Irrigated Pasture

[Otha]

Does anyone have any experience with stocking rate on irrigated Coastal Bermuda Pastures? We are likely going to cut less hay or no hay this year due to fertilizer cost and are trying to figure out an estimate of stocking rate for an irrigated pasture. This is a fairly healthy patch that gets a winter mix no tilled every year including this one. We most likely won't fertilizer at all but will apply all the water needed. We will possibly graze any excess grass without custom cattle form a neighbor so trying to get an estimate for that.

 

[JRGidaho`]

Each ton of hay harvested is equivalent to 68 animal unit days (AUD). (2000 lbs/ton /26 lbs DM/AUD X 88% DM/ton of hay)
How much of those AUD you harvest is largely determined by your grazing management.
With set stocking (continuous grazing) you may harvest only 30-50% of that yield.
With well-managed MiG, you can harvest 100-120% of that yield potential.

e.g. 4 ton/A hay yield X 68 AUD =272 AUD/A is the equivalent grazing yield (carrying capacity)
With set stocking expect to harvest 80 - 140 AUD/A.
With MiG expect to harvest 270 - 320 AUD/A.

An 8 ton/A historic hay yield should produce about double the numbers above.

 

[Otha]

Thanks, that'll give us a good place to start. We will be moving the cows daily and we have historically harvested 8ton/Acre from the patch. That is with a lot of fertilizer though so we will need to back those numbers off some percentage. We have some winter legumes no-tilled in the patch so we should get a little nitrogen from them if it'll rain enough to keep them alive.

 

[anewcomer]

Otha, if JRGidaho tells you a rabbit can pull a plow, hitch him up!

 

[faster horses]

Please keep one thing in mind. Cattle need dry matter, so if you can put out any old bales (straw, hay, just any crap hay you might have on hand) that will help them get their dry matter requirement and they will be much more content. We used to think in spring cattle chased green grass. What they were chasing was dry matter. The grass had about everything they needed, but it was full of moisture. Adding a big round bale of junk in the pasture, they ate it. Not like if you put a bale of feed out, but they would go by and have a little until the bale was gone. We saw they were more content. They did breed up really well too.