Winter pasture, when to cut the last time?(ohio)

[ufo_chris]

I've been reading a lot about leaving the grass long for winter pasture (that will even survive under snow) but for it to be the right lenght when is the last time you should cut it.
It's kinda weedy too but a lot of good forage in in also.
I'm in northeast Ohio. (zone 5 for plants)
I thought I heard August before ,but is it early or late August and does it depend on the rainfall?
Thanks for any info,
Chris

 

[dun]

What kind of grass?

 

[kenny thomas]

What kind of grass? If it is fescue anytime by August 20 should be good. Later is ok but reduces the regrowth a lot for each day delayed. The more rainfall during regrowth the better. Add Nitrogen for much better growth.

 

[ufo_chris]

dun,I know you know a lot but sorry ,I don't ! I'm still pretty new to all this, learning all the time.
I assume (Iknow,I know) there is timothy and orchard grass in there as this is common around here, also red & white clover.
It was a hayfield years ago but like I said is pretty weedy now.
We are going to reseed it someday but I only have a few head now so maybe next year.
Still a lot of good grazing plus these Highlands are supposed to eat more weeds then other cattle.

 

[SRBeef]

If it's weedy I would clip it now but not real short. Leave maybe 4-5" of growth. There appear to be a lot of grazing there but once everything goes to seed it's not much use. Clipping it keeps it in the leafy vegetative phase rather than stemmy. You want to clip the weeds before they go to seed or you will just be spreading more weed seed for next year. Good luck. Jim

 

[ufo_chris]

Sorry ,I should have said, we have been brushhogging it when it gets long to prevent it from getting too weedy. We just cut it a few weeks ago, but I want to get the time right to cut it for the last time before winter.
Thanks,Chris

 

[dun]

The reason I asked about the type of grass is that some grasses will stockpile much better then others. If it's WSG you need to have at least 6 inches of stubble before winter. The cows will eat the WSG but it's not all that nutritious for stockpiling. Rye will sort of stockpile ok, OG and timothy usually die out and don;t have the fall growth patterns that fescue has. If you can find seedheads, post pictures of them and some can probably identify them and give you a better feel for what you need to do. Unless it's a cool season grass that puts on a lot of growth in the fall/early winter, stockpiling just doesn;t work very well.

 

[dun]

Scroll down to the part about stockpiling:
http://agebb.missouri.edu/mfgc/extgraz.htm

 

[TGCJ7]

OSU has some great information from thier extention websites. Here's a link to one of the articles. http://ohioline.osu.edu/agf-fact/0023.html

I just bought some 46% today, paid 16.50 per 50 pounds. (Last year I paid almost $30)
I last mowed it July 15th and I'm going to try and get the N on here soon.
You should have time to mow and add your N. But I'd try and get it done by mid August if I were you.
This will be my first year attemping to stockpile also. I figure I'll at least have some good looking grass.

Good Luck
Tim

 

[ufo_chris]

Thanks to all of you .
Sorry ,I could not get on for a while ,my dial up is driving me mad. :help:
Gonna check into sat or cell hi speed (any thoughts?)
I will read all the sites you gave me the links to.
Also have a book on grassfed cattle thats advocates letting cattle rejuvinate your pasture by rotational grazing etc.
This just makes more sense then buying baling equipment for a few acres.
Thanks so much, Chris

 

[SRBeef]

Thanks to all of you .
Sorry ,I could not get on for a while ,my dial up is driving me mad. :help:
Gonna check into sat or cell hi speed (any thoughts?)
I will read all the sites you gave me the links to.
Also have a book on grassfed cattle thats advocates letting cattle rejuvinate your pasture by rotational grazing etc.
This just makes more sense then buying baling equipment for a few acres.
Thanks so much, Chris

Chris, I don't want to change the direction of your thread but you asked for thoughts on internet service. You seem to be in Ohio which should have very good cellular phone service. I recently bought a cellular internet adapter and it is amazing how well it works.

If you can get enough cellular signal to make a cell call you can get internet service. While not quite as fast as DSL (wired) it will make you think you went to heaven compared to dial up. The nice thing is that you can use it anywhere. DSL or satellite (I've never had sat) probably cost about the same per month but you are limited to using it basically in the house where it is installed.

I read cattle today, etc sometimes sitting in my truck at an interstate rest stop. One point to watch is that there is a big difference between providers. Verizon limits you to 5 gigabytes/month transfer. Several others are unlimited. Make sure you get the unlimited or you may get a big surprise in your bill - sort of like kids text messaging the first month. If you try this cellular internet make sure the folks you are dealing with have at least a one week return/cancel policy so you can try it out in your location to see if it works acceptably for the cost. Most do. The units just plug into a USB port. There are external antenna ports on the unit for a cellular antenna but I don't often use the antenna in my truck.

Other than cellular I would check if your phone company offers internet service over your phone lines. Many do. just a few ideas. Good luck. Jim
]

 

[ufo_chris]

Thanks Jim for the info on hi speed.
I asked at radio shack before , they had one kind ,can't remember the provider . It was 60 bucks a month ,there was a limit (the guy said you'll never use it up for just regular surfing or emailing ,but I would check into that first!) I didn't know there were unlimited ones. Is the price the same?
I 'll have to do a search on it but this dial up is so frustrating and then it just quits sometimes :x
We did check with our phone provider when we got an advertisement about high speed in our bill ,no not for us of course! :cry2:
You're right,the portability would be great and I definatly do not want to have to buy any sat. equipment!
Thanks so much!
Chris

 

[SRBeef]

Chris, the Radio Shack person is probably right, you won't use up 5 gig surfing and emailing. However, If some else offers one with no limit in your area for the same price ($55-60/mo) then why not go with that one? Verizon has a 5 gig limit. I would check with other suppliers. A few YouTube videos is what adds up fast. My 12 year old son got into those and got us close to 5 gig. For Cattle Today, Yahoo, Google etc and email there is no problem with 5 gig/month. Jim

 

[ufo_chris]

Hi Jim,
Thanks, yeah,I'll definatly look into the unlimited ones.
Would be nice to be able to do stuff like that if you want and you finally have high speed.
I'll have to do a seach on this slow thing though to find out,oh my!
So you still have teh 5 gig limit then?
Chris