Grazing Pastures with Johnson Grass

[ValleyView]

Update: turned them in on another small pasture that was baled the first week of July. We've had a lot of rain so drought wasn't a concern but I did wait until around 3' tall and a few were already heading out. Fingers crossed!

 

[Brute 23]

You were good even in the pic where it was dry IMO. The JG still looked good. It wasn't dried out or wilted or any thing. I've turned cattle in on JG that looked a lot worse from from lack of rain.

The only down side the grazing jg is the cows will kill it out over time.

 

[ValleyView]

I appreciate the input, I do wish I would've turned them earlier on that other stand while it was shorter.

My long term plans are to convert these JG pastures to other perennials over time so I'm utilizing the forage now and hope to have less to compete with next year. But I am glad I can graze it this year!

 

[elkwc]

Our situation is we have 160 of which we planted 120 acres to native grass 2 years ago. Then had a fire last spring. Then this spring was wet and gad an invasion of mares tail. Was supposed to be sprayed but never happened so I mowed it. Lots of jg. It was dry here and then got 1.4 last week. Some of the regrowth is about 18" tall. The grass is growing well also now that the mares tail is out of the way. Around here most don't worry about grazing it. But interested to hear any opinions anyone has. With the grass shorter I'm sure they will graze it some. Supposed to rain this week.

 

[ValleyView]

My understanding is to watch the regrowth close as they prefer it because of tenderness. That's why I think most folks recommend to wait until it's 18-24" tall. My cows cleaned it up pretty quick and I was glad to have it. Hoping to get some more growth for another good grazing prior to frost being a concern. For now, they're not in there bc I sprayed herbicide a week ago and I don't want to worry about stressed standing forage or new growth.

The amount of Nitrogen you put down would also be helpful to know.

I fed a bale of leftover hay two days prior to kicking them in even though they were on pasture just for piece of mind. Probably overkill, but better safe than sorry.

Hope this helps!

 

[elkwc]

We don't fertilize pastures here. They didn't seem to be grazing the JG much. More interested in the grass that is regrowing. Will check them again tomorrow. Hopefully we will be ok.

 

[NolanCountyAG]

Ive never had an issue with JG until this year. Lost 14 cows in early August. Had just moved cows from a JG field to another but the new field had a draw running through it that I assume had enough moisture down there it to keep it growing. Kind of a transition area. Tests came back and that area had 10X the toxic level of prussic acid.

 

[JLScattle]

Nolan,

Very sorry to hear about your loss, but I would like to know more of the circumstances. You are one of the few first hand accounts I have had of people losing animals to JG. I think it might help a lot of others on this board.

In the pasture that the deaths occurred, was the grass drought stressed (except that in the draw)? Had it recently rained? Had this grass been fertilized in any way? How mature/tall was the grass and was there a mix of other feed, or was it a solid stand of JG?

Sorry for all of the questions, but as stated, I think some of us could learn from your situation.

Thanks

 

[NolanCountyAG]

Nolan,

Very sorry to hear about your loss, but I would like to know more of the circumstances. You are one of the few first hand accounts I have had of people losing animals to JG. I think it might help a lot of others on this board.

In the pasture that the deaths occurred, was the grass drought stressed (except that in the draw)? Had it recently rained? Had this grass been fertilized in any way? How mature/tall was the grass and was there a mix of other feed, or was it a solid stand of JG?

Sorry for all of the questions, but as stated, I think some of us could learn from your situation.

Thanks

Everything out here has been drought stressed since June. No fertilizer or rain. I was actually just waiting to pull them if we were to get a rain. Grass was mature, mixed in with klein grass. The draw had about a 30ft strip that was green and growing. That is where they were piled up at. Moved them in on a Saturday, caked them Sunday(all alive), Monday morning there were buzzards. I've always heard of the risks but never known anyone to have this happen around here. I graze these fields every summer, just haven't had it be so wet fall through spring and then drastic change to hot and dry.

 

[ValleyView]

Nolan,

Very sorry to hear about your loss, but I would like to know more of the circumstances. You are one of the few first hand accounts I have had of people losing animals to JG. I think it might help a lot of others on this board.

In the pasture that the deaths occurred, was the grass drought stressed (except that in the draw)? Had it recently rained? Had this grass been fertilized in any way? How mature/tall was the grass and was there a mix of other feed, or was it a solid stand of JG?

Sorry for all of the questions, but as stated, I think some of us could learn from your situation.

Thanks

Everything out here has been drought stressed since June. No fertilizer or rain. I was actually just waiting to pull them if we were to get a rain. Grass was mature, mixed in with klein grass. The draw had about a 30ft strip that was green and growing. That is where they were piled up at. Moved them in on a Saturday, caked them Sunday(all alive), Monday morning there were buzzards. I've always heard of the risks but never known anyone to have this happen around here. I graze these fields every summer, just haven't had it be so wet fall through spring and then drastic change to hot and dry

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Nolan - that is an awful tough pill to swallow but thanks for sharing on this post. That kind of loss is what scares me to death with having a pasture full of JG. I probably play it way too safe, but that amount of loss would be devastating for my operation. I am sorry you had to go through that.

Our fall and spring in OK sounds similar to yours wet wet wet through end of June and then no measurable rain for 45 days, things got hot and dry really fast and there were cracks everywhere. Stories like yours make it a lot easier to take samples down to the extension office for testing just for a little reassurance...