Graze or not to Graze?

[fnfarms1]

So my place is 80acres, 36 head of charloaisX and black/black baldies. Bit over stocked but with fertilizer and rotating, it does well. I let the north half grow until april 20th and then turned cows into knee deep fescue/clover with high mag mineral of course. Last week I put down 100/lbs/acre urea on the south half(bermuda/orchard grass as summer heat come on), love to do more but $ just didnt allow it. So my plan is to rotate them back mid July. If it turned dry tommorrow and a drought happened I could bale south half, but I should have enough to bale outside my place. Question being, is there any research showing grass quality and availability in relation to calf weaning weights? My calves generally wean at 450-550 @ 6-7mths, no creep. I know somebody will have to puff their chest out claiming 700lbs weights at 6mths. Good for u. So how much could I expect better grass helping weights?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Where is your place located?

 

[fnfarms1]

Miami, Oklahoma. Far NE corner of oklahoma.

 

[Banjo]

That's probably par for the course. IMO you need to work towards getting 30% clover ....red and ladino....on all of it.
Clover will be much higher in protein than grass and also higher in minerals...just over all higher nutrition, besides mitigating the endophyte fescue.

 

[fnfarms1]

That's probably par for the course. IMO you need to work towards getting 30% clover ....red and ladino....on all of it.
Clover will be much higher in protein than grass and also higher in minerals...just over all higher nutrition, besides mitigating the endophyte fescue.

Problem with my clover is trying to spray to kill out weeds gets my clover. I didnt spray yet this year hoping clover will seed out soon and help it come back next year. But I understand your point

 

[Banjo]

I would suggest a targeted uproach to weed control..... i spray my fence rows with crossbow to knock out multi flora rose bushes and a few that get out into the field. I would maybe consider spraying a certain area if you had an infestation say of blackberry or thistle...but you can do a lot in the way of weed control by clipping. But thats just me.
One thing I would suggest is to intensify your rotation program. Instead of rotating between 2 paddocks or pastures. Start with breaking the farm up to where you give them only a weeks worth at a time over a month or two period....say 6 or 8 paddocks....and if you like that you can shorten it up to 3 or 4 days still leaving 30 to 45 days recovery....just my 2 cents.

 

[BlondeD]

I think the rotation recommendation is spot on......I've been a strong advocate of it...and trying to get back to it after several years out of the business. Just need to get the water sources back up to speed personally.

 

[sstterry]

Problem with my clover is trying to spray to kill out weeds gets my clover. I didnt spray yet this year hoping clover will seed out soon and help it come back next year. But I understand your point

I am just curious, what are you using to spray?

 

[fnfarms1]

Grazon and Plotter for the woody species

 

[snoopdog]

Are you running cow/calf? If so when are you having calves? Youre just a bit north.

 

[snoopdog]

Are you running cow/calf? If so when are you having calves? Youre just a bit north.

 

[fnfarms1]

Yeah cow/calf

 

[kenny thomas]

Most weeds can be killed with 2/4D Amine and the clover will only be stunted for a few weeks. The tighter grazing does help and encourage grass to be thicker which holds back the weeds

 

[Col Reb]

Grazon and Plotter for the woody species

Grazon will definitely kill the clover. We have good luck spraying just plain old 2-4-D. It doesn't seem to hurt the clover as much.

 

[callmefence]

On getting a new field straightend out imo opinion it's best to not worry about the clover, go ahead and kill it if you have to. Reseed once you get the weed and brush under control enough that you can maintain with 24d

 

[ClinchValley86]

If you can split your fields in half a couple more times, even with temporary wires, your weed problem would lessen and the cattle would get better grazing. Easier said than done in some situations.

But 100 percent it works. I have very minimal weed pressure and haven't sprayed anything in 4 years on pasture. This farm was 90 percent weeds in 2015. Less and less each year with the proper grazing management. Weeds are serving a purpose and trying to fix the ground. They wont grow in high populations if the opportunity doesnt present itself.

Having legumes/Forbes will be a never ending battle any other way IMO.

 

[fnfarms1]

I ended up buying hay and grazed it. That was the safe bet to ensure I wasnt feeding hay in September. My goal is not to feed until Thanksgiving most years. Really good year I make it until halfway in December. Hoping this will help my weaning weights and cow condition