hillbilly beef man
Well-known member
I have a few questions for anyone who would care to help me out. First a little back ground. I bought 30 acres next to my house I am starting to fix up after years of neglect. The good: it has three different streams on it, so water is not a problem, I can bush hog the whole place with a 4wd, which is rare for around here, and all but two acres is in grass. The bad: the entire fence needs to be replaced, one four acre section scares the crap out of me when I bush hog it and takes forever, and there is two acres of white pine that needs to be cleared off.
Here is my plan. I have never used rotational grazing and I am thinking about trying it out here. I am considering sectioning the place off into three or four sections for rotational grazing. I am going to use high tensile electric. What I am trying to achieve with rotational grazing is a higher stocking rate and doing away with the need to clip my pastures, or at least keep me off of the steepest parts as much as possible. I would also like to build my fence so that I can incorporate goats into my rotation system if needed.
What my questions are
Question: #1 how much does rotation grazing allow you to increase your stocking rate? Here the average rate is a cow and a calf for an acre and a half. Would an acre to a pair be too much for my system? Ten acres of the place is flat enough to mow for hay, so I have also have the option of mowing the first cutting of hay off of it and then pasture it the rest of the year.
Question #2: Can you keep a place clean with just cattle and no clipping, or only clipping every few years with rotational grazing? Mainly I am trying to keep myself from clipping one section in particular.
Question #3: Would you build three paddocks or four? I can have up to four and still have a water source for each paddock.
Question # 4: Will a six strand high tensile with a hot charger keep in goats? I do not want them right now, but I would like to have the option of using them to follow the cattle to clean up the pasture if I need them. I might fence in the two acres of young white pines and see what they could do with it though. Thanks for any advice you can provide.
Here is a picture of the top of "pucker hill" looking down.
Here is a view looking from the side
This is the hill I want to stay off of with a tractor if at all possible. To give you some idea of the grade the trees are straight, and you can tell by the trees it has been several years since it has been clipped last.
Here is my plan. I have never used rotational grazing and I am thinking about trying it out here. I am considering sectioning the place off into three or four sections for rotational grazing. I am going to use high tensile electric. What I am trying to achieve with rotational grazing is a higher stocking rate and doing away with the need to clip my pastures, or at least keep me off of the steepest parts as much as possible. I would also like to build my fence so that I can incorporate goats into my rotation system if needed.
What my questions are
Question: #1 how much does rotation grazing allow you to increase your stocking rate? Here the average rate is a cow and a calf for an acre and a half. Would an acre to a pair be too much for my system? Ten acres of the place is flat enough to mow for hay, so I have also have the option of mowing the first cutting of hay off of it and then pasture it the rest of the year.
Question #2: Can you keep a place clean with just cattle and no clipping, or only clipping every few years with rotational grazing? Mainly I am trying to keep myself from clipping one section in particular.
Question #3: Would you build three paddocks or four? I can have up to four and still have a water source for each paddock.
Question # 4: Will a six strand high tensile with a hot charger keep in goats? I do not want them right now, but I would like to have the option of using them to follow the cattle to clean up the pasture if I need them. I might fence in the two acres of young white pines and see what they could do with it though. Thanks for any advice you can provide.
Here is a picture of the top of "pucker hill" looking down.
Here is a view looking from the side
This is the hill I want to stay off of with a tractor if at all possible. To give you some idea of the grade the trees are straight, and you can tell by the trees it has been several years since it has been clipped last.