Grazing corn stalks

[cleland]

About how long can be figured for cattle to graze corn stalks, when the stocking rate is about 2 acres per head? There is also about 15 acres that is waterways with good grass as well.Also how can you tell when the cattle should be moved from the stalks, other than be body conditon

 

[bigbull338]

if theres plenty of stalks an some corn an cobbs scattered on the ground.now youll have to feed some hay to keep emm from squirting.you can graze them 30 or 45 days.an that depends on the weather an how fast they eat the stalks.

 

[KMacGinley]

Rule of thumb is 1 1/4 acre per head / month.

 

[redcowsrule33]

Depends on where you are. Up here, a nutritionist friend told me to pull em off in January or start supplementing as at that point they have deteriorated to the point that you are just pushing fiber through them and not much else. I believe him as he is a professor and hasn't sold me a dime of supplement.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Rule of thumb is 1 1/4 acre per head / month.

For an average cow?

 

[TexasBred]

Is this standing green corn or just dead corn stalks with no ears remaining?

 

[KMacGinley]

Rule of thumb is 1 1/4 acre per head / month.

For an average cow?

Yes, for an average cow.

 

[KMacGinley]

Depends on where you are. Up here, a nutritionist friend told me to pull em off in January or start supplementing as at that point they have deteriorated to the point that you are just pushing fiber through them and not much else. I believe him as he is a professor and hasn't sold me a dime of supplement.

Maybe, but I would say it depends more on when you are calving. If you are calving in march or earlier, I would definetly be done by January. If you are not calving til may why stop at January?

 

[hayrack]

Main thing I try to watch is when the ground gets soft I will pull them out and go back through the grass or even feed some hay. They will tromp and do more damage than they will do good if it gets muddy. Plus when you pull them out they are always ready to go back because they see it as a treat. This keeps them interested and looking for feed when they are there. They are like kids.

 

[JRGidaho`]

About how long can be figured for cattle to graze corn stalks, when the stocking rate is about 2 acres per head? There is also about 15 acres that is waterways with good grass as well.Also how can you tell when the cattle should be moved from the stalks, other than be body conditon

There are a whole lot of "it depends" on this one.

Higher yielding corn crops produce more residue so higher yielding crops providing more grazing days. U of Nebraska figure 1 AUM per 100 bushel yield. An AUM is 30 days of cow grazing. So a 100 bu corn crop gives 30 days, 150 bu = 45 days, 200 bu=60 days, etc.

The UNL figures are based on 50% utilization which is what you would expect if you just turned a bunch of cows out there until they started bellowing and complaining. If you strip graze the stalks on about a 3-day basis, you'll get about 40% more grazing days/acre (Iowa State research). So using this efficiency factor, 100 bu should give about 42 cow-days/acre, 150 bu would give about 63 cow-days/acre, etc.

Then there are the conservation acres. Those waterways and borders might be carrying anywhere from 60 to 150 cow-days/acre of stockpiled grass. In rolling farmground sometimes the conservation acres are more valuable for grazing than the corn residue.

A lot to consider....