Stockpile ? for Fescue Fans

[sstterry]

Many people can't do this but here is my plan. I graze it hard until mid May then I am lucky enough to have 2 farms with free grass that's not a good place for me to winter cows. I take about 2/3 of the cows to these farms and that leaves enough grass for the remainder plus allows me to stockpile.
In addition I will feed hay from about November 5th till Christmas then start strip grazing the stockpile.

Do you supplement with hay during the time after Christmas? I have never heard of anyone in our area able to do this solely on stockpiled pasture.

I don't supplement with anything, I expect it to test over 14% protein so I would see no need to supplement . You are very welcome to come look and actually see the forage tests results.

I may very well take you up on that offer the next time I am up your way. I am curious to see how you manage the rotational grazing during the winter months.

 

[kenny thomas]

Do you supplement with hay during the time after Christmas? I have never heard of anyone in our area able to do this solely on stockpiled pasture.

I don't supplement with anything, I expect it to test over 14% protein so I would see no need to supplement . You are very welcome to come look and actually see the forage tests results.

I may very well take you up on that offer the next time I am up your way. I am curious to see how you manage the rotational grazing during the winter months.

I give the cows 2-3 acres at a time until the stockpile is gone. Other than that not much management in the winter.

 

[sstterry]

I don't supplement with anything, I expect it to test over 14% protein so I would see no need to supplement . You are very welcome to come look and actually see the forage tests results.

I may very well take you up on that offer the next time I am up your way. I am curious to see how you manage the rotational grazing during the winter months.

I give the cows 2-3 acres at a time until the stockpile is gone. Other than that not much management in the winter.

Thanks, that is sort of what I thought.

 

[kenny thomas]

Extension agent took the forage samples last week. Both the small areas I covered with plastic so no urea got to it and the areas with the urea spread. Just looking there is a very obvious difference in both color and amount of forage. Will post the results soon. Cows start on it next week on the 20th.

 

[kenny thomas]

Got the results from forage test today. Stockpile fescue that I spread Urea was 19.7% protein.
No urea 17.8%. I will post the results here if I can send them to someone. Anyone that can post the pictures care to share their email and I will send them.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

FROM: Kenny Thomas
this isn't a picture, but I cut & pasted:




Farm: 056 - LEE THOMAS Copies to: FANNON-OSBORNE, AMY
Lab ID: 25426 209 Desc: B-BEEF STOCKPILED TALL FESCUE-FERT
Sampled: 12/03/2018
Submitter: COFFEY, LAURA
Arrived: 12/14/2018
Account: VIRGINIA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
Completed: 12/14/2018
Reported: 12/14/2018











B-BEEF STOCKPILED TALL FESCUE-FERT

SAMPLE INFORMATION
Lab ID: 25426 209 Version: 1.0
Crop Year: 2018 Series:
Feed Type: FESCUE Cutting#: Package: BASIC NIR
NIR ANALYSIS RESULTS
Moisture 75.0
Dry Matter 25.0
PROTEINS % SP % CP % DM
Crude Protein 19.7
Adjusted Protein 19.7
Soluble Protein 45.4 9.0
Ammonia (CPE)
ADF Protein (ADICP) 8.1 1.59
NDF Protein (NDICP) 23.5 4.63
NDR Protein (NDRCP)
Rumen Degr. Protein 72.7 14.3
Rumen Deg. CP (Strep.G)
FIBER % NDF % DM
ADF 57.0 33.8
aNDF 59.3
aNDFom
NDR (NDF w/o sulfite) peNDF
Crude Fiber
Lignin 8.48 5.03
NDF Digestibility (12 hr) NDF Digestibility (24 hr) NDF Digestibility (30 hr) NDF Digestibility (48
hr) NDF Digestibility (120 hr) NDF Digestibility (240 hr) uNDF (30 hr)
uNDF (120 hr)
uNDF (240 hr)
CARBOHYDRATES % Starch % NFC % DM
Ethanol Soluble CHO (Sugar) 29.1 3.9
Water Soluble CHO (Sugar)
Starch 1.7 0.2
Soluble Fiber
Starch Dig. (7 hr, 4 mm) Fatty Acids, Total
Fatty Acids (%Fat)
Crude Fat 2.01

Values in bold were analyzed by wet chemistry methods.
Definitions and explanation of report terms


MINERALS

Ash (%DM) 10.4
Calcium (%DM) 0.77
Phosphorus (%DM) 0.30
Magnesium (%DM) 0.30
Potassium (%DM) 2.96
Sulfur (%DM) Sodium (%DM) Chloride (%DM) Iron (PPM) Manganese (PPM) Zinc (PPM) Copper (PPM)
Nitrate Ion (%DM) Selenium (PPM) Molybdenum (PPM)


ENERGY & INDEX CALCULATIONS
pH
TDN (%DM) 57.9
Net Energy Lactation (Mcal/lb) 0.67
Net Energy Maintenance (Mcal/lb) 0.66
Net Energy Gain (Mcal/lb) 0.40
NDF Dig. Rate (Kd, %HR, Van Amburgh, Lignin*2.4)
NDF Dig. Rate (Kd, %HR, uNDF) 3.1
Starch Dig. Rate (Kd, %HR, Mertens)
Relative Feed Value (RFV) 98
Relative Forage Quality (RFQ) Milk per Ton (lbs/ton)
Dig. Organic Matter Index (lbs/ton)
Non Fiber Carbohydrates (%DM) 13.20
Non Structural Carbohydrates (%DM) 4.0
DCAD (meq/100gdm) CNCPS / CPM Lignin Factor
Summative Index % (Mass Balance) Additional sample information, source and lab pictures

 

[kenny thomas]

Thanks Jeanne. I sent half of it i guess.

 

[kenny thomas]

Jeanne, check your email again

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

oops - there were two pages. sorry.


Farm: 056 - LEE THOMAS Copies to: FANNON-OSBORNE, AMY
Lab ID: 25426 210 Desc: B-BEEF STOCKPILED TALL FESC-NOFERT
Sampled: 12/03/2018
Submitter: COFFEY, LAURA
Arrived: 12/14/2018
Account: VIRGINIA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
Completed: 12/14/2018
Reported: 12/14/2018

B-BEEF STOCKPILED TALL FESC-NOFERT

SAMPLE INFORMATION
Lab ID: 25426 210 Version: 1.0
Crop Year: 2018 Series:
Feed Type: FESCUE Cutting#: Package: BASIC NIR
NIR ANALYSIS RESULTS
Moisture 71.8
Dry Matter 28.2
PROTEINS % SP % CP % DM
Crude Protein 17.8
Adjusted Protein 17.8
Soluble Protein 41.7 7.4
Ammonia (CPE)
ADF Protein (ADICP) 9.8 1.75
NDF Protein (NDICP) 26.8 4.76
NDR Protein (NDRCP)
Rumen Degr. Protein 70.8 12.6
Rumen Deg. CP (Strep.G)
FIBER % NDF % DM
ADF 57.2 35.3
aNDF 61.8
aNDFom
NDR (NDF w/o sulfite) peNDF
Crude Fiber
Lignin 9.39 5.80
NDF Digestibility (12 hr) NDF Digestibility (24 hr) NDF Digestibility (30 hr) NDF Digestibility (48
hr) NDF Digestibility (120 hr) NDF Digestibility (240 hr) uNDF (30 hr)
uNDF (120 hr)
uNDF (240 hr)
CARBOHYDRATES % Starch % NFC % DM
Ethanol Soluble CHO (Sugar) 37.4 5.4
Water Soluble CHO (Sugar)
Starch 7.4 1.1
Soluble Fiber
Starch Dig. (7 hr, 4 mm) Fatty Acids, Total
Fatty Acids (%Fat)
Crude Fat 2.37

Values in bold were analyzed by wet chemistry methods.
Definitions and explanation of report terms

MINERALS

Ash (%DM) 8.29
Calcium (%DM) 0.80
Phosphorus (%DM) 0.22
Magnesium (%DM) 0.27
Potassium (%DM) 1.77
Sulfur (%DM) Sodium (%DM) Chloride (%DM) Iron (PPM) Manganese (PPM) Zinc (PPM) Copper (PPM)
Nitrate Ion (%DM) Selenium (PPM) Molybdenum (PPM)

ENERGY & INDEX CALCULATIONS
pH
TDN (%DM) 58.5
Net Energy Lactation (Mcal/lb) 0.65
Net Energy Maintenance (Mcal/lb) 0.64
Net Energy Gain (Mcal/lb) 0.37
NDF Dig. Rate (Kd, %HR, Van Amburgh, Lignin*2.4)
NDF Dig. Rate (Kd, %HR, uNDF) 3.3
Starch Dig. Rate (Kd, %HR, Mertens)
Relative Feed Value (RFV) 92
Relative Forage Quality (RFQ) Milk per Ton (lbs/ton)
Dig. Organic Matter Index (lbs/ton)
Non Fiber Carbohydrates (%DM) 14.50
Non Structural Carbohydrates (%DM) 6.5
DCAD (meq/100gdm) CNCPS / CPM Lignin Factor
Summative Index % (Mass Balance) Additional sample information, source and lab pictures

 

[Douglas]

Why not feed hay starting in sept/oct. and let all the fescue stockpile as long as you have growing conditions?

 

[kenny thomas]

The info Jeanne posted for me shows 2 samples of stockpiled fescue.
First posted is a sample that had 125lb of Urea applied September 6th.
Second sample was from an area in the center of the field that I covered with plastic until the urea was spread.
Something the first sample doesn't show is that it has probably 3-4 times the amount of forage.

 

[kenny thomas]

Why not feed hay starting in sept/oct. and let all the fescue stockpile as long as you have growing conditions?

Cows have not been on these fields since August 25th. I have fed since early November. Cattle will start grazing this fescue December 20th.

 

[Douglas]

Were you grazing fescue in Oct ?

 

[Douglas]

This is an old newsletter article i copied a while back. From Matt Poore extension agent at NCSU, Jim Green is/was at Va Tech

Feeding hay in October?

It is not unusual for my neighbors in Virgilina to slow down as they pass our place as they look and wonder what we are up to now. That happened several times all through the month of October as it was pretty obvious that we had started feeding hay even though you can see we have more grass than most farms around us. This is something that Jim Green told me about a long time ago, and about 5 years ago we decided to give it a try. His logic was "if you are going to feed hay for at least 30 days each winter, why not do it in the fall when the conditions are more conducive to the practice?" I generally argued the point because we had always stretched our grass just as far as it would go before feeding hay. Starting to feed hay before we really had to just was a very hard thing to convince myself would be a good idea.

The year we started it was very dry in the late summer and fall. We really didn't have much grass, and I could see that if we grazed around one more time we would be pretty much out of grass by Thanksgiving. So, we pulled the cows into a sacrifice area and fed for the month of October. We did get some rains throughout the month, and by November the grass had really come out and we were able to

graze all the way through February. That experience made me realize I should have been listening to Dr. Green all those years rather than stubbornly holding on to my traditional practices.

Since that time we have fed during October and into mid-November every year. This is how it works: Our main sacrifice area is about 5 acres and is just behind our big pond and adjacent to our main working pens. We let this area come out real strong in grass during August and September, and then put the mature cows (75 head) in there about the time they start calving in early October. The cows graze the area for about a week before we need to start feeding hay. We unroll good quality hay for them, starting with a bale a day and then increasing them based on how much they will clean up as they completely graze the area down. During this time we are in the first cycle of calving (first 21 days) when we expect about 2/3 of our calves to be born. This is an advantage because we know right where the cows are, it is a fairly small area easy to check, and we are real close to the working pens if we have any problems.

After about 3 weeks the area starts to become a little messy (especially if we get rain), so we move to an adjacent 5 acre pasture where they graze a week or so and then we start unrolling hay there. We cut out the cows that have not yet calves, and move the cows with calves on to the remainder of the stockpiled grass starting about mid-November. This general practice has really made calving a lot easier and I believe is very important to our goal of having cows on good stockpiled forage during the colder times. Essentially that deep winter grazing gives them a much better environment in the harsh conditions as they don't have to fight around hay feeders in a muddy lot and we don't have to work as hard taking hay to them for unrolling in bad conditions. I actually enjoy feeding cows hay, and I must say after I got used to it, it is a lot more fun in October than it is in January.

This year our approach really paid off. We had essentially no rain during September. We had fertilized early to grow stockpile, and got a few tenths of rain to melt the fertilizer but the grass had really not taken off as of October 1. If we had gone ahead and grazed it we might have gone 30 days in total, and that would have been it for the year. Once October came we got a little rain and the pastures responded some, and then during later October we got a couple of inches of rain and the pastures really took off. As of today as I am writing this we are just a few day s away from going back to grazing, and it looks like we will be in good shape to graze into the month of March! If you think you will be feeding hay at all next winter, consider pushing 30 days of your hay feeding into October.

 

[kenny thomas]

Were you grazing fescue in Oct ?

I was grazing other parts of the farms then. Fair amount of warm season grasses were still present then.

 

[Douglas]

That makes sense to go ahead and clean up the warm season stuff. Around here most guys have all fescue. I would stockpile all of it and feed hay first even if some fescue is not fertilized. They think i am crazy.

 

[bird dog]

Interesting Douglas but it would scare me to put 75 calving cows on 5 acres. A clean place for a cow to calve would be hard to find. Any calving sickness problems?

 

[kenny thomas]

Douglas. I had crabgrass and other grasses to graze then but i can see the advantage of feeding early. I will study it more and consider it next year.

 

[Douglas]

I run stocker now days bird dog, but back then i calved in March and new growth fescue was usually ready. Heck i had a nice pine thicket with straw for muddy times adjacent to the last pasture.Edit i didn't backfence so the area the cows were in got bigger and bigger

 

[kenny thomas]

That makes sense to go ahead and clean up the warm season stuff. Around here most guys have all fescue. I would stockpile all of it and feed hay first even if some fescue is not fertilized. They think i am crazy.

It's hard to tell from the tests but the area with no fertilize was 17.8% protein. Pretty hard for anyone to argue that it's not any good.
Samples were taken by VA Extension Agent on December 3rd.