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grazing on alfalfa
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<blockquote data-quote="Anonymous" data-source="post: 15054"><p>My husband & I used to manage a 200 head cow/calf operation. They had lots of alfalfa throughout their rotational grazing fields. All the "men" were gone on a trip & I needed to change fields. I waited til noon (in September) to switch them to the new field which was mostly grasses but had a long thin strip of straight alfalfa. I went to lunch then decided to take some good cow/calf pictures. I had one dead, two down, & the majority of the rest bloated. I rounded up some construction crew, put all cattle in a holding pen, fed dry hay, tubed the worse ones (fortunately it worked!). Only lost the one that time, but another September day we lost a yearling. So, yes you can graze it, but be aware of the potential problem. Jeanne <A HREF="http://www.SimmeValley.com" TARGET="_blank">http://www.SimmeValley.com</A></p><p>> I personally think the bloat issue</p><p>> is over emphasised, yes they can</p><p>> bloat but it doesn't seem to be as</p><p>> wide spread as one would think.</p><p>> Problem is, twenty head can graze</p><p>> and 19 of them will do fine and</p><p>> never have a problem, but the</p><p>> other one will bloat and maybe</p><p>> die. That pretty much means the</p><p>> other 19 are just going to pay for</p><p>> the one and if your lucky you'll</p><p>> breakeven. There are strains of</p><p>> alfalfa that have ben devloped for</p><p>> grazing they don;t seem to be as</p><p>> much a culprit as those that are</p><p>> strictly hay types. If I were</p><p>> planning on grazing alfalfa, I</p><p>> would first only run them in for a</p><p>> couple of hours inthe morning,</p><p>> pull them off, then run them in</p><p>> for a couple more hours in the</p><p>> late afternoon, then pull them off</p><p>> for the night. I would also</p><p>> provide a "Bloatgaurd"</p><p>> block starting before I started</p><p>> running them in. After a week or</p><p>> so, I would still leave the block</p><p>> available but would allow them to</p><p>> graze full time. If it has been</p><p>> hayed, and you are only grazing</p><p>> the stubble it may not be as</p><p>> serious a deal. But, (there are</p><p>> always buts in a deal llike this),</p><p>> when we were in the desert and our</p><p>> partner raised alfalfa, I</p><p>> suggested letting the calves</p><p>> winter on the stubble. He used to</p><p>> lease the grazing to the Basque</p><p>> sheperds to winter their sheep.</p><p>> His reasoning for running sheep</p><p>> verses cattle had to do with the</p><p>> crown damage to the alfalfa caused</p><p>> by the bigger foot and heavier</p><p>> weight. Also, the Basques rotated</p><p>> the sheep through so the alfalfa</p><p>> was never grazed low enough to</p><p>> damage the crown. Running calves</p><p>> you would have to really keep an</p><p>> eye on them to prevent them</p><p>> damaging the alfalfa crown. Of</p><p>> course, he had thousands of acres</p><p>> of the stuff, if you are only</p><p>> dealing with a 100 acres or so and</p><p>> used very low stocking rates it</p><p>> might not be a problem. Just my</p><p>> take on the situation.</p><p></p><p>> dunmovin farms</p><p></p><p> <a href="mailto:simmeval@swns.net">simmeval@swns.net</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Anonymous, post: 15054"] My husband & I used to manage a 200 head cow/calf operation. They had lots of alfalfa throughout their rotational grazing fields. All the "men" were gone on a trip & I needed to change fields. I waited til noon (in September) to switch them to the new field which was mostly grasses but had a long thin strip of straight alfalfa. I went to lunch then decided to take some good cow/calf pictures. I had one dead, two down, & the majority of the rest bloated. I rounded up some construction crew, put all cattle in a holding pen, fed dry hay, tubed the worse ones (fortunately it worked!). Only lost the one that time, but another September day we lost a yearling. So, yes you can graze it, but be aware of the potential problem. Jeanne <A HREF="http://www.SimmeValley.com" TARGET="_blank">http://www.SimmeValley.com</A> > I personally think the bloat issue > is over emphasised, yes they can > bloat but it doesn't seem to be as > wide spread as one would think. > Problem is, twenty head can graze > and 19 of them will do fine and > never have a problem, but the > other one will bloat and maybe > die. That pretty much means the > other 19 are just going to pay for > the one and if your lucky you'll > breakeven. There are strains of > alfalfa that have ben devloped for > grazing they don;t seem to be as > much a culprit as those that are > strictly hay types. If I were > planning on grazing alfalfa, I > would first only run them in for a > couple of hours inthe morning, > pull them off, then run them in > for a couple more hours in the > late afternoon, then pull them off > for the night. I would also > provide a "Bloatgaurd" > block starting before I started > running them in. After a week or > so, I would still leave the block > available but would allow them to > graze full time. If it has been > hayed, and you are only grazing > the stubble it may not be as > serious a deal. But, (there are > always buts in a deal llike this), > when we were in the desert and our > partner raised alfalfa, I > suggested letting the calves > winter on the stubble. He used to > lease the grazing to the Basque > sheperds to winter their sheep. > His reasoning for running sheep > verses cattle had to do with the > crown damage to the alfalfa caused > by the bigger foot and heavier > weight. Also, the Basques rotated > the sheep through so the alfalfa > was never grazed low enough to > damage the crown. Running calves > you would have to really keep an > eye on them to prevent them > damaging the alfalfa crown. Of > course, he had thousands of acres > of the stuff, if you are only > dealing with a 100 acres or so and > used very low stocking rates it > might not be a problem. Just my > take on the situation. > dunmovin farms [email=simmeval@swns.net]simmeval@swns.net[/email] [/QUOTE]
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