Grazing Headed out Grain ?

[Stocker Steve]

I have some winter rye that got away from me. It is headed out now, and not a big enough field to bring in a custom operator. Any concerns with grazing it using cow/calf pairs?

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I have some winter rye that got away from me. It is headed out now, and not a big enough field to bring in a custom operator. Any concerns with grazing it using cow/calf pairs?

Bump

I'd like to hear the answer myself.

 

[Tim/South]

We never had a problem with ryegrass. Is this Rye or ryegrass?
If the head has a beard (like winter oats) then if could cause issues.

 

[Texas PaPaw]

Have grazed out quite a bit of wheat over the years and if headed, the beards can cause eye problems. What we started doing on grazeout fields was as soon as it was headed out, would go in with hay cutter and swath 1/3 to 1/2 of the field depending on how tall/thick it was. The calves would then graze exclusively on the standing part of the field until it was pretty much gone. Then they would graze the swaths until they had them cleaned up. Had almost no eye problems this way.

 

[Stocker Steve]

This is winter or cereal rye with a beard.
The food value of cereal rye straw is quite low, so I don't expect them to clean it all up.
I have an operational swather that I can use to cut it. It is about 4' tall. How much stubble would you leave?

 

[Texas PaPaw]

This is winter or cereal rye with a beard.
The food value of cereal rye straw is quite low, so I don't expect them to clean it all up.
I have an operational swather that I can use to cut it. It is about 4' tall. How much stubble would you leave?

Don't think wheat straw is much better but we did cut it pretty soon after heading. Possible that could make a difference. IIRC, was only about 2 ft tall when cut. Just not quite stocked heavily enough to get grazed out without a lot of heads. Ours was cut pretty short but that was in TX panhandle where don't get that much rain. Taller straw might help if it gets rained on before they clean it up. Possibly keep the feed part off the ground and let it dry quicker if rained on. We figured we got 2-3 weeks more grazing that way plus greatly reduced the eye problems.

 

[bigbull338]

is the field 2 small to bale it.and feed it when it gets hot and the grass starts to go.