rotational grazing pics

[LuckyLegs]

This is my first year doing rotational grazing exclusively, and all I can say is wow - it is amazing how much the pastures are already improving. We have been blessed with abundant rain so far, but come Aug and Sep when things start to get dry and growth slows down, I am hoping rot grazing will really start to shine by allowing me to stockpile. Predominantly Bahia with Bermuda here and there.

grass that has not been grazed yet this year

polywire and pigtail posts creating temp paddock

same paddock 3 days later -

What has been most eye-opening to me has been the reduction in re-growth of weeds when the grazed paddocks recover. I try to clip the grazed paddocks within 3-4 days of being grazed and I find this helps with weeds as well.

grass to left of pic is 3 weeks after grazing, grass to the right is 2 weeks, you can kinda see the difference in height

2 weeks post-grazing

3 weeks post-grazing

5 weeks post-grazing

I am really curious to see how far this winter I can go before I will have to feed hay. The toughest thing to get figured out is how to get water to them and trying to keep some shade available - in the few paddocks that are shadeless, the cows panted alot and some were kinda foaming at the mouth - which makes me think about trying a few red cows vs black in this Louisiana heat, or adding some more ear, or both. As is typical in spring & early summer, I cold use 3x the number of cows I have now, but will be singing a different tune come Jan.

 

[agmantoo]

LuckyLegs
I make it all year on no hay. There is no reason you shouldn't also. Be prepared to start your cool season forage as early as late August. Enjoyed your pics.

 

[canoetrpr]

Great pics. We have just started our little herd this year and I was worried about the carrying capacity of our land. We are doing rotational grazing and spent quite a bit to get setup with perimeter hot wire around our permanent fence and temporary wire and so on. The guy who set me up is an expert in management intensive rotational grazing and also set up a watering system with a 3/4" poly pipe and quick attaches running to my paddocks.

The grass has done incredibly well. I have one or two paddocks that are very very wet in the spring so I have only gotten the cows back there over the last couple of weeks. Heck I could have gotten a hay crop from those two paddocks! There was so much to go around.

I too have found that clipping the paddocks after grazing is best. Helps with the weeds quite a bit.

I have the same issue with you with two paddocks out of the 5 having nearly no shade. I have Galloways. We just had a heat wave here and temperatures got to 34 degrees Celcius in the afternoon. That is about the hottest it gets here. Some rain has finally cooled things down in the last couple of days. They cows seemed to handle it fine - they were in a paddock with no shade. I'm trying to come up with something to allow a few paddocks to share a walkway that will take them to some shade though.

Right now on 8 or so acres of pasture I have 4 cows, 4 calves and 1 bull. Given how things have been this year, I think that I could have done fine with 2x the cows. Certainly will have no problem retaining the two lovely heifer calves I have and the two bull calves who will be steered for beef, along with next years calves.

 

[lakeportfarms]

Great pics. We have just started our little herd this year and I was worried about the carrying capacity of our land. We are doing rotational grazing and spent quite a bit to get setup with perimeter hot wire around our permanent fence and temporary wire and so on. The guy who set me up is an expert in management intensive rotational grazing and also set up a watering system with a 3/4" poly pipe and quick attaches running to my paddocks.

The grass has done incredibly well. I have one or two paddocks that are very very wet in the spring so I have only gotten the cows back there over the last couple of weeks. Heck I could have gotten a hay crop from those two paddocks! There was so much to go around.

I too have found that clipping the paddocks after grazing is best. Helps with the weeds quite a bit.

I have the same issue with you with two paddocks out of the 5 having nearly no shade. I have Galloways. We just had a heat wave here and temperatures got to 34 degrees Celcius in the afternoon. That is about the hottest it gets here. Some rain has finally cooled things down in the last couple of days. They cows seemed to handle it fine - they were in a paddock with no shade. I'm trying to come up with something to allow a few paddocks to share a walkway that will take them to some shade though.

Right now on 8 or so acres of pasture I have 4 cows, 4 calves and 1 bull. Given how things have been this year, I think that I could have done fine with 2x the cows. Certainly will have no problem retaining the two lovely heifer calves I have and the two bull calves who will be steered for beef, along with next years calves.

Canoetrpr,

You mentioned about just starting your herd....Be careful about your stocking rate, we are in Michigan, not so far away from you, and its been an exceptional year for grass until the last week or two when it got hot and dry. Hay is plentiful and cheap, prices are higher, and people are retaining many of their numbers because it has been so good this year. It may be a different story the rest of the year or next year, then you will be feeding expensive hay and trying to unload your cattle along with everybody else that is worried about having enough grass or hay to feed. The numbers you are already running seem high for an average year, as they calves grow they'll consume more.

 

[andybob]

Lucky Legs, have you done any Holistic Management courses, or just basic rotational grazing?
The best British breed for hot conditions, but still has a good winter coat, is the Sussex, there are a few herds in the USA, they are very popular in Southern African states, where they are popular for crossing with Sanga and Indicus breeds.

 

[canoetrpr]

Thanks Andy. I will certainly take it one step at a time. Wish I had much more land than this to run however many head I wanted! I expect rotational grazing will let me make the best use of what I do have.

 

[pdfangus]

I have been doing rotational grazing for several years so I already had a basic poddock system.

this year I am trying managment intensive and moving them every day. the first couple of paddocks grazed intenively came back beautifully and I will begin my second grazing of them next week.

but the drought has hit and I estimate that I have 30 days grazing left as nothing is regrowing now.

however all around me are feeding hay and have been for weeks while I have 30 days grass left.

having had an established paddock system I let my cows use the same shade and rest areas that they were using for years. Yes I do lose the benefit of some of the manure that I would like to see in the fields but they do stay out there all night and I see increased manure deposition due to area limitations.

we have 100 degree temps and heat indexs that are nearly unbearable so I think it wise to provide shade for any color animal. Ny neighbors red cows do not spend much more time grazing than my black ones and they are all forted up in the shade when the sun is baking.

Having a drought year for my first year of MIG is disheartening but it has already proven itself to me.

 

[LuckyLegs]

I guess what I do is more MIG than plain rot grazing - I typically move padocks every 1-2 days, I make the decision to move based on how much forage is left. This weekend I kinda redid my temp lanes a little so that the cattle will always have access to a shaded spot- the downside is this area will soon become trampled down to dirt, but at least they can get out of the sun.

The pastures are mainly Bahia, and I do not know how well it stockpiles, but I am gonna experiment with stockpiling it and grazing this winter. I will have hay on-hand incase.

 

[pdfangus]

I should add to my previous post that I already have a lane and the water points are along the lane so they have to go to fixed points for water anyway. there is shade between the water points and the grass .

also i am small numbers and small acerage.

 

[andybob]

I first used short duration grazing system in 1975 in Rhodesia on native bushveld, I used a "wagon wheel" system of paddocks based on the local "Savory grazing system". The carrying capacity increased by 300% in 24 months.
I used a similar system when I lived in NC, using an electric fence to allow 1 days grazing each morning, when the drought began 3 years ago, hay went above the $100.00 per bale! my grazing held out a further 2 months, afetr which I had access to a large field which was overgrown with rough grazing having been out of cultivation for several years. Having cattle that graze throughout the heat of day and good converters of rough grazing fitted in with the environmental conditions.

 

[pdfangus]

I guess what I do is more MIG than plain rot grazing - I typically move padocks every 1-2 days, I make the decision to move based on how much forage is left. This weekend I kinda redid my temp lanes a little so that the cattle will always have access to a shaded spot- the downside is this area will soon become trampled down to dirt, but at least they can get out of the sun.

The pastures are mainly Bahia, and I do not know how well it stockpiles, but I am gonna experiment with stockpiling it and grazing this winter. I will have hay on-hand incase.

CAN NOT ADVISE ON BAHIA AS WE DO NOT HAVE IT

I can say that cattle that love bermuda when it is green resist eating it after it is frosted. Bermuda is my summer savior but after frost it is mostly food for the worms. Fortunatley we have a mix of bermuda and cool season that in the last few years is favoring the bermuda especially on southern exposures.

 

[canoetrpr]

I am very much a newbie to this so help me all you can.

I have 2 permanent paddocks (front and back). Each is 1.5 acres. Front paddock is divided with temp electric into 2. Back paddock is divided with temp electric into 3.

Both my front sub-paddocks have access to shade through trees. I have water out in the paddocks and so the cattle are not let into my barnyard. They are both relatively dry once late spring has passed. The first of my rear sub-paddocks has a lot of shade and has access to the barnyard. Not particularly the most fertile paddock. Bit rocky. It is very dry though.

The last two rear sub-paddocks are in a very wet area and have zero shade. They both have water piped to them. The first time they were dry enough to let my cows graze was about 10 days ago. By now the grass is quite tall there. They grazed one for 7 days but there is a TON of more grass there. I moved them to the next one a couple of days ago and clipped the one that they grazed. Wasted a lot of good grass. I find that clipping is essential though to keep the weeds out.

On average, I find that I am moving no sooner than 7 days from each paddock. Spring I rotated amongst the three driest paddocks. As summer started, I am now rotating among the five.

Wondering if you guys can give me any tips given the above information how how quickly I should be moving my cows through. How to best ensure that I make the best of my grass and not waste too much by clipping yet keep the weeds down. Any ideas on shade? I am thinking of making a common lane through temporary electric to a shaded spot in the first of my rear paddocks. I also have some forest at the back with a big trail going in. I guess i could put a temporary wire up there to let the cows into the forest trail for shade.

 

[pdfangus]

Canoetrpr,

while mowing will keep the weeds down.

cows will eat a lot of vegetative weeds. I would rather see you use portable temporary fencing to further divide your lots to make the animals consume what is available in a given period.

You did not say what class of animal you are grazing. Generally cows are more general grazers than young stock although I do have a heifer that would rather eat tree leaves than anything. first thing she goes for in any lot. she also cleans up the blackberries.

the reason I advocate controlling the grazing more is to control the rest period for the grazed grasses.

If there is moisture plants will put out new growth that is visible in 24 hours. If the animal is still standing there then the new growth is consumed in preference to the old growth and that plants clock is reset and it has to use more root reserve to put forth more growth.

Reasearch in Va has indicated that about five days is critical in moving animals away from grazed plants to optimize plant recovery and survivial. beyond five days palnt recovery is set back seriously. In addition the preferred species are the ones most injured.

My experience this spring was that I could see regrowth every day on yesterdays grazing strip.

My effort is to graze and move daily and give nature all the time I can to restore my grasses. the longer the rest period the more forage available the next time throught.

 

[agmantoo]

Canoetrpr,

while mowing will keep the weeds down.

cows will eat a lot of vegetative weeds. I would rather see you use portable temporary fencing to further divide your lots to make the animals consume what is available in a given period.

You did not say what class of animal you are grazing. Generally cows are more general grazers than young stock although I do have a heifer that would rather eat tree leaves than anything. first thing she goes for in any lot. she also cleans up the blackberries.

the reason I advocate controlling the grazing more is to control the rest period for the grazed grasses.

If there is moisture plants will put out new growth that is visible in 24 hours. If the animal is still standing there then the new growth is consumed in preference to the old growth and that plants clock is reset and it has to use more root reserve to put forth more growth.

Reasearch in Va has indicated that about five days is critical in moving animals away from grazed plants to optimize plant recovery and survivial. beyond five days palnt recovery is set back seriously. In addition the preferred species are the ones most injured.

My experience this spring was that I could see regrowth every day on yesterdays grazing strip.

My effort is to graze and move daily and give nature all the time I can to restore my grasses. the longer the rest period the more forage available the next time throught.

Good sound advice and very accurate. A significant increase in the carrying capacity of the paddocks will be achieved and for a longer duration into the Fall. Depending on location and with stockpiling added to the regimen possibly through Winter without supplemental feed.

 

[SRBeef]

I would not look at clipping pastures as "wasting" grass. The cliipings are dropped in place and the mowing keeps the grass more in the vegetative leafy state. Overmature grass even though it has more volume, is not near as good feed as growing grass. Clipping stimultes fresh growth asw the plant again tries to put out seed. Also keeps weeds ( def as anything they won't eat) under control. Jim