Re-growing pasture grass

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hid1375

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Hi all
My grandparents have about 7 herefords grazing on about two, two acres. I was doing some research this morning and saw a guy online plant his field with orchard grass and alfalfa, but he planted rye first. He did this in the spring, harvested the rye in the fall with a combine, baled the straw, and then let the alflafa and orchard grass regrow but he baled it after. Does this work for animals to graze? What would be the best course of action and if so, should i still do a cover crop with rye? I wouldnt mind doing this as I wouldnt mind harvest the rye to save on poultry feed and baling the straw. Let me know!
Thank you!
 
Hi @hid1375. Welcome to the forum! Would you please add your location to your profile as it will help immensely.

You are trying/doing WAY TOO MUCH with just 2 acres! You haven't given enough information for anyone to help, other than I can tell you your cattle numbers are WAY too high or you need a lot more acres, for any kind of grazing system anyway.

How big are the animals? How long is the grazing season for them? Are they all destined for slaughter or are they kept to have offspring and the calves sold?

Typically, you can't graze a single cow/animal on less than 2 acres in the eastern half of the United States on a year round basis. In the Northeast, its more like 2.5 to 3 acres. In the southeast, there are cases where you cab get by on 1.5 acres per cow. Each cow in this scenario weighs roughly 1,000 lbs. However, the average cow today weighs 1,200 to 1,250 lbs.

Its impossible to grow enough forage for grazing on 2 acres for 7 cows. Let alone be able to cut hay and straw off of it as well. And you would not want to own hay equipment to harvest hay on only 2 acres. You'd be WAY, WAY, WAY ahead to just buy the hay. The equipment would cost considerably more than the value of the hay you would harvest.

We can/will help you. Lets take this a little bit at a time. It doesn't seem you know or realize, and many people don't, but the mix of goals and resources you list here aren't compatible in the slightest. However, I have read a grazing plan written by a fellow grazing specialist (so self described) that made the same mistakes in his written recommendation that you have listed here. (7 cows, 20 hogs, 25 goats,...... on a total of 6.5 acres). I was asked how to implement the plan for that. My reply was: "Throw the plan away and let me work with the producer to come up with something workable."
 
Hi @hid1375. Welcome to the forum! Would you please add your location to your profile as it will help immensely.

You are trying/doing WAY TOO MUCH with just 2 acres! You haven't given enough information for anyone to help, other than I can tell you your cattle numbers are WAY too high or you need a lot more acres, for any kind of grazing system anyway.

How big are the animals? How long is the grazing season for them? Are they all destined for slaughter or are they kept to have offspring and the calves sold?

Typically, you can't graze a single cow/animal on less than 2 acres in the eastern half of the United States on a year round basis. In the Northeast, its more like 2.5 to 3 acres. In the southeast, there are cases where you cab get by on 1.5 acres per cow. Each cow in this scenario weighs roughly 1,000 lbs. However, the average cow today weighs 1,200 to 1,250 lbs.

Its impossible to grow enough forage for grazing on 2 acres for 7 cows. Let alone be able to cut hay and straw off of it as well. And you would not want to own hay equipment to harvest hay on only 2 acres. You'd be WAY, WAY, WAY ahead to just buy the hay. The equipment would cost considerably more than the value of the hay you would harvest.

We can/will help you. Lets take this a little bit at a time. It doesn't seem you know or realize, and many people don't, but the mix of goals and resources you list here aren't compatible in the slightest. However, I have read a grazing plan written by a fellow grazing specialist (so self described) that made the same mistakes in his written recommendation that you have listed here. (7 cows, 20 hogs, 25 goats,...... on a total of 6.5 acres). I was asked how to implement the plan for that. My reply was: "Throw the plan away and let me work with the producer to come up with something workable."
I already have some haying equipment i got for extremely cheap, but we also have a second property with 4 acres they are sometimes moved too. They are also supplemented with hay and grain daily. Its just that the pastures havent been reseeded for a couple decades to be honest. The other 4 acres have great grazing which is where they would be moved to when we reseed them. I would say we usually have 7 at max at a time, but at most time, we have 5, we have 2 that can be sent to slaughter pretty soon. I have a combine and baler as well, doing the cover crop isnt essential but i just thought itd be nice to save a bit on feed and bedding with it while also keeping the weeds down
 
Where are you located? That is a pretty amazing stocking rate.
Im in Northampton Pa

The ground their grazing on is pretty spent and we supplement a lot with hay and grain, probably a bale a day for every 2 cows. we have 2 bulls, two cows, 2 steers, and 1 young heifer. The bulls usually transfer over to the other property when we dont want them breeding or when they already are with a calf

In the past we really never had issues with overgrazing and weve been doing this for years, I'm 20 and I havent and Ive never seen them fertilize, lime, or reseed the pastures. I am not against plowing, discing, and reseeding all over again though for them. i have a drop spreader with grass box, not a drill or anything though.
 
Why 2 bulls? At most you only need one for the two cows. It would be better if you could borrow or lease a bull or use ai though.
 
Why 2 bulls? At most you only need one for the two cows. It would be better if you could borrow or lease a bull or use ai though.
we are more doing it for homesteading and a hobby, the one bull is getting pretty old and we are planning to retire him pretty soon, the other is only about 2 years old, I think this may be the others last year for us this coming year
 
This thread has a lot going on. Why so much equipment with so few acres? Why 2 bulls? How is having this many on so few acres sustainable long term? I'm really curious how a combine came into play with a few acres? Don't take my questions as criticism, I'm genuinely curious.
 
Are these miniature Herefords by chance?
No they are regular herefords, I only listed the acres we use for pasture, we have other acres for growing crops, the ones we use for hay and grain, I have consistently fertilized the hay fields with manure so they havent had much issues regrowing. The one bull is going to be retired soon and the other is a new one. We havent had issues with the fields not producing enough for the cattle as we usually give them hay and grain.

Would doing the plan i listed in the thread starter be good for pasture grass?
 
No they are regular herefords, I only listed the acres we use for pasture, we have other acres for growing crops, the ones we use for hay and grain, I have consistently fertilized the hay fields with manure so they havent had much issues regrowing. The one bull is going to be retired soon and the other is a new one. We havent had issues with the fields not producing enough for the cattle as we usually give them hay and grain.

Would doing the plan i listed in the thread starter be good for pasture grass?
we turn the cows out onto fields that where freshly harvested from corn and on a second field we grow winter wheat on when they first start to emerge, but for 3/4 if the year, they are on regular pasture
 
they are grazing on 4 acres in total at the moment, two fields that are two acres big, we have an additional 4 acre pasture land 3 miles down the road they sometimes stay at. In total they all graze on 8 acres of pasture field a year. In mid fall - early winter, they graze on another 2 acre field of winter wheat and another 3 1/2 acre of harvested corn ground
 
@hid1375, I work for the USDA NRCS (United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service) I have written over 300 grazing management plans within the state of Ohio. I want to help you. That said, I'm not going to tell you what to do.

Roughly speaking, in order to graze your animals (7 bovines) on a year round basis, you typically need roughly 2.5 acres per animal on average. If you are supplementing with hay during parts of the year or there is a period of several months that the animals are kept in confinement, the acreage will change. Look at "The four never fail rules of grazing" threads on this forum. I did write them. They have gotten positive comments and accolades from BC Canada, have been published nationally in "On Pasture", and I have nearly been accused of plagiarism for citing/using them when someone was familiar with them and didn't realize who I was.

I'm confused (or I'm wondering if you know what you are looking at or understand the term. I don't mean any offense and I'm sorry in advance) when you say in one sentence that "the ground is pretty spent" and in the next sentence you say "we really never had issues with overgrazing". If you would, look at the 4 never fail rules and see if they fit your pastures. This phrase might help as well: "If your pasture grass hides a soft ball, it's in good shape. If you can see a golf ball, you're in trouble."
 
Im in Northampton Pa

The ground their grazing on is pretty spent and we supplement a lot with hay and grain, probably a bale a day for every 2 cows. we have 2 bulls, two cows, 2 steers, and 1 young heifer. The bulls usually transfer over to the other property when we dont want them breeding or when they already are with a calf

In the past we really never had issues with overgrazing and weve been doing this for years, I'm 20 and I havent and Ive never seen them fertilize, lime, or reseed the pastures. I am not against plowing, discing, and reseeding all over again though for them. i have a drop spreader with grass box, not a drill or anything though.
If you go to your profile and click on it, you can put a location on it so people don't have to ask every time they talk to you. It's the polite thing to do.

And seeding 2 acres that are going to be overgrazed will be an exercise in futility.
 
If you go to your profile and click on it, you can put a location on it so people don't have to ask every time they talk to you. It's the polite thing to do.

And seeding 2 acres that are going to be overgrazed will be an exercise in futility.
im sorry, its 4 acres, two plots of two acres, but its 2 of several pastures they graze on
 
@hid1375, I work for the USDA NRCS (United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service) I have written over 300 grazing management plans within the state of Ohio. I want to help you. That said, I'm not going to tell you what to do.

Roughly speaking, in order to graze your animals (7 bovines) on a year round basis, you typically need roughly 2.5 acres per animal on average. If you are supplementing with hay during parts of the year or there is a period of several months that the animals are kept in confinement, the acreage will change. Look at "The four never fail rules of grazing" threads on this forum. I did write them. They have gotten positive comments and accolades from BC Canada, have been published nationally in "On Pasture", and I have nearly been accused of plagiarism for citing/using them when someone was familiar with them and didn't realize who I was.

I'm confused (or I'm wondering if you know what you are looking at or understand the term. I don't mean any offense and I'm sorry in advance) when you say in one sentence that "the ground is pretty spent" and in the next sentence you say "we really never had issues with overgrazing". If you would, look at the 4 never fail rules and see if they fit your pastures. This phrase might help as well: "If your pasture grass hides a soft ball, it's in good shape. If you can see a golf ball, you're in trouble."
I would say I could see a golf ball but thats also because its on a slight hillside, I like that idea but it is hard to gauge, the ground is not on my property so I will try to take some pictures next time I go. But 7 is the max we have at a time, next year we will probably have 5 in the summer. but they do graze on multiple pastures. I am sorry for the mix up in the beginning, I meant two pastures that are 2 acres, they are grazing on 4 acres at the moment, we have an additional 4 acres on my grandparents property that is in good shape that they will also graze on, and two other plots for the mid-late fall to early winter which is a harvested corn plot and winter wheat plot, they arent on this other land that I am talking about 24/7 which is why I would be okay with plowing and discing because I would have time to reseed it properly.
 
Would you be interested in doing some temporary wire and doing more of a rotational thing? You could really stretch it out while improving it at the same time. Weekly moves or something maybe. You'd potentially be able to hide basketballs in your pasture. 😃

Takes a little bit more work though... but not too bad. Some find it enjoyable.
 
Would you be interested in doing some temporary wire and doing more of a rotational thing? You could really stretch it out while improving it at the same time. Weekly moves or something maybe. You'd potentially be able to hide basketballs in your pasture. 😃

Takes a little bit more work though... but not too bad. Some find it enjo
I do like that idea, I am just not sure if these pastures have much to recover from, although I could be wrong, we took them off those pastures for a few months and didnt see much change or regrowth, we saw a bit but not enough, they seem pretty weedy
 

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