. Then they will come back for a second go and perhaps even a third if held on the same paddock .

So there preference is for new forage and grass clippings would be that. I notice that for a change they will also give a bale of dry hay a good bashing if they have not had any for a while. So they choose variety over the regular , and clean over soiled.

 

[Lammie]

Goatheads are the worst. We lived on a place when I was a kid that the goatheads were so bad they would cause your bike tires to go flat if you ran over them. Thankfully, we don't seem to have them here.

I was told never to feed lawn clippings to my donkeys so I have never put out any for any animal I have had. I don't remember the reasons why. I need to find my donkey book. It falls to reason that it wouldn't be unlike hay and equines are different from cattle.

 

[dun]

Goatheads are the worst. We lived on a place when I was a kid that the goatheads were so bad they would cause your bike tires to go flat if you ran over them. Thankfully, we don't seem to have them here.

Last year we had a patch of goatheads pop up in front of an old barn. Never had seen them there before. I sprayed the snot out of them then burned the area. This year they came back, but a much smaller patch. Already sprayed them, if it ever gets dry enough I'm going to burn them again this year.

 

[1982vett]

Goatheads are the worst. We lived on a place when I was a kid that the goatheads were so bad they would cause your bike tires to go flat if you ran over them. Thankfully, we don't seem to have them here.

Last year we had a patch of goatheads pop up in front of an old barn. Never had seen them there before. I sprayed the snot out of them then burned the area. This year they came back, but a much smaller patch. Already sprayed them, if it ever gets dry enough I'm going to burn them again this year.

Yall in a burn ban too :?: :lol2: :lol2: :???: :roll:

 

[msscamp]

I dont see how my cows keep from dying in the winter what with all the grass clippings(hay) laying around.

Perhaps it's a simple case of God protects fools and children?

 

[PJungnitsch]

You would be hauling a lot of free nitrogen into that pasture, via the cows. That lawn grass is usually nicely fertilized.

Say you feed the cows 30,000 lbs of clippings over the summer, protein at 12 %. That would be 1252 lbs of 46-0-0 hauled onto the pasture.

Charge for the fertilizer, then get it back to grow YOUR pasture. Sweet deal.