MIG?

[nap]

I'm interested in hearing comments from my colleagues that are experimenting with MIG, strip, rotational or any variation of these this summer. I started last spring and so far the cattle are fat and the pastures are green. This may have a lot to do with the fact that it has been a wet summer in my area, but I am very interested in your individual stories and comments.

 

[grannysoo]

It works very well. Cows love that fresh new patch of grass every day or two.

 

[Dave]

When I started doing MIG back in the late 90's I had to buy more cows. I had always done rotational grazing but my rotations were once a week or more. When I went to a everyday move I had more grass than I had ever had, the calves weaned heavier, and the cows became easier to handle.

 

[nap]

Dave, that sounds about right. I'm a little surprised that the thread hasn't received a greater response. My guess is that people either don't know about MIG or simply don't care to experiment with it.

 

[HerefordSire]

Dave, that sounds about right. I'm a little surprised that the thread hasn't received a greater response. My guess is that people either don't know about MIG or simply don't care to experiment with it.

I am a little guy...only 100+ cows. I work full time during the day. In the evening, I have a couple of hours to work the cattle. Weekends are free. Are you recommending I spend one hour of my time every evening after work to move the cattle provided I didn't have anything with a higher priority to conserve a quantity of grass worth less than my time to do it? Maybe hire someone to move them for me as in a "pay me now or pay me later" scenario? Is this the same as hiring someone to mow the yard to free my time because my time is worth more than the yard mower? For example, if it takes me 1 hour to move the cows, I could get another job at my pay scale and be ahead. Is this strictly for lower wage ranchers or is the saving more drastic than what I am considering?

 

[wstevenl]

If you have a couple of hours to work the cattle, moving them shouldn't take much of that... It's hard to know without knowing your setup though. I have to string a poly wire across 200' with a reel and put 2 or three step in posts on that line, then moved their trough by hand and plug it back in (I move the trough every other day). I have a very small herd but when I pull back the polywire and call to them, they come running through to the new grass... I've seen video of larger herds doing the same thing. If I had to built fence around more than two sides it would get more complicated but I have heavy High tensile on two sides.

 

[nap]

Dave, that sounds about right. I'm a little surprised that the thread hasn't received a greater response. My guess is that people either don't know about MIG or simply don't care to experiment with it.

I am a little guy...only 100+ cows. I work full time during the day. In the evening, I have a couple of hours to work the cattle. Weekends are free. Are you recommending I spend one hour of my time every evening after work to move the cattle provided I didn't have anything with a higher priority to conserve a quantity of grass worth less than my time to do it? Maybe hire someone to move them for me as in a "pay me now or pay me later" scenario? Is this the same as hiring someone to mow the yard to free my time because my time is worth more than the yard mower? For example, if it takes me 1 hour to move the cows, I could get another job at my pay scale and be ahead. Is this strictly for lower wage ranchers or is the saving more drastic than what I am considering?

I think the term "management Intensive" may be a little misleading. It takes me less than 20 minutes in the evening to move my cattle (about 80 head) into a new paddock. My paddocks are separated by poly-wire that can be set up and moved quickly. The cattle soon learn the routine and putting them in a new paddock is an excellent time to examine them. My paddocks are set up now so that I move them every couple of days but next spring I plan on reducing paddock size so I can move them everyday. From your post, I'm not sure you understand the benefits of MIG. To name a few: 1) Improves pasture quality. 2) Saves on fertilizer costs. 3) Reduces the need for hay and other supplements 4) Improves management skills. So lets talk cost. If you fertilize, put up your own hay or buy hay you are deducting from your bottom line. I'm not just talking about equipment and fuel costs, but somewhere you have to factor in your time as well. It takes a lot less time to move a strand of poly-wire than it does to fertilize or hay a pasture. I think this is something that could really work for small and large cattle producers alike. By the way if you actually hire someone to mow your own lawn then maybe MIG isn't right for you.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Would not say that what i did this year was actually MIG grazing but i did break one 12 acre pasture into four paddocks of about 3 acres each. and on those four paddocks ran 30 pairs and the bull a good part of the summer and right now it really looks good. Also split some of my other pastures up but not as small. We have had a great year for grass with lots of rain. If i could have broke the whole place down in 3 acre paddocks i could have ran twice as many cows this year. As it is i have one 10 acre field that has not had a cow on it all year. I am going to wean my calves and put them on it.

 

[wstevenl]

I make a new paddock each day, but with the sq footage I'm using for a paddock now, I've basically got 54 paddocks on 10 acres. I need more cows to be able to get back to a paddock sooner, but hopefully this will let us stockpile alot for winter.

What I don't know is, should we stockpile really tall in some areas for winter, or just keep rotating slowly until it all runs out??

 

[Dave]

It takes me longer to walk out to the field and back than it does to move the cows. That exercise does me good so I walk. If time were the issue I could ride a quad out to the field and move 50 pairs in 10 minutes or so. The other thing is you don't have to move them every day. Every other day would work fine. I think the key is to confine them enough so they clean up the area you give them and get them moved before regrowth occurs on the grass.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

My paddocks are to big i need to cut them in half at least. Smaller one would seem to concentrate you manure better.

 

[nap]

I am encouraged by the responses so far. Every one, with perhaps one exception have been positive. Everyone seems to complaining about profit or the ability to make a living as a small producer. I think it is time to open our minds to new ideas. To go with the same philosophy as grand daddy is doomed to failure in today's markets. Why not try new ideas? The old ones don't seem to be working.

 

[dun]

We've been doing MIG for the past 10 years. The only problem is that I'm getting too old to move the polywire as often as I used to. Now thye get 6-7 days on a paddock before they're moved.

 

[nap]

Dun, that is exactly what I expected to hear from you. I truly enjoy reading your thoughtful responses on this board. As far as moving them every day, who cares? What is important is that you are responsive to new ideas.

 

[hrbelgians]

What I don't know is, should we stockpile really tall in some areas for winter, or just keep rotating slowly until it all runs out??

I guess my thought would be, if you can't keep up with all paddocks, just let the rest grow tall as they will love that stuff when the snow flies. This will also keep the ones you can keep up with in a growing mode.
At least this has been my experience.

 

[CPL]

I've always wondered, what if you do this and you go a couple weeks maybe a month with out a good rain? Does the pasture still grow up? I know our yard has trouble sometimes and theres no cows on it.

 

[dun]

I've always wondered, what if you do this and you go a couple weeks maybe a month with out a good rain? Does the pasture still grow up? I know our yard has trouble sometimes and theres no cows on it.

You slow down the rotations is all. You'll still have grass when the neighbors are feeding hay. The grass quits growing, but if you managed it right up to that point you will still have some to move them to. We've had drought years, no rain from may-august, and had to feed hay in august for a couple of weeks till the grass got some rain. The third year of the last bad drought we had to start feeding in june and fed through september, then the rains came and we didn;t feed anymore hay till february.

 

[BC]

I have observed several daries in my area that use MIG. Coastal bermuda or Tifton 85 is the grass. They will put 100 to 125 cows on 5 to 8 acre paddocks. Sometimes in the spring, they will only let the animals have 1/2 a paddock for half a day and then take it down and let them have the whole paddock until the next milking and the cows are moved to fresh grass. They try to go through a rotation in 16 to 24 days depending on rainfall. Surplus is baled for dy cow hay or baleage if quality is high enough.

I beleive that this would also work for stocker calves or beef cows and calves.

 

[angus2]

Dave, that sounds about right. I'm a little surprised that the thread hasn't received a greater response. My guess is that people either don't know about MIG or simply don't care to experiment with it.

I am a little guy...only 100+ cows. I work full time during the day. In the evening, I have a couple of hours to work the cattle. Weekends are free. Are you recommending I spend one hour of my time every evening after work to move the cattle provided I didn't have anything with a higher priority to conserve a quantity of grass worth less than my time to do it? Maybe hire someone to move them for me as in a "pay me now or pay me later" scenario? Is this the same as hiring someone to mow the yard to free my time because my time is worth more than the yard mower? For example, if it takes me 1 hour to move the cows, I could get another job at my pay scale and be ahead. Is this strictly for lower wage ranchers or is the saving more drastic than what I am considering?

I decided we were too spread out and busy to do things the way many grazers do. We put in water pipelines and a single HT wire on T posts to cross fence. It takes less than 5 minutes for the cows to all come through the gate. I wouldn't call it moving the cows as much as it is letting them in the next paddock. They move themselves. They are happy to see you. Compared to more traditional methods this is a huge time saver, grass improver, and the cattle are extremely easy to handle.