Pastures: Are you a mower or sprayer

[M5farm]

There are more reason to ow then just keeping them pretty. 2 taht come to mind are to get the grass that hasn;t been grazed short before cut down to the point that the fall regrowth will happen so it can be stockpiled. That way the cows are wintering on more nutritious forage. The other reason is for the seed heads. We've had issues in the past with claves particularly but a few cows getting so many seeds (fescue) in their eyes that we had pinkeye issues. I discovered that clipping the seed heads when they start to shed is money well spent when the cost of treating calves and the attendant decrease in weaning weights is taken into consideration. But that's just me I guess.

That is a regional difference.we have bahaia and coastal as native grass. I can only speak to what I know for my region.

Yes spraying thisle in fall is recommend but in the spring you can get to them better because they start before the grass does. If you don't over graze and rotate fields the rosette will be small and hidden under the grass.

 

[Bigfoot]

Spray only. It's as cheap, maybe cheaper than clipping. Plus you kill it, not just shorten it.

Bigfoot your pasture is wonderful. How do you avoid killing the good broadleafs?

I'm blessed with cheap labor. The kids have to comb the pastures on their 4 wheelers spot spraying the bad stuff. When you spray long enough, weeds become less, and less of a problem.

 

[Dawgfarmer]

I'm both. I control weeds by spraying whether spot spraying or covering whole pasture. I do clip pastures as well. I do this if I have too few of cattle on a pasture and grass gets away from them it gets tough and they find tender grasses and leave all the tough grass. I also keep it clipped to help keep risk of pink eye.

Ditto. To a T. Only to add that I try to wait as long as I can, when I can to avoid taking out my clover.

 

[branguscowgirl]

There are more reason to ow then just keeping them pretty. 2 taht come to mind are to get the grass that hasn;t been grazed short before cut down to the point that the fall regrowth will happen so it can be stockpiled. That way the cows are wintering on more nutritious forage. The other reason is for the seed heads. We've had issues in the past with claves particularly but a few cows getting so many seeds (fescue) in their eyes that we had pinkeye issues. I discovered that clipping the seed heads when they start to shed is money well spent when the cost of treating calves and the attendant decrease in weaning weights is taken into consideration. But that's just me I guess.

I mow for the reasons that Dun has mentioned above in addition to getting down the Dalis grass before it goes to seed. (Avoiding the fungus on the seed heads.) The cows will eat it when it's short but not after it gets tall. Also the same idea works for strengthening the grass roots. The stronger grass chokes out the type of weed that I have. And mowing has accomplished that just fine.
It also spreads the manure nicely, creating more fertilizer and grazing. The cows don't eat where they crap otherwise.

 

[inyati13]

Spray only. It's as cheap, maybe cheaper than clipping. Plus you kill it, not just shorten it.

Bigfoot your pasture is wonderful. How do you avoid killing the good broadleafs?

I'm blessed with cheap labor. The kids have to comb the pastures on their 4 wheelers spot spraying the bad stuff. When you spray long enough, weeds become less, and less of a problem.

Thanks bigfoot. I have been considering going back to Africa sometime. The next time I go, I will bring some natives back with me. They can live in the hay loft of my barn. Then, I will have my own source of cheap labor. And it would beat the he$$ out of the local county labor. :D

Seriously, it has crossed my mind to assist the emigration of a native of say Zimbabwe. They are the best cattle stewarts anywhere in the world. They live with their cattle. I have a friend near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe who has cattle and sheep. He says you never have to worry. The hired local help takes care of the stock like it was their children. The African places his cattle above his wife!!!!

 

[inyati13]

Spray only. It's as cheap, maybe cheaper than clipping. Plus you kill it, not just shorten it.

Bigfoot your pasture is wonderful. How do you avoid killing the good broadleafs?

Looks like we have a convert.

Not yet. :D I have 80 acres on steep hillsides. I don't think I can manage that on my own by spot spraying.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

You need a boom sprayer Inyati. Covers a lot more ground. That's where the Grazon and Pasture Pro come in. Kill the bad and leave the good.

Of course if I had a tractor like yours I'd be looking for an excuse to crank it up too!

 

[Caustic Burno]

You need a boom sprayer Inyati. Covers a lot more ground. That's where the Grazon and Pasture Pro come in. Kill the bad and leave the good.

Of course if I had a tractor like yours I'd be looking for an excuse to crank it up too!

I like this spray head the best very common around here.
Don't have to worry about booms with all the trees.
http://agrimart.net/extra-wide-flat-spr ... Ap2D8P8HAQ

 

[Caustic Burno]

There are more reason to ow then just keeping them pretty. 2 taht come to mind are to get the grass that hasn;t been grazed short before cut down to the point that the fall regrowth will happen so it can be stockpiled. That way the cows are wintering on more nutritious forage. The other reason is for the seed heads. We've had issues in the past with claves particularly but a few cows getting so many seeds (fescue) in their eyes that we had pinkeye issues. I discovered that clipping the seed heads when they start to shed is money well spent when the cost of treating calves and the attendant decrease in weaning weights is taken into consideration. But that's just me I guess.

I mow for the reasons that Dun has mentioned above in addition to getting down the Dalis grass before it goes to seed. (Avoiding the fungus on the seed heads.) The cows will eat it when it's short but not after it gets tall. Also the same idea works for strengthening the grass roots. The stronger grass chokes out the type of weed that I have. And mowing has accomplished that just fine.
It also spreads the manure nicely, creating more fertilizer and grazing. The cows don't eat where they crap otherwise.

Your brain would explode here then worrying about seed heads.
That is all the primary grass in the southern part of the country is.
Bahia is king.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

. The African places his cattle above his wife!!!!

:lol: sounds just like you Ron ;-)

Hehehehe

 

[Brute 23]

Not yet. :D I have 80 acres on steep hillsides. I don't think I can manage that on my own by spot spraying.

When people are "spot spraying" its usually patches of weeds here or there or for brush control like huisatche or mesquite. If the whole 80ac ac needs to be sprayed you can get a boom truck out.

We have cleared several hundreds acres by spraying. It usually begins with shredding the brush low enough to get the boom truck over it. Then we start boom spraying annually while spot spraying large bushes that come back after the boom spray. It usually takes 2-3 years to see a noticeable difference. 3-5 to convert mostly brush to grass. It very important to not shred during that 5 yrs.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I am a mower. The only thing that gets sprayed is MF roses. I beleive that it is a regional difference on who uses what. We are in the fescue belt and it does much better if I can clip it in early august.

 

[greybeard]

It's very important not to mow in that 5 years

VERY important. One mowing can negate all your past spray efforts if the invasive is sweetgum, tallow or greenbriar.
No amount of mowing will kill or control those species, in fact according to TAMU and any number of other South East US university studies, mowing only encourages both growth and additional propagation. Mow a single tallow, and where that one was, it will sprout back out in a big multi stemmed plant, sending 1/2 doz or more shoots up from just below ground.

In this picture, the tallow in the foreground is how they normally come up--single stemmed or single trunked.
The tall trees in the background show what happens if you mow them when they are young--note almost all of them have multi stemmed trunks.

Here's one that came up in a crack in a sidewalk, was cut down by the city, and returned 10 fold.

Another one that was cut down and came back in a big clump:

Sweet gum and green briar are the same way and it doesn't matter how much or how good a stand of grass or other forage you have, theses invasive perennials WILL come back--if not in a few weeks, next spring for sure if you just mow them.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Neither. We MIG, so we have no major issues with weeds. What the cows do not eat, they lay on or stomp down. About the only problem we have is with Plantain, and the cows eat that too!
We do spray the fence lines, for blackberry, buckbrush, and poison ivy. Oh, and multiflora rose...

Then what is that tractor doing pulling a rotary mower around on your pastures that you posted on your facebook this summer. What about the times we exchanged texts and you told me you needed to clip pasture? Are you having recall problems??? :D

Gee Ron, are you stalking me? ;-) That was our bull pasture, which is about 3 acres and he is the only one in there so the grass gets out of hand. But that is it.... one little pasture with not enough pressure on it... maybe once a year. :clap:

 

[TexasBred]

Sweet gum and green briar are the same way and it doesn't matter how much or how good a stand of grass or other forage you have, theses invasive perennials WILL come back--if not in a few weeks, next spring for sure if you just mow them.

Whoever brought that Tallow over here should be hung. And I've yet to find a use for sweet gum although I hear they use to make cross ties out of some.

 

[hurleyjd]

Sweet gum and green briar are the same way and it doesn't matter how much or how good a stand of grass or other forage you have, theses invasive perennials WILL come back--if not in a few weeks, next spring for sure if you just mow them.

Whoever brought that Tallow over here should be hung. And I've yet to find a use for sweet gum although I hear they use to make cross ties out of some.

Here is the history of the Chinese tallow tree and how and why it got here. Could it be commercial viaible now for any reason.
http://www.plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_trse6.pdf

 

[dun]

Locust is the same way. You cut it while it's live and anywhere that there is a node on a root will send up another tree.

 

[TexasBred]

Sweet gum and green briar are the same way and it doesn't matter how much or how good a stand of grass or other forage you have, theses invasive perennials WILL come back--if not in a few weeks, next spring for sure if you just mow them.

Whoever brought that Tallow over here should be hung. And I've yet to find a use for sweet gum although I hear they use to make cross ties out of some.

Here is the history of the Chinese tallow tree and how and why it got here. Could it be commercial viaible now for any reason.
http://www.plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_trse6.pdf

Sounds like they could be a good fuel source for these new bio-mass power plants.

 

[branguscowgirl]

One other thing that I did not mention as to why we mow here. When we flood irrigate it is too difficult to see the water level at night when the grass is too high moving from check to check. And it slows the flow drastically. Much better quality of feed coming up down below all that tall stuff that the cows are eating around anyway.
I agree, it all depends on where you are located and what is growing in your pastures. No one can say that their management practices are going to be better for another.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Not yet. :D I have 80 acres on steep hillsides. I don't think I can manage that on my own by spot spraying.

If you can mow up and down you can spray a heck of a lot easier.
Here you one just like mine if the tractor fits so does the sprayer.
http://www.nationwidewholesaledirect.co ... 111839.htm