How 'bout that winter???

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cowgirl8

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We had one course of winter and luckily, we hightailed it to Key West for that week. I'm really liking these mild days, no snow, some rain, and plenty of sunshine...
Been out batten down the hatches, lots of rain forecasted.. We've had about 30 calves so far and about 100 looking ready to pop within the week....I'm guessing they are waiting for a weather event of course.
No longer feeding hay.
Hope all is as good for you guys..
 
greybeard":wexlctjr said:
There was a winter? I must have missed the memo...

Didn't have much of one here either. I don't think I had to let faucets drip at all. I'm still feeding hay, but don't expect that to last more than another week.
 
I think when we were gone the temps here were in the low 30's while we were kayaking in the gulf in the warm sun.. Hard to believe last year we were thawing snow.. Really glad to have not had a winter like last year. Really glad we are getting rain. For just a few days, it looked like our rain was over and nothing happening in the future....but then it started raining. From what i've heard, west of here is dry. My mom said the Dallas area has had no rain. So far this year we've had over 15 inches...
 
greybeard":hlc0kkqe said:
There was a winter? I must have missed the memo...
Me too....we just had shortest ice fishing season ever. Lasted only 2 months, instead of 4-5 months...
 
I'm always intrigued by the length of time that different parts of the country feed hay. I say I envy the people south of me, because of their ability to grow warm season grasses. It would appear that they feed hay about as long as I do though.

I would call our winter here average this year.
 
Winter? No snow at all, ice on the road only one day that I can remember. If it weren't so wet one would hardly know it has been winter. We have had about 33 inches of rain since the first of December. Our normal 36 degrees and rain has been 40 degrees and rain. A classic example of global warming.
 
Bigfoot":bwufflyw said:
I'm always intrigued by the length of time that different parts of the country feed hay. I say I envy the people south of me, because of their ability to grow warm season grasses. It would appear that they feed hay about as long as I do though.

That hay thing has more to do with the type grasses in different areas than weather think. Bahia and bermuda are gone first frost around here. Ain't no 'stockpiling' it.
 
greybeard":16wrekvu said:
Bigfoot":16wrekvu said:
I'm always intrigued by the length of time that different parts of the country feed hay. I say I envy the people south of me, because of their ability to grow warm season grasses. It would appear that they feed hay about as long as I do though.

That hay thing has more to do with the type grasses in different areas than weather think. Bahia and bermuda are gone first frost around here. Ain't no 'stockpiling' it.

I can't get rye, wheat, or oats to work for me. Can you cut your hay consumption with them?
 
Bigfoot":2iau4cc7 said:
greybeard":2iau4cc7 said:
Bigfoot":2iau4cc7 said:
I'm always intrigued by the length of time that different parts of the country feed hay. I say I envy the people south of me, because of their ability to grow warm season grasses. It would appear that they feed hay about as long as I do though.

That hay thing has more to do with the type grasses in different areas than weather think. Bahia and bermuda are gone first frost around here. Ain't no 'stockpiling' it.

I can't get rye, wheat, or oats to work for me. Can you cut your hay consumption with them?

Yes. Most definitely. If I had a few more acres for winter grazing I could ALMOST eliminate hay completely.
 
My rye has really came on this last week. The whole herd could demolish it in less than a day. I believe if I fertilized it, and planted enough of it to carry me, it'd cost me more than hay would.
 
Winter (with snow) actually started here December 23 and ended yesterday March 6. Shortest, mildest winter ever. Wondering where I sign up for a lifetime of this...
 
Didn't start feeding hay here until 1st of January, and they are slowing up on eating it already. Most years, I start around late November, sometimes earlier if it's been dry.
 
Bigfoot":13zvzmfb said:
I can't get rye, wheat, or oats to work for me. Can you cut your hay consumption with them?
Yes and I normally do. Was late getting it planted and not enough of it this year because I was convalescing from surgery in OCT/Dec--my wife broadcast a few acres, but not really enough--but, it's been such a strange weather year this time, I used a lot less hay than I planned on anyway.
 
Aaron":3dxe4d6p said:
Winter (with snow) actually started here December 23 and ended yesterday March 6. Shortest, mildest winter ever. Wondering where I sign up for a lifetime of this...
Right where I'm at! I started feeding Jan 1st this year, first time I had enough stockpiled to get me that far, and a lot of that was thanks to weaning at the end of august instead of the end of october.
We had some cold spells, nothing terrible though, frost is out of the ground now, corrals a little muddy but the fields are good. I sowed rye today actually, I'm trying a few things with using it for pasture rejuvenation, trying to choke out some of those fine grasses and get some clear ground I can plant better stuff in.. I put about 40 lb/ac broadcast, then ran the harrows over it twice, will run a roller over it tomorrow. Forecast for March says mostly cloudy, a little sun, and lots of little showers, so I think it's the perfect time to plant it and see if I can get it to come up. I can say we had an unseasonably warm February.. hardly had a frost, and it usually is hardly much above freezing.. I think we've hit 70F/20C here already.
 
Bigfoot, the key here (and I'm most certainly not telling you what works in Kentucky) is to get it planted early. And you need some good moisture to help it get started. I mix oats, rye, and ryegrass. I try to get it in the ground in late sept early oct. Oats give me some early grazing then the rye comes on strong by February and the ryegrass about now. Costs me around $150 acre for planting and fertilizing (same as 3 bales of hay). Can't say it saves me any money but it doesn't cost any more and it's definitely better for the cows. I limit graze and rotate and creep graze and do whatever I can to stretch it to the max. One downside. Dry weather or severe cold can cause you heartache.
 
We giggle when we see people plant rye here. It's usually someone new to the area. A guy just leased some land next to us. He came out and plowed it. Was going to plant wheat even after all the locals told him it was the wrong land for farming. I just took a look at it and first, he'll never get a crop in now because it will be boggy till June. Second we may consider leasing it for the spring to graze because he has a beautiful stand of rye. He really pissed the rye gods off.
 
If he can get in there to plow in May, it might piss off the crabgrass gods.
 

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