Overgrazed Pasture

[The Bachelor]

My first hay cutting was pretty bad due to the drought here. So I made a decision to keep my herd on the current pasture and try to get another cutting out of the one I took the hay off (Its a better hayfield). Well, I'm gonna try to make it till the end of June before I cut hay again and move the cattle onto it.

The problem is, is that the pasture the cattle are in now will be over grazed. After I move em,I'm hoping to keep the cows off the overgrazed pasture until Oct/Nov. Now. all that background so I can ask this question. Is there anyway to help stimulate regrowth (assuming it ever rains here again)in an overgrazed pasture? I was thinking about running a cultivator or disk over it to scratch it some. Just wondering what y'all would do.

Thanks,

 

[alabama]

That is a good question. All of my pastures are over grazed this year with this drought. Heck they were over grazed last year too with that drought. And last fall when we did get a little rain the army wormes grazed off any new grouth down slick with the soil.
So now I got over grazed brown pastures with lots of bald spots.
I don't think disking will help. Infact I think it will hurt. My guess is that rain some fertelizer and maybe some grass seed planted notill may be out best bet.

 

[forageconverter]

Instead of taking a second cutting in late June, could you turn the cattle into the hayfield before the current pasture is overgrazed? This could possibly allow the current pasture to re-grow enough where you could later move the cows back on it, and then take a second cutting off the hayfield in the fall?

Other than that, for an overgrazed pasture, I agree with Alabama you will need rain, fertilizer, and grass seed, along with plenty of rest for the pasture.

 

[dun]

If you keep overgrazing it there will be 2 results. Lots of weeds and insufficient forage for the cows attempting to graze it. In the past drought ears we started feeding hay rathere then let the pasture be destroyed. We also cut way back on the stockin rate. If you seriously ovegraze the pasture it will take a lot longer to recover when you finally get growing conditions again

 

[The Bachelor]

If you keep overgrazing it there will be 2 results. Lots of weeds and insufficient forage for the cows attempting to graze it. In the past drought ears we started feeding hay rathere then let the pasture be destroyed. We also cut way back on the stockin rate. If you seriously ovegraze the pasture it will take a lot longer to recover when you finally get growing conditions again

I understand what your saying, and I am keeping a close watch on the cows and they seem to be maintaining weight.

I thought long and hard about doing this, but I would lose 1/3 of this years hay production if I don't. This drought here is the worst ever according to the weather service, and I'm really down to short term solutions. Asked around about buying early hay too, but everyones holding on to theirs, or asking so much for it I'd end up with something without even getting a kiss. .

I'm hoping for some kind of moisture by fall so I can plant some fescue and ryegrass to get through the winter with my limited raggely ol hay. Put a pencil to it, and seed will end up being a lot cheaper than buying hay..... of course assuming it rains........

That being said, I'm looking for ways to help a pasture recover quicker from my poor planning and management. Thanks already for the advice.

Brad

 

[Conagher]

Brad,

A lot of folks around my area faced the same decision over the last couple of years. The ones that seem to fared the best were the people who reduced their stocking rate to match the conditions before everyone else was forced to. You may want to look at selling a few head.

Good Luck.

 

[novatech]

Brad,

A lot of folks around my area faced the same decision over the last couple of years. The ones that seem to fared the best were the people who reduced their stocking rate to match the conditions before everyone else was forced to. You may want to look at selling a few head.

Good Luck.

Same here. Exactly what you said happened. The people that were not willing to sell stock now have the most beautiful wild flower fields I have seen in a long time. They are also still feeding hay and complaining about it.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Brad,

A lot of folks around my area faced the same decision over the last couple of years. The ones that seem to fared the best were the people who reduced their stocking rate to match the conditions before everyone else was forced to. You may want to look at selling a few head.

Good Luck.

Same here. Exactly what you said happened. The people that were not willing to sell stock now have the most beautiful wild flower fields I have seen in a long time. They are also still feeding hay and complaining about it.

Even the pastures that were not grazed in the past two year drought have filled with weeds. That happens after a drought. The hay is so deep it is falling over and it is still too wet to cut. Raining AGAIN.

 

[alabama]

I'm hoping for some kind of moisture by fall so I can plant some fescue and ryegrass to get through the winter with my limited raggely ol hay. Put a pencil to it, and seed will end up being a lot cheaper than buying hay..... of course assuming it rains........

I have found that ryegrass is great but it won't grow until spring. I can get much better "Winter" grazing from Rye. I would recomend that you plant rye this fall and mix in some good ryegrass. You can add clover too but you won't get much out of it until spring either. The best winter grazing I have found for middle Alabama is Rye like wintergrazer 70. Plant in mid to late November and when it gets up watch for army worms and give it some N when it starts growing.

 

[icandoit]

Whatever you do, don't disk it. I decided to disk 5 acres last fall just to see if I could get some better grass to come out in the spring. Thsi five acres has always been a kinda sore spot on my place so I didn't think I had much to lose. Well, I got good grass coming up in the spring but after a month or so, I noticed I had Senna Beans coming up. It was absolutely ugly after awhile. It got so bad that I couldn't even see the grass anymore. They were about a foot and a hlf high when I decided I needed to shread. Just finished doing it. I didn't put any herbicide on it, big mistake. Won't make the mistake again.

Good Luck and I hope you folks in the drought areas get some relief soon. Raisin cactus isn't a whole lot of fun.

Praying for Rain
Dick

 

[BC]

After having two years of dry weather here in East Texas, I can tell you do not wait too long to start culling and reducing your stocking rate. Dr. Ron Gill, Livestock specialist with Texas Cooperative Extension made the following recommendations to Texas producers:
" The first culls should be any spring or summer calving cow that does not have a calf at side. Normal rates of pregnancy loss and calf death loss will result in 5 to 15% of the cow herd meeting these culling criteria. If a cow calved last fall, winter or this spring and lost a calf, sell regardless of age or pregnancy status. This is no time to wait for next years income. This just accelerates recommended or normally practiced culling procedures. Also included in this first round of culling are replacement heifers that have been purchased or raised but not already in production. During drought, first calf
heifers will wean the lightest calves and have the lowest
rebreeding potential of any age class.
Removing replacement heifers (at a 15% replacement rate), will result in a 7 to 10% reduction in stocking rate and forage demand. Supplemental feed requirements will also be reduced because replacement heifers have high nutrient requirements. At this stage of culling, herd size can be reduced 12-25% without impacting this years weaned calf crop. Next, cull shortbred fall calving cows and long bred spring/summer calving cows. Few cows will meet these criteria unless the breeding season was extended last year due to dry conditions. In contrast, 5 to 15% of the cows may be identified as late-bred in herds with extended or year-round calving seasons. Palpation and identification of cows by stage of pregnancy will be required to use this culling practice. At this point, a 15 to 40% reduction in cow numbers can be attained without significantly impacting this year's weaned calf crop."

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

If you keep overgrazing it there will be 2 results. Lots of weeds and insufficient forage for the cows attempting to graze it. In the past drought ears we started feeding hay rathere then let the pasture be destroyed. We also cut way back on the stockin rate. If you seriously ovegraze the pasture it will take a lot longer to recover when you finally get growing conditions again

Amen! My thoughts exactly.I guess we have all "been there and done that".

 

[dun]

If you keep overgrazing it there will be 2 results. Lots of weeds and insufficient forage for the cows attempting to graze it. In the past drought ears we started feeding hay rathere then let the pasture be destroyed. We also cut way back on the stockin rate. If you seriously ovegraze the pasture it will take a lot longer to recover when you finally get growing conditions again

Amen! My thoughts exactly.I guess we have all "been there and done that".

It's just that some of us have learned (from experience) and others have to learn from experience for themselves.

 

[western]

I'm hoping for some kind of moisture by fall so I can plant some fescue and ryegrass to get through the winter with my limited raggely ol hay. Put a pencil to it, and seed will end up being a lot cheaper than buying hay..... of course assuming it rains........

I have found that ryegrass is great but it won't grow until spring. I can get much better "Winter" grazing from Rye. I would recomend that you plant rye this fall and mix in some good ryegrass. You can add clover too but you won't get much out of it until spring either. The best winter grazing I have found for middle Alabama is Rye like wintergrazer 70. Plant in mid to late November and when it gets up watch for army worms and give it some N when it starts growing.

You should contact Jimmy Ray at MSU. MSU has been studying and using chicory for 3 years now and have many of the other universities looking at it too (including Clemson). They have also found that by seeding Brassica in the fall you can get very high quality forage grazing by Nov. and graze it through Feb.

Give him a call.

 

[rmcva]

My first hay cutting was pretty bad due to the drought here. So I made a decision to keep my herd on the current pasture and try to get another cutting out of the one I took the hay off (Its a better hayfield). Well, I'm gonna try to make it till the end of June before I cut hay again and move the cattle onto it.

The problem is, is that the pasture the cattle are in now will be over grazed. After I move em,I'm hoping to keep the cows off the overgrazed pasture until Oct/Nov. Now. all that background so I can ask this question. Is there anyway to help stimulate regrowth (assuming it ever rains here again)in an overgrazed pasture? I was thinking about running a cultivator or disk over it to scratch it some. Just wondering what y'all would do.

Thanks,

I know different areas use different methods to get by in drought. The best money I spent was to fence off an area to use for winter feeding and summer drought feeding. I sew annual rye grass in the fall and crabgrass in May in that lot. Last summer I pulled the cows off the pastures the first day of June. Fed 3 and 4 year old hay with $125 per ton gluten/soy hull pellets for the month of June. Grazed July and back in the lot for August. That saved me from having to reseed the rest of the grass here. The rain started the first of Sept. and was back grazing by the last week in Sept. I spent some money for hay and feed but didn't have to reseed and was able to make some good stockpile fescue for winter.

 

[dun]

Strictly my opinion, but I think the hardest part of the adjustment to drought for most people is adjusting the stocking rate. People seem to be willing to spend money on hay but unwilling, generally, to down size the herd. Drought calls for some serious culling, down to the absolute minimum number of head. It gets harder the deeper you go until you're dipping into the replacements or special cows. Several years ago we cut down too only a few head and have slowly added more. We're only up to around 25 head of cows and replacements. This farm could support 75 head full time without having to buy hay, but we're still in the recovery mode forage wise from the preceeding 7-8 years of varying drought conditions.

 

[The Bachelor]

Thanks all for the comments. I took em all out to the pasture last night in my head and sat on the tailgate and just stared. Found three I could cull, two steers and one heifer thats kinda small. Trying to learn from others drought experience, but it sure is hard to let go.

Then I was looking at the pasture and wondering if I am overreacting. There is still some high grass probably 10% the rest has been eaten down to about an inch. I know you haven't seen it, but care to make any comments about it being overgrazed?

Thanks

 

[Limomike]

dun definitely makes a great point there. Alot of folks are willing to buy hay and keep their heads just for the sake of keeping them. Sometimes when it gets tough (like drought) you have to downsize; then rebuild back later when times get better. It is a tough thing to do though.

 

[BC]

Please get a culling plan in place soon. The longer you wait the deeper you will have to go. Besides, sell early while the animals have some flesh and will bring good prices. We saw people try to hold on last year and the cattle just got too weak to make it through some of the markets. Try to keep your 4 to 7 year old cows with calves. This is your base. The yearling replacement heifers will bring top money right now as feeders. If you keep them and the first calf heifers, you are keeping a class of cattle that have higher nutritional needs that you just cannot afford this year.

Consider sending those type of cattle to other areas that are getting rain to to be sold. If your area is that bad then everybody will be culling.

 

[forageconverter]

I don't know if it's a nation-wide rule of thumb, but in this area, people cull by the 'three O' rule: Old, Open, or Ornery. You might also consider early weaning all your claves and selling them. If you wait until the time everyone starts selling off, even your best, most productive cows will only sell as weigh cows, probably no higher than $0.40 per lb.

Plus, since you are in the worse drought ever according to the weather service, you will probably need to feed hay for twice as long as normal. Meaning, if you currently have 2/3 of your normal hay crop, you probably only have enough hay for 1/3 of your cattle, or I should say enough hay for 1/3 of your normal feed requirements, as a cow with a calf weaned off her will require less feed.

Culling can be hard to do, but, whether you are in a drought or not, culling is probably the most important practice a cattleman can do to remain profitable.