New England pasture after a freeze

[ny_grass]

Howdy

So it's dipped into the mid-30s the last couple of nights up here in NY. So let's say that we get a freeze in a couple of days. How will that affect the palatability of my remaining grass? I mean, not having done it before, does the first freeze mean that it's hay until spring? (I really hope not! ;-) Or does the frozen grass die (and still get eaten) and the undergrowth takes over? Is the first freeze the time-to-turn-off-growth signal for forage? For all I know grass is highly resistant to freezing. I'm not sure of the varieties I have up here; I've had people say I have orchard, canary, timothy, red-top, etc.. as well as lots of red clover, plantain and, of course, thistle, milk weed, golden rod, etc...

Thanks for any insight,
JR

 

[redcowsrule33]

Cow will still eat it, but it will grow slow so be careful about how tight you graze it. It hurts to start feeding hay but you might do it all next year if you don't leave the plants something to work with.

I'm assuming you have all perennial forages in your pasture. Be careful if there's a lot of legumes - cows will bloat fast on newly-frozen alfalfa and clover. That is an ugly thing to deal with.

 

[ny_grass]

Cow will still eat it, but it will grow slow so be careful about how tight you graze it. It hurts to start feeding hay but you might do it all next year if you don't leave the plants something to work with.

I'm assuming you have all perennial forages in your pasture. Be careful if there's a lot of legumes - cows will bloat fast on newly-frozen alfalfa and clover. That is an ugly thing to deal with.

I'm new to both cattle and upstate NY but it's tough to imagine not having grass around here. Though I'm unfamiliar with other places, I know that we can REALLY grow grass here ;-)

I do have perennial forages. And I do have a fair amount of clover (mostly red but some white too). Good to know that I need to be careful with frozen clover. I'd not heard that one before. Thanks.

 

[redcowsrule33]

We grow grass pretty well up north here too. We'll be growing snow for about 6-7 months out of the year, though.