Starting A New Pasture

[Chuckie]

When planning a pasture for cattle; having planted the grasses you have chosen before, what changes would you make, and what grasses and legumes would you choose this time if you were starting a new pasture?
Chuckie

 

[bigbull338]

chuckie you asked a great question.if i was going to replant pastures or hay meadows.heres what i would do go in an sprigg the field with coastal.get that estb real good.then in the fall id go in an plant clover rye grass an vetch.then you would have alot of spring grazing.an if it was a hay meadow youd get 1 heck of a spring cutting.

 

[dun]

KY31 and clover

 

[Angus Cowman]

KY31 and clover

:nod: :nod:

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

KY31 and clover add lespedezza in the spring.

 

[fargus]

My experience won't be worth much... 4-5 months a year of snow changes things.

I'd use (and will next year) trefoil, brome grass, fescue and reed canary on later ground. (Wild white dutch clover shows up on it's own, so does red clover.) On earlier ground I'd use orchard grass and earlier smooth brome, as well as clover, and maybe a bit of grazing type alfalfa.

 

[Chuckie]

Eventually, someone can make me change my mind. I can be slow. When I was told, "Just plant Kentucky31," I knew that my life long fight for my dream was over! ;-) I did not know that cows disliked OG and would graze it last over bermuda grass. I was glad that Lucky_P brought that up.

When the hay man came in, I told him about the fescue, and he said," Now what is bringing this decision on?" I stayed cool and said that the fescue fit into our program better than the orchard grass did. He asked a few more questions, with a look of "what is going on?" He then turned the TV on and grabbed the TV remote. Once that remote goes into his hand, he goes into "the ailens have beamed me up stare." When he has that stare, all communitcation is lost. If you want to discuss anything, you better catch him from the time he walks in the back door, and pulls his clothes off, washes his face, gets a glass of tea, and heads to the recliner and puts the TV remote in his hand. From that moment on, stick a fork in him.
Chuckie

 

[SRBeef]

I just converted some corn ground to pasture this past spring. This is WI not TN. But I think the key point is to plant a MIXTURE of several locally adapted forages including a legume to fix N for the others. I used red clover for the legume, an innoculated persistent (=expensive) variety. Planted oats as a nurse crop. The mixture included a variety of grasses. Mowed the oats (before they shade everything else out) then mowed the rest, now just finished the first grazing. Looks good. Make sure your soil pH is correct for what you are planting. Good luck.

Jim

 

[Douglas]

If you go with fescue and clover, make sure you have weeds under control before adding the clover.

 

[Chuckie]

Douglas,
I am having that problem with a field now. It is a pain in the rear!! If I go to another doctor and he asks what kind of exercise do I get, I am going to say, "ropewicking!" Well, some people think they get all the exercise they want on a riding lawnmower! :nod: :roll:
Chuckie

 

[hillbillycwo]

Fescue, clover and some orchard grass. That is what we have in our pasture and hay. The cows love it and it keeps them in great condition all year. we get great yields and above average in the poor rain years when we compare our yields to the neighbors and yes I know that ground nutrients differ with the care folks put into their ground.

 

[RD-Sam]

I'm planting Kentucky 32 Fescue, Orchard Grass, and Medium Red Clover in my new pastures. I almost drove myself crazy trying to decide what to do. :roll:

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

avoid white clover. Stick with red.

 

[BelgianBlueNovice]

Lots of great info especially since I was asking myself the same questions here lately. I do have one thing I wanna ask. Why such a preference of the red clover over white? The reason I ask is cause we have an abundance of well established white clover. I want to know if there really is a significant nutrient difference (both for the ground and the cows) before I go through the extensive and expensive task of switching over from white to red.

Thanks

Jimmy B

 

[dun]

Lots of great info especially since I was asking myself the same questions here lately. I do have one thing I wanna ask. Why such a preference of the red clover over white? The reason I ask is cause we have an abundance of well established white clover. I want to know if there really is a significant nutrient difference (both for the ground and the cows) before I go through the extensive and expensive task of switching over from white to red.

Thanks

Jimmy B

No need to "switch". In this area red reseeds and rarely requires to be put in again. White is supposed to be more persistant but after a year or 2 the expensive white clover is goen and all that's left is the red and some old time wild dutch white clvoer. Red clover can cauise problems with sheep (maybe goats too) it has a compound that is kind of a synthetic estrogen. Haven;t ever seen a problem with it in cattle

 

[bigbull338]

the red or white clover is a personal preferance thing.just what the posters like personally.

 

[BelgianBlueNovice]

No need to "switch". In this area red reseeds and rarely requires to be put in again. White is supposed to be more persistant but after a year or 2 the expensive white clover is goen and all that's left is the red and some old time wild dutch white clvoer. Red clover can cauise problems with sheep (maybe goats too) it has a compound that is kind of a synthetic estrogen. Haven;t ever seen a problem with it in cattle

Hmm, So in Northern Oklahoma I should be able to get away with seeding the red in with the white? I think what I'm seeing in our pastures is the wild dutch. Not that that's a bad thing I'd wager but I wanna get the most bang for my buck so to speak as we all do. As the red clover takes hold it will (I'm assuming) slowly phase out the wild dutch. Have you heard of the estrogen compound having an adverse effect on llamas? We've been using them to help control the coyote population.

 

[Angus Cowman]

No need to "switch". In this area red reseeds and rarely requires to be put in again. White is supposed to be more persistant but after a year or 2 the expensive white clover is goen and all that's left is the red and some old time wild dutch white clvoer. Red clover can cauise problems with sheep (maybe goats too) it has a compound that is kind of a synthetic estrogen. Haven;t ever seen a problem with it in cattle

Hmm, So in Northern Oklahoma I should be able to get away with seeding the red in with the white? I think what I'm seeing in our pastures is the wild dutch. Not that that's a bad thing I'd wager but I wanna get the most bang for my buck so to speak as we all do. As the red clover takes hold it will (I'm assuming) slowly phase out the wild dutch. Have you heard of the estrogen compound having an adverse effect on llamas? We've been using them to help control the coyote population.

yep you can oversedd the red in with the white I do it all the time on some hayfields and it works pretty well I am not gonna say it reduces the white clover put the red does out grow the white and yields more tonnage per acre from what I have seen

 

[dun]

Yup, what he said

 

[jlhall]

What are you wanting from your pasture? Persistance or performance? Shorter lived grasses offer more performance at a trade off to persistance. University of Tennessee has been doing some good work on varietal testing for forages

http://forages.tennessee.edu/Page11-%20 ... rials.html

University of Kentucky also conducts excellent trials.

Buy improved genetics, if the salesperson can't give you and indication of expected performance go elsewhere. A .50 ton/acre yield advantage is a lot of money in the bank. Don't walk away from a variety because of price if it offers the performance to justify it.

If you just want something that is green and persists buy KY31 or whatever tall fescue is the cheapest.