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Grasses, Pastures & Hay
The Forage Chain-- Grass Finishing
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<blockquote data-quote="edrsimms" data-source="post: 697137" data-attributes="member: 10970"><p>Bottom line: </p><p>1. You must have some grass-fed genetics</p><p>2. You must choose a phase of operation that best suits your forage base.</p><p>3. You must fully understand the forage chain</p><p>4. You must fully understand plant physiology</p><p>5. You must somewhat understand ruminant nutrition.</p><p></p><p>The forage chain is not easily accomplished as you must be competent in soils and plant physiology just to name a few. Soil health(ab)> quality forages> optimum nutrition and health for your cattle.</p><p></p><p>a) Soil Tilth-- is the measurement of the balance between basic soil elements: mineral, air, water and organic matter. The proper balance of these elements increases soil production by allowing efficient interaction of all the soil systems. Air and water balance is the key to good root growth.</p><p>b) pH -- without the proper pH soil nutrients will not be able to provide the needed growth you will need in a forage-based operation.</p><p></p><p>If you dont have 1, 4, 5, a or b dont read any further as this will not pertain to you. </p><p></p><p>Finishing on Forage (optimum soil)</p><p>The biggest problem is being able to provide high quality forages over a 12 month period with no gaps in their sequence or production. You must have linear growth and not the bimodal growth we often see between the seasons (bimodal= like a rollercoasters ups and downs)</p><p>This is done by overlapping your forage base-- difficult at times, but becomes easier with experience. </p><p></p><p>My example is a calf born in Oct weaned in May (7-8 mos) placed on Millet from 8 to 12 mos; placed on cereal grains month13 and 14 and Clover the 15th and 16th months (finished). </p><p></p><p>This represents a growth rate that is Linear and not bimodal. As the calf matures and nutritional requirements increase the forage always increases in feed value. Other variables include the individual growth rate and sex of the calf, to name a few. We can normally finish a grass-fed genetic calf in less than 16 months. </p><p></p><p><strong>Ok the football game is on in a few minutes, more later--- Texas vs Wyoming------------ </strong></p><p><strong>After the OU sux loss last week to BYU all I need now for complete satisfaction this year is to see the goat-herding aggies of college station to lose to OkSU, OU, AR, KSU, Baylor, and we all know they will lose miserably to U of Texas as always this Thanksgiving --- HOOKEM HORNS</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Ed</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="edrsimms, post: 697137, member: 10970"] Bottom line: 1. You must have some grass-fed genetics 2. You must choose a phase of operation that best suits your forage base. 3. You must fully understand the forage chain 4. You must fully understand plant physiology 5. You must somewhat understand ruminant nutrition. The forage chain is not easily accomplished as you must be competent in soils and plant physiology just to name a few. Soil health(ab)> quality forages> optimum nutrition and health for your cattle. a) Soil Tilth-- is the measurement of the balance between basic soil elements: mineral, air, water and organic matter. The proper balance of these elements increases soil production by allowing efficient interaction of all the soil systems. Air and water balance is the key to good root growth. b) pH -- without the proper pH soil nutrients will not be able to provide the needed growth you will need in a forage-based operation. If you dont have 1, 4, 5, a or b dont read any further as this will not pertain to you. Finishing on Forage (optimum soil) The biggest problem is being able to provide high quality forages over a 12 month period with no gaps in their sequence or production. You must have linear growth and not the bimodal growth we often see between the seasons (bimodal= like a rollercoasters ups and downs) This is done by overlapping your forage base-- difficult at times, but becomes easier with experience. My example is a calf born in Oct weaned in May (7-8 mos) placed on Millet from 8 to 12 mos; placed on cereal grains month13 and 14 and Clover the 15th and 16th months (finished). This represents a growth rate that is Linear and not bimodal. As the calf matures and nutritional requirements increase the forage always increases in feed value. Other variables include the individual growth rate and sex of the calf, to name a few. We can normally finish a grass-fed genetic calf in less than 16 months. [b]Ok the football game is on in a few minutes, more later--- Texas vs Wyoming------------ After the OU sux loss last week to BYU all I need now for complete satisfaction this year is to see the goat-herding aggies of college station to lose to OkSU, OU, AR, KSU, Baylor, and we all know they will lose miserably to U of Texas as always this Thanksgiving --- HOOKEM HORNS Ed[/b] [/QUOTE]
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