mow or not

[jvicars]

during the summer i have kept my 15 head on a 10 acre parcel and they have just been able to keep up. I purchased the 10 acres next door and the grass is high and pretty good.

Everyone says to mow it. My thought is let them eat it when the grass stops growing. I know it rough but they will eat it. I figure its like hay without the trouble.

Whats the benefit of mowing high grass if its going to be eatten at a later date. If its all high they wont go for the tender stuff since its all tall. seems like a lot of extra work if the cattle are just going to eat it either way. thanks.

 

[bigbull338]

i would bale that 10acs.an get it cleaned up for winter.youll need some hay during the winter.an then in the spring you can rotate them tween the 2 pastures.an bale 1 of them if the cows cant keep up with the grass.the cows will waste alot of the standing grass.they will tromp it down.

 

[flaboy]

The first frost you get will turn it to filler. There will be no protein in it. Baling before this will store some of the protein the cows will need in the winter.

I see you are in SW FLA so you may not get a frost depending on how far south you are but what if you do?

 

[Jogeephus]

Ditto with Flaboy. Also if you get a lot of rain, you can kiss the nutrients goodbye. Also, tall grass sometimes can cause pinkeye problems.

 

[novatech]

Depends on what type of grass. Some grasses retain nutrients better than others. Ranchers have been useing stockpiled forage for years. It will difinitly loose some nutrition. Supplement
with protein. The manure will also be of added benefit to the soil. Last year I fed no hay until January and used very little supplement. You may want to do a search on stockpiled forage.

http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/storie ... y0404a.htm

http://www.agriculture.com/ag/story.jht ... 1#continue

 

[msscamp]

Everyone says to mow it. My thought is let them eat it when the grass stops growing. I know it rough but they will eat it. I figure its like hay without the trouble.

You're figuring wrong, and you obviously don't know cattle.

Whats the benefit of mowing high grass if its going to be eatten at a later date. If its all high they wont go for the tender stuff since its all tall. seems like a lot of extra work if the cattle are just going to eat it either way. thanks.

Cows are reluctant to eat grass that is fully seeded out and tough - the higher the grass, the more fully it has seeded out, and the tougher it is - cattle don't like that. The benefit of mowing is that cows will eat it when it's activily growing and tender. Most hay is cut at the beginning of the heading out process, not when it's fully headed out and rank - there is a big difference in the two stages.

 

[novatech]

Everyone says to mow it. My thought is let them eat it when the grass stops growing. I know it rough but they will eat it. I figure its like hay without the trouble.

You're figuring wrong, and you obviously don't know cattle.

Whats the benefit of mowing high grass if its going to be eatten at a later date. If its all high they wont go for the tender stuff since its all tall. seems like a lot of extra work if the cattle are just going to eat it either way. thanks.

Cows are reluctant to eat grass that is fully seeded out and tough - the higher the grass, the more fully it has seeded out, and the tougher it is - cattle don't like that. The benefit of mowing is that cows will eat it when it's activily growing and tender. Most hay is cut at the beginning of the heading out process, not when it's fully headed out and rank - there is a big difference in the two stages.

Being we are talking about a place in southwest Florida there may still be time to mow and get some regrowth. May people mow to freshen up the grass. I do. But this must be a timed event. Again it depends on the type of grass. This time of year if you mow bahia it will go to seed imediatly after mowing, as it was just before mowing. If there is not enough time for regrowth then grazeing is the best option, the cows will eat it if that is all there is to eat. ( Google up intensive grazeing) If they stomp it down, is that any different than mowing and letting it lay? It will just make it decompose faster. If you mow to late and there is no regrowth all that is gained is a pretty pasture. You have spent money and time and taken away useable forage from the cattle. There is no dought that stockpiled forage has fewer nutrients than fresh forage but it beats the heck out of snow balls. ;-)

 

[flaboy]

I was able to cut one field about 3 weeks ago. It has come back nicely with no fert. Got about 3 weeks worth of rain on it and 90 degree weather.

msscamp is right also but I have no choice in cutting my old tough headed out grass. Then again these are Fla cows and will eat the rubber off of a tire.

 

[dyates]

I would agree with different parts of what everyone has to say. Here in Kentucky, we have a lot of tall fescue. The quality of stockpiled fescue actually goes up after frost. If I had a pasture here such as the one you are describing, I would turn the cows in after frost and supplement with lick tubs or liquid mol-mix. I have turned cows in on pasture that hasn't seen a mower for two or three years. I fed no hay until Christmas. The cows were as fat as mud and the spring calves were the best we ever had.

 

[dieselbeef]

during the summer i have kept my 15 head on a 10 acre parcel and they have just been able to keep up. I purchased the 10 acres next door and the grass is high and pretty good.

Everyone says to mow it. My thought is let them eat it when the grass stops growing. I know it rough but they will eat it. I figure its like hay without the trouble.

Whats the benefit of mowing high grass if its going to be eatten at a later date. If its all high they wont go for the tender stuff since its all tall. seems like a lot of extra work if the cattle are just going to eat it either way. thanks.

my opinion...to late to mow it now....maybe top it if ya got a bushog. maybe 8''tall or better if ya can. knock off the dried tops and turn em loose. the tops will fall in and help to hold someof the mositure left in the sand and maybe help to grow just a little now. specially since it cooled off today and the days are gettn shorter...or cut it fer hay if ya can get smeone to come out. split it with em for the labor....another tuff yr for hay im figuring...then supplement with citrus pellets

 

[dieselbeef]

wingate spreader will come bale it for ya

 

[farmerjohn]

The first frost you get will turn it to filler. There will be no protein in it. Baling before this will store some of the protein the cows will need in the winter.

I see you are in SW FLA so you may not get a frost depending on how far south you are but what if you do?

I don't know what type of grass it is, but coastal will hold it's protein quite a while. As a matter of fact the Noble Foundation and others recommend stockpiling grass and then feeding it through the winter months vs hay. No labor, baling, hauling or storage costs...........

 

[Jogeephus]

The first frost you get will turn it to filler. There will be no protein in it. Baling before this will store some of the protein the cows will need in the winter.

I see you are in SW FLA so you may not get a frost depending on how far south you are but what if you do?

I don't know what type of grass it is, but coastal will hold it's protein quite a while. As a matter of fact the Noble Foundation and others recommend stockpiling grass and then feeding it through the winter months vs hay. No labor, baling, hauling or storage costs...........

I looked into stockpiling bermuda. Even went so far as to talk to the gurus at the university. Unfortunately, I am told, our high humidity and abundant winter rains limits the usefulness of stockpiling. Food value drops considerably. I can only guess the further south you go this will only become more of a problem until you get to the point where there is no real winter. And if you own land in Miami, you need to be selling real estate and not raising cattle. :lol:

 

[flaboy]

Our grass down here is still pretty green. The rains have kept it looking nice. Looks like I might get a break this week (drying spell). I hope to start cutting Wed or Thurs.

 

[dieselbeef]

still ranin here. again today as well. 3 days so far...just crappy drizzle but enough to stay inside.

 

[flaboy]

still ranin here. again today as well. 3 days so far...just crappy drizzle but enough to stay inside.

Dieselbeef, did you by chance go to the shindig in Myakka weekend before last? Rodeo or whatever it was? A friend of mine provided the mechanical bull. Did ya get on it? :lol:

 

[gberry]

The first frost you get will turn it to filler. There will be no protein in it. Baling before this will store some of the protein the cows will need in the winter.

I see you are in SW FLA so you may not get a frost depending on how far south you are but what if you do?

I don't know what type of grass it is, but coastal will hold it's protein quite a while. As a matter of fact the Noble Foundation and others recommend stockpiling grass and then feeding it through the winter months vs hay. No labor, baling, hauling or storage costs...........

I looked into stockpiling bermuda. Even went so far as to talk to the gurus at the university. Unfortunately, I am told, our high humidity and abundant winter rains limits the usefulness of stockpiling. Food value drops considerably. I can only guess the further south you go this will only become more of a problem until you get to the point where there is no real winter. And if you own land in Miami, you need to be selling real estate and not raising cattle. :lol:

This is definitely true, but it depends on what you are doing with the grass. If you are running stockers or cows with calves it is going to be inadequate. If you have dry cows, I think stockpiled bahia or bermuda will be fine. You may have to supplement a small amount of protein, but it is a lot cheaper than cutting or feeding hay. I'll try to find a link about the nutrient value, but I have it in my mind that stockpiled bahia is adequate for dry cows in our region until mid to late January.

 

[dieselbeef]

still ranin here. again today as well. 3 days so far...just crappy drizzle but enough to stay inside.

Dieselbeef, did you by chance go to the shindig in Myakka weekend before last? Rodeo or whatever it was? A friend of mine provided the mechanical bull. Did ya get on it? :lol:

yeah we did go. it was a pretty good time. had my 1 yr old so no i didnt ride but we had a good time watchin some of the girlies get on it.
where you from flaboy...