My plan...

[skyhightree1]

My plan this year is to not cut any hay I have a couple small fields at the house I may cut. I am going to try rotational grazing this year with lil to no hay cut I still have over 300 round bales left from last year. I have mostly ky31 and orchard grass pastures and plan on letting the grass get 12" before turning cattle loose on it . Does anyone find anything wrong with turning them out on that height?

 

[Jogeephus]

Tall forage doesn't necessarily equate to nutritious forage. Need to strike that balance.

 

[skyhightree1]

What height would you place them on there ? 12" was just my plan so I didn't have to rotate as much.

 

[Richardin52]

As you know grass grows fast in the spring then slows during the middle part of the summer, then picks up again in the fall.

I would plan on moving the cattle over as much area as you can in the spring without letting them take it down too low. If they take the tops off the grass this will delay the grass from forming heads helping it stay in stage two growth longer.

If you wait too long getting them started you may have a very short time before your grass starts forming heads which slows grass growth. For that reason I start my cows a little sooner but move them once in the morning and once in the evening.

What I do is hit as much area as I can in the spring clipping the tops then go back to the starting point and do a spring rotation in one area. Once the summer slump starts and the spring rotation area is not regaining enough growth. I take them off the spring rotation area and put them into tall grass. I call this my summer slump area.

They will knock a lot down, more than they eat sometimes, but this tall grass has a big roots and the mulch layer they make mixed with manure and pee will do a few things.

First tall grass has a lot of reserves in the root and this will push new growth, second the mulch will help protect the soil from both summer heat and fall freezing. Grass will grow if the ground is no froze on warm days, third as this mulch rots it's feeding the worms bacteria and fungi.

Once the summer slump is over and the spring rotation area has regrown I move them back onto that, it's not going to be growing as fast at this stage so I make my cells larger and don't move them as fast.

The summer slump feeding area should come on strong and let you feed you cattle on pasture until you run out of it or until the snow is too deep (at least around here) That's when I start putting bales out onto pasture.

That's how I do it, hope it helps

I almost forgot I change summer slump area each year.

 

[skyhightree1]

As you know grass grows fast in the spring then slows during the middle part of the summer, then picks up again in the fall.

I would plan on moving the cattle over as much area as you can in the spring without letting them take it down too low. If they take the tops off the grass this will delay the grass from forming heads helping it stay in stage two growth longer.

If you wait too long getting them started you may have a very short time before your grass starts forming heads which slows grass growth. For that reason I start my cows a little sooner but move them once in the morning and once in the evening.

What I do is hit as much area as I can in the spring clipping the tops then go back to the starting point and do a spring rotation in one area. Once the summer slump starts and the spring rotation area is not regaining grown. I take them out off the spring rotation area and put them into tall grass. I call this my summer slump area.

They will knock a lot down, more than they eat sometimes, but this tall grass has a big roots and the mulch layer they make mixed with manure and pee will do a few things.

First tall grass has a lot of reserves in the root and this will push new growth, second the mulch will help protect the soil from both summer heat and fall freezing grass will grow if the ground is no froze on warm days, third as this mulch rots it's feeding the worms bacteria and fungi.

Once the summer slump is over and the spring rotation area has regrown I move them back onto that, it's not going to be growing as fast at this stage so I make my cells larger and don't move them as fast.

The summer slump feeding area should come on strong and let you feed you cattle on pasture until you run out of it or until the snow is too deep (at least around here) That's when I start putting bales out onto pasture.

That's how I do it, hope it helps

Thanks for sharing your process and recommendation see I can cut a few pastures in where i can rotate daily at home but my other pastures are 10 miles away and its not gonna be fun moving cattle every couple of days lol

 

[Banjo]

The longer you can let it grow...to a point, the more it can establish a huge root system. If that 12 inches of growth is blades, you're ok, but if half of that 12 is stems going to seed, then I would agree with Jo
At the same time, I think all grass should be allowed to reach maturity at least once a year. Fescue in particular can be allowed to head out but should be clipped while still green so it doesn't go dormant. Some mob grazers will disagree with that approach and say don't touch it, but I have found it to be beneficial in my experience, I may change my mind in the future, but for now I will clip. Keep it green and growing.
Two basic things to keep in mind. 1) Don't allow backgrazing, and 2) Give sufficient recovery time.

 

[skyhightree1]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions everyone.

 

[Rajela]

Cattle will eat the young tender growth and leave the older tougher grass. They will eat in a few area's and leave the taller tougher grasses, 12" is pretty tall for grazing around here. We usually graze from 4" to 8". We will pull them off a pasture just long enough for the grass to get a good 2" to 3" growth and then rotate them back in. It takes some time to get the correct amount of cows per acre and then you have the slow growing summer months. You will find that if it gets to tall or tough the cows will start eating in just a few area's and you will need to run the brush hog thru the pasture to knock the top off the taller stuff and get some fresh new growth again.

 

[skyhightree1]

Cattle will eat the young tender growth and leave the older tougher grass. They will eat in a few area's and leave the taller tougher grasses, 12" is pretty tall for grazing around here. We usually graze from 4" to 8". We will pull them off a pasture just long enough for the grass to get a good 2" to 3" growth and then rotate them back in. It takes some time to get the correct amount of cows per acre and then you have the slow growing summer months. You will find that if it gets to tall or tough the cows will start eating in just a few area's and you will need to run the brush hog thru the pasture to knock the top off the taller stuff and get some fresh new growth again.

Makes sense about being tall and tough. I was thinking let them eat it down till 4 inches then rotate.

 

[Rajela]

You have to get the paddock size and cow numbers to match up. I like to have it to where I rotate about very week with 3 pastures. This gives the pasture about 2 weeks to recover and if I have to I can rotate every 10 days with 20 days recovery. Then there is the hay meadow for back up if it gets HOT & DRY.

 

[skyhightree1]

Yea I dont have any fences around the hay fields yet but I plan on putting temporary electric fencing and rotate there as well.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Cattle will eat the young tender growth and leave the older tougher grass. They will eat in a few area's and leave the taller tougher grasses, 12" is pretty tall for grazing around here. We usually graze from 4" to 8". We will pull them off a pasture just long enough for the grass to get a good 2" to 3" growth and then rotate them back in. It takes some time to get the correct amount of cows per acre and then you have the slow growing summer months. You will find that if it gets to tall or tough the cows will start eating in just a few area's and you will need to run the brush hog thru the pasture to knock the top off the taller stuff and get some fresh new growth again.

You have to get the paddock size and cow numbers to match up. I like to have it to where I rotate about every week with 3 pastures. This gives the pasture about 2 weeks to recover and if I have to I can rotate every 10 days with 20 days recovery. Then there is the hay meadow for back up if it gets HOT & DRY.

It is very true that cattle will leave the tall and tough forage and go picking the new growth,
IF the are left in that same paddock for a week or ten days.
Not much so if they are moved every day.
Reasons: with a long grazing period and a short recovery period there will be areas with different age of grass, and the cattle will avoid places where they previosly put the cowpies.
With long recovery periods the cattle will no be nearly as picky as all the grass will be tasting/smelling fresh. All the grass will also tend to be of equal age = less motivation to pick through it.

 

[skyhightree1]

I gotcha so with rotational grazing should I knock the cow pies down and trim all grass to the same level would that help?

 

[MartinFarms]

Check out this thread. http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livest ... azing.html

 

[skyhightree1]

thanks for the link

 

[regolith]

I gotcha so with rotational grazing should I knock the cow pies down and trim all grass to the same level would that help?

You want to let the cows do it for you. That's where matching the available grass to the cow needs comes in; they graze it down evenly, you move them on, spell the paddock an appropriate number of days (varies with growth rates and time of year) and when they come back it will be an even palatable pasture with no over-mature clumps or immature patches.
I don't see rejection of grass around the dung patches. Have never spread them out... I do go in once or twice a year with a mower to maintain top quality ahead of my milk cows. Consider mowing a patch-up for poor management or overfed cows, in my system.

 

[skyhightree1]

I gotcha so with rotational grazing should I knock the cow pies down and trim all grass to the same level would that help?

You want to let the cows do it for you. That's where matching the available grass to the cow needs comes in; they graze it down evenly, you move them on, spell the paddock an appropriate number of days (varies with growth rates and time of year) and when they come back it will be an even palatable pasture with no over-mature clumps or immature patches.
I don't see rejection of grass around the dung patches. Have never spread them out... I do go in once or twice a year with a mower to maintain top quality ahead of my milk cows. Consider mowing a patch-up for poor management or overfed cows, in my system.

Makes sense to me.

 

[skyhightree1]

Has anyones pastures grown between rotation to the ponit the grass was 12" tall and the grass was tough and the cattle just didn't eat it unless it was clipped down or will they just eat it anyway just not be happy about it ?

 

[Chris H]

Has anyones pastures grown between rotation to the ponit the grass was 12" tall and the grass was tough and the cattle just didn't eat it unless it was clipped down or will they just eat it anyway just not be happy about it ?

There comes a point where a paddock of fescue will get ahead of you, probably more than one paddocks. Some will invariably shoot up seed heads. Last year the grass was slow starting, then it all came on at once. We baled several paddocks to keep the vegetation fresh and growing. That kept their eyes from being irritated and good growth going.

Another consideration...we select several paddocks in the fall to let grow up. Those are our calving paddocks and the cows are turned out when the grass starts to green up. The cows like the old growth better than hay, and because they eat it with the new growth they don't get those watery green stools like a sudden change in diet causes in the spring.

 

[jerry27150]

ky 31 needs to be trimmed down to 2-3 inches or it will smother out all the clover & it will get so tough by june cows will lose weight on it. they recommend you keep your pastures a size they will eat it down in 3-5 days, then move to a different pasture. after august you can start to stockpile some if you want them to eat it in winter