stock piled fescue?

[jbar]

i hear this term over and over.what dose it mean and how do you do it. :?

 

[msscamp]

As I understand it, stock-piled fescue is simply hay in the field/pasture, as opposed to in a bale. It is fescue(or, I believe, any other grass) that has grown, gone dormant due to cold/freezing temps, but is still standing. As far as using it, you turn your cows in on it and let them graze it.

 

[rmcva]

i hear this term over and over.what dose it mean and how do you do it. :?

Stockpile fescue done right can make some of the best grazing of the year. It takes some planning ahead to make it work here. I start by grazing down close in late July and early August. Then apply nitrogen in late August to mid Sept. and hope it rains a lot. :lol: Most years we start to get rain from hurricanes or tropical storms by then. True stockpile is new growth from August on.

I never start to graze before Thanksgiving and try to wait until Dec. 1st to turn the cows on it. Some years this means feeding hay in Nov. to make it to that date which may be a couple of weeks. Then from Dec. 1st the cows graze until it runs out. I shoot for enough acres to graze to mid March. Snow and ice can cover it enough so I have to feed hay for a few days but as the years go by I see that less often. On a normal winter I feed hay 20-30 days and then back on spring grazing. I depend on stockpile fescue heavily. Those cows can bale hay far better than I can and stay slick and fat all the way through the winter. My Dad was doing this back in the late 50's. I improved what he was doing by fencing in all the open land and putting in well water. By doing this I don't have to bother about cows or calves breaking through ice in the winter and can keep them on grass.

 

[dun]

In addition the what rmcva said, strip grazubg with temp hot wire provides for better utilization of the stockpiled grass. No back fence is required just the leading edge fence.

dun