It is hard to tell people what to do with there property!
I agree..... BUT when they come to you, and ask your opinion, and you give them some options... and then you do what you say you will do and things start to improve from what it was like when they bought it... in the one case, it was overgrazed, weedy, looked HORRIBLE and neglected...not been bush hogged or anything for years, and in the nearly 10 years, in the beginning of the lease; you have reclaimed it with judicious use and rest, and haying and fertilizing and spraying, and such... and then they decide, oh, it needs to be cut off for hay or this grass is better for grazing because it is a hot weather grass... and this whole "I have done research on it"...... and procedes to get certain parts of two fields put into this hot weather tolerant grass... even though one place they put it is in the lowest area with alot of trees so not exactly where it is hottest..and the other place is fenced off and along the road and no trees or other areas for relief from the sun.... and then do not do any type of fertilizing after the first year and it is "supposed to spread and fill in inbetween all the clumps with tillers"...and this is something we had to lose from the grazing area, while it "got established" and then expected us to do the bush hogging to keep it in a vegetative state... and after a meeting this summer, I tried to explain that the cattle do not even like it and that it gets way too fibrous and tough to eat, way too quick ; and it cannot be grazed like the rest of the pasture; it requires a different management... and it is a CLUMP GRASS and it will not look like the hayfield that is nice and even growth over all of it...and we are NOT going to be bush hogging or clipping it every 2 months either.... and I REFUSE to put my cattle in a field that has NO SHADE in the summer.... when we have 90-95 degree days, with the hot sun beating down, I will not force my animals to go without shade. They can do the bulk of their grazing in the cooler hours and they DO NOT HAVE to prove to me how tough they are out there in the heat. If they CHOOSE to graze during the heat of the day, God bless them. if they laze in the shade during the heat and are out there again late afternoon and graze into the night... that is perfectly acceptable... If they stay fat and happy, raise a calf and breed back, they can graze in whatever pattern they want... but they will not be limited to these fields without shade from the summer sun, even for a week or 2....
So yep.... their land, they can do what they want... BUT after doing exactly what we said we would do, and improving it so that the ground is productive and looks well cared for, now they have both "retired" and done research into this and that and the other, they have become more knowledgeable of what will work and what should be done.... yet, you never see any of them at the extension sponsored programs on forages or grazing or anything...
We go to all that we can... and try to continue to learn... and don't throw out what works while trying something else in a small spot..... and work with the cattle to make their life a little more comfortable and enjoyable...and make us a little profit at the same time...
