Grazing Irrigated Wheat first time

[Richnm]

I have 20 acre alfalfa field that I am going to rip up and plant Winter Wheat or Triticale Sept 1st. It's irrigated, the irrigation is turned off November 1. My questions are. 1. How high should the Wheat or Triticale be before I turn the cows out for the winter? 2. Do I need to let it freeze like we do before turning cows out to Alfalfa fields? 3. Any risk of bloat etc ? Thanks

 

[1982vett]

At least wait till it's rooted enough grazing doesn't pull it out by the roots. Here it's about 6 to 8 weeks after it comes up. If you don't turn them in hungry and keep hay in front of them bloat shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Walking W]

I have 20 acre alfalfa field that I am going to rip up and plant Winter Wheat or Triticale Sept 1st. It's irrigated, the irrigation is turned off November 1. My questions are. 1. How high should the Wheat or Triticale be before I turn the cows out for the winter? 2. Do I need to let it freeze like we do before turning cows out to Alfalfa fields? 3. Any risk of bloat etc ? Thanks

I planted a few acres of Wheat/Triticale/Oats mixture that I picked up in Lubbock last fall and, like @1982vett said, just waited until the plants were rooted well before letting my calves in to graze. Alos like @1982vett says, fillthem up on hay before you turn them out on the fresh grazing so they won't be overfeeding on the wheat right off. I did have a little problem with mine going off their feed in the spring when they couldn't keep up with the growth and I let the plants get to mature and some headed out. I rotated them to my winter ryegrass, mowed the wheat down and the problem went away.

If you are planning to make a wheat crop, be careful and get them off before the wheat heads out. I also found that as the spring warmed up, my winter ryegrass produced more forage than the wheat.
BTW- I live near Ft Worth now but was born and raised Las Cruces and work at Los Alamos for 8 yrs. Folks out here plant wheat and start grazing when the plants start putting on additional leaves after sprouting. It really seems to depend on the type of soil and how well it holds the plants. Lots of black clay rich soil out here that holds the roots very well. If you have a lot of sand, it may take longer to let the roots grow a little more.

Good luck.

 

[Richnm]

How many pairs should I be able to feed for the winter on 20 acres ?

 

[1982vett]

In my opinion, it's not how many you can feed, but how you use the oats to supplement your winter feeding program. This is where you couple that "sorry" hay with grazing wheat. I can't answer how many you can support just because I don't know your local winter weather. Someone else nearer to you will have to field that one. Here, if weather cooperates, we can start turning on around Thanksgiving. Most useful for us to turn on in the morning and run them out to hay in the afternoon. If you don't limit them they will stay on till it's gone. Doing this we can run 2-3 cows per acre but that depends on weather and other pasture considerations as well.

 

[Richnm]

Does wheat go dormant in the winter or continue growing ? My local forage specialist told me it goes dormant after a freeze until spring.

 

[Texasmark]

Up side of grazing winter wheat is that the plant produces additional stems with seed pods. BTO wheat folks down/over here in N. Texas Blackland Clay, deliberately open their fields to grazing during the winter months. Late January when we normally get a week of warm, dry days, they spray for green bugs, cows are off and crops are usually worthwhile when combined in late spring.

Wheat will oscillate with the weather. If you have a stretch of warm days...good sunshine, temps above freezing, it will put on growth. Cold front, overcast and it goes dormant temporarily. Spring recovery includes rapid growth and advancement into plant maturity.....seed heads of wheat.

Expect even well fed, prior to turnout, bovines turned into any new pasture to make a big mess and check out all your fencing. Then it's one mouthful of wheat sprouts, and 10 steps. When #1 belly gets full it's plop down, mashing a big spot of crop for transfer to stomach 2 and 3. If you get into a wet period, best to get them off and put them on hay till the fields dry up. That's the little I know about it and STO diddling with the process.