Weather Related

[inyati13]

As cold as it has been this winter, my cows are fine. They bed in the hay around where I feed it. I see no loss of condition.

I was wondering, with this looking like a record cold January. Will this freeze out any pasture or hay plant species?

 

[Bigfoot]

I am interested in seeing what it did to my bermuda test plot. Just a guess, I'd say its desemated. The last 10 years while bermuda was catching on up my way, we had some mild winters.

I was also surprised to see what it did to my stockpiled fescue. You might as well say it was a total loss.

 

[TexasBred]

WE have milder weather down her but lose more pasture to heat and drought than to cold weather.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I am interested in seeing what it did to my bermuda test plot. Just a guess, I'd say its desemated. The last 10 years while bermuda was catching on up my way, we had some mild winters.

I was also surprised to see what it did to my stockpiled fescue. You might as well say it was a total loss.

I hope you mean it's a total loss as far as being suitable for grazing now as stockpiled forage and not a total loss as in dead to the world and won't germinate this spring.

 

[inyati13]

I am interested in seeing what it did to my bermuda test plot. Just a guess, I'd say its desemated. The last 10 years while bermuda was catching on up my way, we had some mild winters.

I was also surprised to see what it did to my stockpiled fescue. You might as well say it was a total loss.

My plans for stockpiled fescue vanished. I was looking good through December. I even made a comment to my neighbor that I will have hay left over. When those severe temperatures hit, the stockpiled fescue did a disappearance act. I understand your stockpiled comment very well Bigfoot. I am now thinking I will use every bit of my hay.

 

[Bigfoot]

Yea it's making me rethink stockpiling in the future. I will never stockpile more than enough to last through about December 10th. If I had cut some of this, I would have hay left over. As it is, I have just enough.

 

[wbvs58]

I'm losing a lot of my temperate grasses in the drought and heat waves this summer.
It will be interesting to see what shoots again in autumn.
Ken

 

[u4411clb]

My stockpiled fescue was a dud as well. Have been making it till almost February before feeding hay. This time was full on feeding hay week before Christmas. And cows are really going through the hay this year will be down to some pretty narly stuff if it keeps dropping into the single digits around here.

 

[highgrit]

This is the first year that the cold has killed most of my oats. The rye grass is still green but it won't grow. I will fix my water set up for the cows. I think I have it figured out were it can't freeze up, and the cows can't tear it up. Still trying to figure out how to keep the gate latches from freezing up.

 

[Bigfoot]

My oats look dead.

 

[highgrit]

Bigfoot did some of your oats come to seed?? A lot of mine did and that's never happened this time of year.

 

[Bigfoot]

No they didn't. 40 acres of them total. May not be dead, but they look it.

 

[SmokinM]

Bigfoot it really all depends on what stage your Bermuda was in. I am assuming you planted it this summer and if you got some decent growth over the summer it should come back just fine. The same goes for the fescue it is just dormant not dead it will perk right up come spring time. Can't help you any on the oats I don't fool with them much. Cold won't kill hardly any perennial plant, drought is your biggest enemy there.

 

[Banjo]

All of my pastures are still going forward. I have about a week left at one place and about 3 weeks at another. I haven't fed any hay during any of these cold snaps.
Looking out across the stockpiled pastures they look completely brown, but in my pastures if you look closely down in the grass there is a lot of green blades. Those blades are very high in sugar, the cattle seem happy and content, better than most overmature hay that has been setting and oxidizing all year.

 

[greybeard]

If it freezes tonight, that will be 4 straight nights of freeze and pretty cold daytime temps. Ryegrass is still green but not growing--warmer weather starting this afternoon and tomorrow with a little sun and then rain in the forecast--maybe it will kick start the ryegrass. This is the 3rd (maybe 4th?) such cycles this winter.
Everything else above ground is dead. Should have enough hay easily tho, and I do expect the Bahia and Bermuda to return in the spring..lowest temp I have seen so far tho is 15F.