Winter Pasture

[TB-Herefords]

I have 20 acres of alfalfa that was seeded late last spring. We got one cutting off it and were looking at a second. Got the water late to irrigate, pulled water off just about dry enough to cut then we got some pretty good rain this weekend. A lot of dew this time of year and ground needs to dry enough to get in and cut. Future forcast says rain again next week end. Question for all this is would it put to much pressure on the new seeding if I just pastured it this winter rather than try to cut again? Just concerened about root depth and such forth. Right now its almost knee high and close to bloom.

Thanks

 

[bandit80]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. But I seem to remember from my college days that alfalfa stores it's preserves above the ground. If you graze alfalfa, there is a possibility of grazing too close, and in eccense damaging the plants reserves to start growing next spring.

 

[dun]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. But I seem to remember from my college days that alfalfa stores it's preserves above the ground. If you graze alfalfa, there is a possibility of grazing too close, and in eccense damaging the plants reserves to start growing next spring.

Depending on the soil, grazing heavy animals on alfalfa can also ruin the stand. In sandy soil we leased out grazing for sheep in the inter but never allowed the cows in the fields. The few times a cow got into the field you could find the dead spots every place it put a hoof. The theory was that the plant wasn;t well supported by the sand and the cows would break them off below the ground.

 

[ChrisB]

If you wait until everything freezes (plant and ground) you will be fine. Or if it freezes enough for the plant to go dormant and the ground is dry enough not to pack too much you should be okay also.

 

[TB-Herefords]

I've winter pastured alfalfa for a four of five years. I've just never pastured new seeding befor. I havn't had a regrowth problem pasturing the cows and I feed in the field and calve in field also. Thanks for the replys

 

[msscamp]

I have 20 acres of alfalfa that was seeded late last spring. We got one cutting off it and were looking at a second. Got the water late to irrigate, pulled water off just about dry enough to cut then we got some pretty good rain this weekend. A lot of dew this time of year and ground needs to dry enough to get in and cut. Future forcast says rain again next week end. Question for all this is would it put to much pressure on the new seeding if I just pastured it this winter rather than try to cut again? Just concerened about root depth and such forth. Right now its almost knee high and close to bloom.

Thanks

How many cows are you talking about? A 20 acre field is not very big, and if you're talking about more than a few animals, I believe I would have to reconsider this option. I would be very reluctant to graze an established alfalfa field - let alone a new field - due to the fact that cows have set habits, have a tendency to establish cow paths, and those cow paths are going to trample out a fair amount of alfalfa - not to mention putting a fair amount of stress on the field due to grazing. The newer an alfalfa field it, the more sensitive it is to stress. There is also the factor of the cow paths/hoof prints raising hell with the machinery next summer while cutting, raking, and baling that field. I don't think I would go this route.

 

[KNERSIE]

Under my conditions the last cutting before winter and the first in the spring is wrapped in plastic to make baleage, its excellent feed and lasts very well outside.

On the grazing, it depends which variety and how high the crown of the plant is. Some you can graze, other don't tolerate it well, typically the higher the dormancy score the less well it tolerates grazing. I would prefer not to graze alfalfa at all if the longevity of the field is a priority, I wouldn't graze first year alfalfa if I can help it.

Just out of curiosity how many cuttings do you normally get a season? Under irrigation we cut every 4 weeks regardless of how much bloom, typically it would be 5-10%. Various experiments here have shown that yields the best production per hectare.

 

[wstevenl]

We just planted our pasture late this spring (it was too wet to plant early). We drilled oats with orchard, ladino clover, and a grazing alfalfa. This fall we added MaxQ Fescue but it's not coming up yet. We rotate our SMALL herd to a new paddock everyday and have gotten between 50 and 60 days rest between grazings. When the cows first went through it they were mostly eating oats and the perennials were just 1 or 2 inches tall. By the second grazing the oats were seeded out and the alfalfa was tall enough to graze (the orchard wasn't doing alot because it had gotten so hot). Now that it's cooled off the alfalfa is tall and some is blooming, the clover is starting to spread well and the orchardgrass is catching up and getting as tall as some of the alfalfa. The cows get ONE day on the forage and eat it down pretty hard but even with it being so young, it's coming back very well in 50-60 days. We did have to mow some oats early on because it was maturing too quickly for us. What we mowed instead of grazing doesn't look near as full and healthy as what we grazed hard and left. The only paddock that really looks poor is where we had the cows for about 30 hours and it rained 5 inches. It's now about 1/3 orchard grass, 1/3 weeds, and 1/3 bare. We spread fescue and timothy in this area and others.

We're trying to get some more grasses starting this fall so that our legume ratio isn't quite so high, but being eased onto it, the cows have done really well. We're going to pick a section to leave for winter pasture but we'll continue to move them everyday, it makes alot of difference - no paths! and less damage to the plants (except for biting them off).

 

[wstevenl]

We've also got 2 acres of bermuda that we planted in the spring. There is alot of weeds and volunteer foxtail and johnson grass. Do you think that grazing it after the bermuda has gone dormant would work to take out alot of those cool season grasses and weeds? I know that my horses won't touch bermuda when it turns brown and I'm guessing that the cows wouldn't mess with it either.