Red clover comes through again + some weaned calves (pics)

[SRBeef]

As it seems I am going to be short of hay come spring (as are a lot of folks), depending on what sort of winter we have, I am trying to use every last bit of grazing I can. It was in the 25 degree (F) range last night so the days are limited for anything much green to graze.

Since we have had finally some rain recently, I have been surprised to see how the red clover has come on for one last spurt before winter. I put up some hot wire around my stored winter hay bales and let the cows in this area to clean up what they can. I think they thought they had gone to cow heaven the way they grazed the clover when I let them in!

Interseeded clover really seems to help when the grass needs help in the summer and tail end of the season now. I figure every day I don't put out hay will really help come March and April. Here is a pic of a couple cows on the clover this evening. Their udders are full because of weaning this past week and haven't started to dry up yet. Just one cow still bellowing though, rest are focused on the clover...

I am also making a point of walking around the weaning calves whenever I can to calm them down. I put out some good hay and even turned the partially hollowed out bale for them this evening. About the hay on the ground around the cradle - I shook most of the green stuff out flipping the bale over. This is not typical and they will cleanup most of it. I flipped the bale to make it easier for them to get into the usually tight bales and make sure they are getting enough hay now that mom and milk are gone. Here are a couple pics of one group of calves as I walked around the feeder. I am pleased with the calves this year.

I have been giving them a bucket of sweet feed to help gentle them and get them coming to me, however they seem much more interested in the hay. Developing a sweet tooth sure helps when trying to get them into the corral later.

Jim

 

[3waycross]

They look good. What was your avg weaning weight on your calves?

 

[Caustic Burno]

Those are nice as good as I have seen in a long time.

 

[SRBeef]

They look good. What was your avg weaning weight on your calves?

Weights were down a bit from last year, probably due to drought although I have got rid of some larger cows. 205 day AWW avg from Cattlemax for this spring's calves is 582 lb for the steers and 518 lb for the heifers. Last year steers were a bit over 600 lb.

These are mostly commercials but getting closer to what I am looking for as discussed recently in the Star Lake thread.

Thanks all for the kind words.

Jim

 

[3waycross]

Funny that's about the same WW's my friend in the shortgrass country in eastern Colo gets on straight herfs. The grass out there is very rarely over 3 to 4 in tall but much higher in nutrients. FWIW his cattle will have to travel a mile or more to water twice a day. Sometimes i think they walk off more than they gain, but you should see em on a good grass year when the gramma is headed out they gain like they are in the feedlot!

 

[HOSS]

That is a super nice batch of calves SR. Excellent job. I hope your hay holds out. I know how it feels to be going into winter on the short side. Whatever you are doing is working. Those are some fine looking herfs.

 

[SRBeef]

Funny that's about the same WW's my friend in the shortgrass country in eastern Colo gets on straight herfs. The grass out there is very rarely over 3 to 4 in tall but much higher in nutrients. FWIW his cattle will have to travel a mile or more to water twice a day. Sometimes i think they walk off more than they gain, but you should see em on a good grass year when the gramma is headed out they gain like they are in the feedlot!

I have been thinking about this AWW avg question since you asked. My AWW avg is down from last year. The grass this year is nowhere like it was last in SW WI. That is part of the drop.

However I am decreasing the avg mature cow weight in my herd. Even though I am striving for a herd of cows that wean a 205 day AWW calf of 50% of the cows wt at weaning, If my avg cow wt is going down so will my AWW avg per calf.

After thinking about it though, what is a more important number is the TOTAL AWW per acre. After all, that is the reason for reducing my avg cow wt, to be able to support more cow numbers per acre. In the end while my AWW per calf may go down slightly with a shift to smaller cows, as I can then increase the number of cows I can carry per acre.

Seems like with my shift to 1200-1300 lb longer, lower cows, it is going to take a bit of a paradigm shift in my thinking away from trying to raise just the heaviest calves to trying to raise the most pounds of calves per acre.

Don't know if I have explained it clearly. I still want cows that will wean a 205 day calf at 50%+ of their own weight but the total pounds of calf weaned per acre is the key number for me in the future.

fwiw. Jim

 

[3waycross]

Well Jim all i can say is the cows look great and the calves are real nice. You must be doing something right!

 

[shaz]

Your doing much better with red clover than I am.

 

[SRBeef]

Maybe it's a climate difference? Quite a difference in climate and soils between middle TN and sw WI. I buy very good "persistent" inoculated (and expensive) red clover seed from a company in LaCrosse, WI.

Is there another clover which might be better for TN? I have seen videos recommending white clover for TX.

Jim

 

[shaz]

Maybe it's a climate difference? Quite a difference in climate and soils between middle TN and sw WI. I buy very good "persistent" inoculated (and expensive) red clover seed from a company in LaCrosse, WI.

Is there another clover which might be better for TN? I have seen videos recommending white clover for TX.

Jim

It's white clover. Red is recommended as well but I haven't had much luck with it.