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INTENSIVE GRAZING AT OWENLEA HOLSTEINS
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This was written in January 1994. I have since altered my views about
many things in this paper especially feeding fat (roasted soybeans).
The new milk pricing system in Ohio makes fat feeding a questionable
practice.
Scattered through this paper are comments begin "FWO GRAZING RULE: ".
These comments are addressed to myself in hopes that I won't repeat my
past errors. I feel that if I break these rules my intensive grazing
program will begin to fail.
FWO GRAZING RULE #1: Only a madman would feed stored forages during
the grazing season.
GENERAL COMMENTS
----------------
Intensive grazing is difficult. An intensive grazing unit is harder to
manage than a TMR fed herd with 22,000 rolling herd average. Intensive
grazing is more fun.
Plan on two years of errors and problems before things begin to go well.
Don't expect intensive grazing to rescue a dairy farm that is failing
financially.
Intensive grazing doesn't use much of the math and science side of your
brain. It uses the artistic, creative and introspective side of your
character.
Tune into every nuance and subtle change in your grass and cows.
You must walk miles in your pastures every day.
WHY WON'T HIGH INPUT DAIRY FARMERS ADOPT INTENSIVE GRAZING TECHNOLOGY?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Even early adopters don't see intensive grazing as new technology.
Many intelligent dairy farmers are convinced that intensive grazing will
not work.
A dairy farmer's social status derives from his rolling herd average.
Intensive grazing is viewed by some as a threat to their herd average.
Dairymen know that sun will hurt or kill their cows.
Dairymen are certain that cows can't eat grass and milk well.
EFFECT OF WATER AVAILABILITY ON PASTURE CONSUMPTION
---------------------------------------------------
FWO GRAZING RULE: Expect a severe drop in milk production if the cows
walk more than 200 feet for water.
Dry matter intake is directly related to water intake.
A slight increase in water intake will result in a significant increase
in dry matter intake and milk production.
The water tank should be within 100 to 200 feet of the grass.
The water tank should be close enough to the current grazing area that
the cows go to drink individually.
If the tank is more than 100 to 200 feet from the grazing area the cows
will begin to visit the tank in groups or as a herd.
If the cows visit the tank as a herd, they will overwhelm its refill
capacity and begin to struggle for water.
The idea is to get the cows to step away from the grass individually for
a moment many times a day for a quick drink of water.
Cows will not drink enough water from a creek to milk 70 to 100 pounds.
Cows will cross a creek to drink from a water tank that they are
accustomed to using.
Always have a full water tank in the pasture when the cows return from
milking.
Imagine yourself in a situation where all the cows are thirsty and you
are beating them back with a stick to allow the tank to fill.
Only a fool would put the water tank under the electric fence. Doing so
would certainly reduce water intake and milk production. Put it in the
middle of the current grazing plot.
Dump the milking cows' water tank every time you walk past it on hot
days.
EFFECT OF THE AMOUNT OF GRAIN FED ON PASTURE CONSUMPTION
--------------------------------------------------------
Dry matter intake from pasture will be severely depressed if
you feed more than 8 lb. of grain per feeding.
At Owenlea Holsteins we feed grain on this schedule:
7:00 AM During morning milking
1:00 PM In the pasture on a hay wagon
6:00 PM During evening milking
11:00 PM In the pasture on a hay wagon
FWO GRAZING RULE: Feeding grain four times per day is the
only practical schedule.
EFFECT OF SHADE ON PASTURE CONSUMPTION
--------------------------------------
Cows will always stop eating and stand in available shade.
The poop and pee will be deposited under the shade instead of on the
pasture. Over time the fertility of your pastures will be moved from
the pasture to the shaded area and wasted.
Shade will result in your cows lying in filth and stepping on their
teats.
Providing shade will result in a severe drop in dry matter intake and
milk production.
Cutting down the trees in your pasture will increase dry matter intake
and milk production.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Never provide shade.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Replace fly tags every 30 days.
Sun will not hurt your cows.
Cows rapidly adjust to hot cloudless days without shade.
Cows that have fresh fly tags and a nearby water source will
graze and milk well on 90-100 degree days.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Build a mist generator for hot days
------------------------------------------------------
Start with a 10 ft section of 3/4" rigid plastic pipe.
Glue a plastic cap on one end and a hose fitting on the other end.
Twist drill 2 or 3 very tiny holes in the plastic cap by twisting in the
tip of a sharp knife. Your smallest drill bit will be much too large.
Get a solid six foot step ladder.
Fasten the 10 ft plastic pipe to the top half of the step ladder with 2
or 3 rubber canvas stretchers.
Set the ladder just over the fence away from the cows and attach it to
your water system.
In the absence of a breeze, the mist will cover an area big enough for
30 cows. The mist area will be much larger if there is even a tiny
breeze. In a slight breeze mist will carry up to 200 ft.
The cows will soon establish a circular pattern of drinking, then
grazing, then standing in the mist, then drinking and so forth. Only a
few of the cows will be under the mist at any point in time.
Move the ladder 2 or 3 times on hot afternoons to spread the manure.
EFFECT OF PASTURE PLANTS ON PASTURE CONSUMPTION
-----------------------------------------------
Dry matter intake and milk production will be greater if the grass is
short and dense.
Bluegrass/white clover is short and dense.
Cows tear off grass by holding it with their tongue and jerking their
head.
Cows will take only a certain number of bites of grass per day. When
they use up their daily quota of bites cows will stop grazing even
though they are not full.
In short and dense grass the cows will be more successful in filling up
on forage. Dry matter intake and milk production will be high.
In tall and loose open plants the cows won't get much food per bite.
Dry matter intake of pasture and milk production will be lower.
Proportions of grain and forage intake will be altered resulting in more
acid rumen conditions.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Cows always go down in production when moved from
blue grass/white clover to anything else.
Try crawling around tearing off handfuls of grass for several minutes.
The easiest pasture plants to tear off with your hands are
bluegrass/white clover.
The next easiest pasture plant to tear off with your hands will be more
than twice as difficult as bluegrass/white clover.
Try tearing off handfuls of tall fescue.
For extra fun, try tearing off early bud stage alfalfa with your bare
hands.
THE WORST PASTURE PLANTS FOR DRY MATTER INTAKE PER BITE
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Orchard grass.
Alfalfa.
Red Clover.
Hay type perennial ryegrass.
THE BEST PASTURE PLANTS FOR DRY MATTER INTAKE PER BITE
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Bluegrass/white clover.
Ladino clover.
Lawn type perennial ryegrass.
Pasture type birdsfoot trefoil.
FORTUNATELY ANY PASTURE IN OHIO
(OR WEED PATCH, CORN STUBBLE AND OLD HAY FIELD)
WILL QUICKLY BECOME DOMINATED BY
BLUEGRASS/WHITE CLOVER IF
-----------------------------------------------
1. Grazed very short.
2. Immediately protected from all grazing of regrowth
3. Rested until it is six inches of height.
TALL FESCUE IS A SPECIAL CASE
-----------------------------
Tall fescue is bitter tasting and difficult for cows to tear
if allowed to get over four inches tall.
Grazing tall fescue that is over 4 inches tall will result
in severe reduction in dry matter intake and milk production.
EFFECT OF MOVING COWS TO FRESH GRASS ON PASTURE CONSUMPTION
-----------------------------------------------------------
Moving cows to fresh grass stimulates a tremendous desire to eat that
lasts several hours.
Grass that has been walked over will not be eaten except by a very
hungry cow.
If your milking herd is hungry enough to eat grass that has been walked
over, you are loosing milk.
Moving cows only once or twice per day is a guaranteed method of
achieving poor production.
At Owenlea Holsteins we move the fence according to this schedule
-----------------------------------------------------------------
7:00 AM During morning milking
1:00 PM While the cows are eating grain from the hay wagon.
6:00 PM During evening milking
We should move the herd again at 11 PM but it is not practical to move
fence after dark.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Move your milking cows at least three or
four times each day.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CLOVER
------------------------
A grass/clover pasture is far more than twice as productive as the grass
grown alone.
The clover alone doesn't account for all of the extra production.
There will be at least a 50% greater yield from the grass grown in
association with clover.
The extra grass production results from the sub surface transfer of
nitrogen fixed by bacteria in the clover-root nodules.
Milking cows will produce far more milk from grass/clover pasture than
the same grass alone.
Heifers will grow far better grazing grass/clover pasture than the same
grass alone.
(Heifers will hardly grow at all on grass only pastures.)
The nitrogen fixed by white clover may be in the range of 200 to 500 lb.
of nitrogen per acre each year.
THE DANGER OF FALLING BETWEEN TWO STOOLS
WITH THE USE OF FERTILIZER NITROGEN.
----------------------------------------
Heavy applications of nitrogen fertilizer will result in tremendous
short term grass production. A unfortunate side effect is shading out
and complete loss of white clover.
Loss of clover is acceptable if you are willing to apply massive doses
of fertilizer nitrogen after every grazing cycle for the rest of your
career. This is very expensive but can work in some situations.
Think of a drunk staggering around in a bar . Picture him trying to sit
down on a bar stool but missing his target and sitting down hard on the
floor.
Attempting a compromise between clover & fertilizer nitrogen is where
falling between two stools is likely. A small application of fertilizer
nitrogen will have just as disastrous an effect on the white clover as
will a large application of fertilizer nitrogen. Your white clover
nitrogen would be lost without being replaced by significant
applications of fertilizer nitrogen.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Never apply fertilizer nitrogen.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Loss of your white clover is a financial
disaster equal to the barn burning down.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Repeatedly mow pastures that have
received manure to suppress the grass and favor the clover.
There are many opportunities to fall between two stools in
intensive grazing.
You must make a commitment to intensive grazing management
in order to succeed.
Think of two bar stools labeled
-------------------------------
(Stool 1) Traditional, year around barn feeding, free stalls, TMR.
(Stool 2) Intensive grazing.
If you try to sit on both stools at once, you will end up
sitting down hard on the floor between them.
THE MOST POWERFUL SECRET IN AMERICAN AGRICULTURE
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The combination of:
1. Sub surface transfer of nitrogen fixed by bacteria in
the clover-root nodules.
2. Excreted nitrogen and other nutrients in poop and pee.
3. Voisin intensive grazing management.
This combination is so powerful that it can easily result in pasture
production ten times greater per acre than a traditionally managed Ohio
pasture.
This combination is potentially far more profitable than soybeans,
alfalfa, corn, wheat and oats on any soil in Ohio.
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GRAIN FEEDING ON PASTURE
------------------------
HOW MUCH GRAIN TO FEED
----------------------
(Most profitable level of grain feeding in New Zealand or Ireland might
be zero, but New Zealand is not Ohio.)
Eight pounds per feeding is the absolute upper limit. Higher amounts per
feeding will reduce daily dry matter intake and reduce milk production.
Grain is so cheap in Ohio that we probably should feed at least 10 to 20
LB/cow/day.
Estimating total dry matter intake and dry matter intake of pasture is
the starting point for ration balancing.
TO ESTIMATE TOTAL DAILY DRY MATTER INTAKE PER COW:
Ignore size and age. Those differences don't amount to much.
Start with 45 pounds of dry matter intake per Holstein cow.
Add .26 LB of DM intake for each LB of milk above 60.
Subtract .39 LB DM intake for each LB of milk below 60.
TO ESTIMATE DRY MATTER INTAKE OF PASTURE FORAGE:
Multiply grain fed by the factor .87 to adjust to dry matter basis.
Subtract grain(dry basis) from daily dry matter intake.
The result is a reasonable guess at the lb. of pasture dry matter being
consumed.
Example:
Estimated DM intake for cow milking 100 lb. or more on pasture.
------------------------------------------------------
First 60 lb of milk 45.0
Next 40 lb milk 40 * .26 = 10.4
Total daily DM intake for 100 lbs 55.4
Grain fed 32.0
Estimated pasture dry matter eaten 23.4
FACTORS LIMITING HOW MUCH GRAIN YOU CAN FEED ON PASTURE.
Feeding more than 8 pounds of grain per feeding will result
in severe decline in forage intake.
Grain must be fed four times/day if you expect cows to milk
100 lbs.
Palatability limits blood and fish meal to 1 lb/cow/day.
Limit starchy feeds like corn screenings, shelled corn,
wheat and oats to 20 lb/cow/day. Twenty pounds of starch
should be plenty for 100 lb plus production.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Never feed more than eight pounds of
grain per feeding
PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS.
Good pasture is very high in protein but much of the pasture
protein is useless for milk production.
Think of crude protein as having two components DIP
(Degradable Intake Protein) and UIP (Undegradable Intake
Protein).
At Owenlea Holsteins we ignore DIP in ration formulation.
It is not a limiting factor on good pasture.
UIP (Undegradable Intake Protein) is my focus in
supplementing high quality pasture.
The safest way to think about UIP in pasture is to assume
that there in none.
Ignoring UIP will soon result in a tank average of 50 lbs or
less.
Plan to get 100% of the UIP from supplements.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Feed 4.0 lb of UIP to fresh cows for 100lb plus milk production. As production declines reduce UIP
to no less than 2.0 lb.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Some of the UIP should be from an animal
source: feather meal, blood meal, fish meal or meat & bone
meal.
FORMULATING THE RATION:
FWO GRAZING RULE: Never allow a feed company to balance
your rations.
Most so called nutritionists are former feed truck drivers
or feed salesmen. There is no licensing in the nutrition
consulting business. Learn to do ration balancing yourself.
All ration balancing is simple arithmetic. Anyone smart
enough to farm can balance a ration.
A computer helps but it isn't necessary. Paper with columns
and a pencil with an eraser are the only essentials. A
calculator is not an essential. (Some Amish and other
groups are forbidden to use calculators but they often excel at
arithmetic.)
Follow the National Research Council recommendations. Get
their book and work directly from it. NASCO lists the book
in their livestock supply catalog. 800/558-9595 Catalog#
C13551N $21.30.
Vitamin & mineral supplementation is only a matter of
following NRC recommendations and I won't discuss it here.
Energy calculations in my pasture rations are very simple.
I can't do much about it so I just ignore it.
THE OWENLEA HOLSTEIN'S 1993 RATION:
------------------------------------------------------------
UIP of feeds used at Owenlea during the 1993 grazing season:
Ingredient %CP Undegradability %UIP
factor
Blood meal 87.2 0.72 58.3%
Whole roasted soybeans 40.0 0.701 28.0%
Corn screenings 8.5 0.50 4.3%
Pasture 25.0 0 to 0.33 probably zero
Mineral/vitamin mix none
Minerals fed from April 10 to Nov. 15, 1993 at Owenlea
Holsteins:
-------------------------------------------------------------
lbs/cow/day cost/cow/day
Vitamin E-20 0.02 $0.02
Selenium 90 0.03 $0.01
A-DEK 0.08 $0.03
Dical 0.11 $0.03
TM Salt 0.22 $0.03
Limestone 0.44 $0.04
Total 0.90 $0.15
Ration fed from April 10 to Nov. 15, 1993 at Owenlea
Holsteins:
------------------------------------------------------------
Ingredient approx.
cost of
lb DM/day %UIP lb UIP purchased
feed
Blood meal 1 58.3% 0.58 $0.25
Mineral .90 $0.15
Pasture 24 0.0% 0.00 $0.00
Corn screenings 20 4.3% 0.85 $0.50
Whole roasted soybeans 9 28.0% 2.52 $1.13
total 55 3.95 $2.03
All cows received 20 lbs of corn screenings and one lb of
blood meal per day for the entire 1993 grazing season.
All the cows in the herd received at least five lbs of whole
roasted beans. The higher producers got either 7 or 9
pounds of roasted beans.
EXAMPLE RESULTS
This information is included mainly to illustrate that it is
possible to get production on pasture equal to tradition
(TMR) feeding.
Four cows calved just prior to the pasture season.
They achieved the following results on the above ration:
HERD NUMBER 2445
fresh 1/30/93 with second calf.
test day daily milk
Mar 4 111
Apr 10 Start pasture / end hay
Apr 19 116
May 18 98
Jun 17 104
Jul 27 83
Sep 1 80
Oct 15 74
Nov 17 71
Nov 15 End pasture season / start hay.
Dec 16 47
3-4 2x 336 29540 3.76 1110
due to calve 3/1/94
HERD NUMBER 2345
fresh 3/5/93 with third calf
test day daily milk
Mar 4 too fresh to test
Apr 10 Start pasture / end hay
Apr 19 96
May 18 95
Jun 17 89
Jul 27 69
Sep 1 60
Oct 15 57
Nov 17 59
Nov 15 End pasture season / start hay.
Dec 16 43
4-3 2x 302 21610 3.74 809
due to calve 3/29/94
HERD NUMBER 2423
fresh 2/1/93 with second calf
test day daily milk
Mar 4 77
Apr 10 Start pasture / end hay
Apr 19 75
May 18 73
Jun 17 78
Jul 27 72
Sep 1 65
Oct 15 51
Nov 17 46
Nov 15 End pasture season / start hay.
Dec 16 42
3-6 2x 334 21480 4.41 946
due to calve 2/28/94
HERD NUMBER 2427
fresh 3/4/93 with second calf.
test day daily milk
Mar 4 too fresh to test
Apr 10 Start pasture / end hay
Apr 19 113
May 18 112
Jun 17 106
Jul 27 91
Sep 1 93
Oct 15 79
Nov 17 80
Nov 15 End pasture season / start hay.
Dec 16 56
3-6 2x 303 27840 4.15 1155
due to calve 3/26/94
*2345 and 2423 were the two lowest producing cows in the herd for 1993.
PASTURE EQUIPMENT
WATER LINES:
Burying water lines is a waste of money and results in an
inflexible water system.
Use 3/4 in flexible black plastic pipe from Carter Lumber,
Farm & Fleet or TSC.
We have some that is eight years old and still in service.
It comes in 400 foot rolls. Cost in 1993 was $42.00 to
$44.00 per 400 ft roll.
You need about 5000 ft for 50 acres of pasture.
5000 ft / 400 ft per roll = 12.5 rolls. 12.5 rolls * $43
per roll = $537.50
Roll each 400 ft piece out and then drag it around for a
while to get the twist out.
Tee's are needed about every 100 ft.
Connect off from the 3/4 inch tee's with a piece of hose about 3
feet long. Put a plastic male hose thread on the other end
of the 3 foot hose.
Make a "shut off" by bending the 3 foot hose and slipping a
short piece of 2 in plastic pipe over it.
The best hose to use for "the shut off" is 3/4 in EVA hose.
(This is the hose used on field sprayers.)
Don't buy stainless steel hose clamps. The threads strip
before they are tight enough.
Buy one of those tools that allow you to make clamps from
ordinary galvanized wire.
Tee's with homemade wire clamps and homemade shutoffs cost
about $2.00 each. 5000 ft / 100 feet between tees = 50
tee's * $2.00$ = $100.00
FWO GRAZING RULE: Put a pressure gauge in the water line
near the house to quickly detect tipped over tanks and
pulled apart water lines. Especially if you buy city water
as we do at Owenlea.
WATER TANKS:
Don't buy commercial water tanks. They are too heavy and
expensive. You will be moving the tank at least 3 times per
day.
Buy plastic 55 gal drums and cut them in two. They cost
$10.00 and make two water tanks @ $5.00 each.
Attach Dare float valves with 5/16 in bolts. Bolt the float
valves about 8 inches down from the top of the tank. The
mounting bracket supplied with the float valve won't work.
Cost of the valves is about $8.00 at TSC or Farm & Fleet.
Hudson full flow valves are more durable and cost about $23.00
Attach a cheap, 50 foot water hose with an elbow at the top
edge of the tank to prevent kinking.
You need at least 5 water tanks. Cost is $5 (tank) + $8
(float) + $15 (hose) = $28 * 5 = $140
PORTABLE FENCE
You need about 10 reels with 500 ft of polywire each. Cost
about $600.00
100 tread-in type plastic posts @$2.00 each is another
$200.00
In pasture grain feeding equipment:
One sixteen foot hay wagon per 30 cows is enough feeding
space for grain in the pasture.
Store grain on the wagon in a leaky water tank or a wood
feed box.
Park the wagon in a spot in the pasture where you need more
manure.
PASTURE IMPROVEMENT
Close grazing and mowing are the most important factors in
pasture density improvement.
Mud and hoof damage in rainy weather:
FWO GRAZING RULE: Hoof damage is good. It provides an open
site for clover to run in or self seed.
Cows can churn a beautiful pasture into a sea of mud during
a rain storm. I have had several pastures churned up so
badly that there was nothing green left in sight.
These pastures always return to normal very quickly. Don't
be concerned about them.
At Owenlea Holsteins we think of hoof prints and tramped up
areas around gates and water tanks as a golden opportunity
for clover to run in or reseed.
These patches are quickly filled by bluegrass and white
clover either by running in from adjacent plants or new
seedlings.
Countless millions of white clover and bluegrass seeds are
lying dormant in your Ohio soil waiting for the opportunity to
fill hoof prints with baby plants. Weed seedlings might get
ahead of the bluegrass/white clover seedlings. Don't worry
about it. Cows love immature weeds.
WEEDS
FWO GRAZING RULE: Weeds are good feed. Don't worry about
them.
Weeds are much better than bare ground.
Cows milk well grazing six inch high weeds. The cows don't know
the difference between grass and weeds.
Most weeds can't survive more than two or three grazings or
mowings.
After a year or two the only weed that you will find in your
Ohio pastures is dandelion.
Canada Thistle will be a problem under the fence where you can not
mow. Chopping thistles under the fence is hard on plastic
water lines.
Dandelion is a desirable pasture plant and makes good milk
production.
Fertility:
It doesn't take much fertility to grow grass.
90% of the nutrients in the grass are redeposited in the poop
and pee.
90% of the nutrients in the grain fed are also deposited in
the poop and pee.
If all the manure is returned to the pasture you will have a
net gain in soil fertility.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Don't put commercial fertilizer on the
pasture.
FERTILIZER RELATED DISASTERS ARE POSSIBLE AND VERY COMMON:
Never fertilize pastures in the early spring. You
definitely will have cows die from grass tetany.
(The first warning of grass tetany is generally a dead cow.)
A big fertilizer application could cause the grass to
totally shade out the clover. Loss of clover nitrogen is
the beginning of the end for a grazer.
WHERE THE POOP AND PEE IS DEPOSITED IS CRITICAL TO SOIL
FERTILITY.
All the fertility in your pastures will be carried away if
you allow it.
Cows poop 11 or 12 times and pee 8 to 11 times each day.
The cows must return the P & P nutrients to the pasture.
FWO GRAZING RULE: Never allow cows to idle in the barn or
lane after milking. Rush them to the pasture & shut the
gate.
The cows at Owenlea Holsteins almost never poop or pee in
the lane or milking barn. We don't allow it. We rush them
in to milk. We milk them fast. We rush them back to the
pasture quick. No offsite pooping allowed!
Never feed hay or silage in the barn during the pasture
season. Cows will anticipate barn feeding resulting in a
severe drop in pasture intake and milk production.
If you must feed stored forages during the pasture season do
it out in the pasture.
Select places in the pasture that look thin and need
fertility. Do your supplemental forage feeding there.
Park the grain wagon where you need more fertility.
Place the water source where you need more fertility.
Eliminate shade. All the fertility in your pasture will be
moved under the shade trees if you allow it. Cut down the
trees or pasture areas with trees at night.
MOWING
FWO GRAZING RULE: The best way to improve pasture density
is to mow it close after every grazing cycle.
Mowing with a small, slow quiet tractor can be a great
pleasure. The time alone to contemplate will be worth more
to you than anything else that you could do with the time
and the fuel.
Any plants standing in the pasture after grazing will not be
eaten that year. Don't let that plant scatter undesirable seed and
shade out clover.
Mow every day for two or three hours the first part of the
grazing season. Don't let any plant get taller than eight
inches.
Close grazing and close mowing allow white clover to get an
advantage for light over the grass.
RESEEDING
Plowing and reseeding will slow down evolution of pastures
to their optimum state.
Don't reseed. It is a waste of money.
The only justification for tillage and reseeding is to
CREATE A MOWABLE SURFACE.
FROST SEEDING
Not necessary, let nature supply the seed.
If you won't listen then scatter inoculated ladino clover
seed plus bluegrass and lawn type perennial ryegrass.
Walmart or K-Mart is a good place to buy blue grass and lawn
type perennial rye grass seed.
Kentucky 31 is NOT bluegrass. It is a variety of tall
fescue.
I advocate throwing a handful of perennial ryegrass or blue
grass on areas that get tramped up in wet weather.
PASTURE PLANTS
MANAGE HAY AND PASTURE DIFFERENTLY.
It is OK to grow hay. Just don't try to do it in your
pastures. Manage your pasture as pasture only. Allowing
pasture to grow tall enough to be harvested for hay will
result in shading out of clover for the remainder of that year.
Manage your hay fields as hay but plan to graze them occasionally
in July and August.
Growing hay crops in a pasture won't be successful in the
long view.
ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10:
------------------------------------------------------------
The species of plant growing in your pasture has an importance
of about 2.
The way you manage your pasture has an importance of 10.
Don't get excited by strange new grasses from far away
countries.
IN MY OPINION WHITE CLOVER/BLUEGRASS PASTURES MAKE THE MOST
MILK.
White clover/bluegrass can be very productive in mid summer:
Mow immediately after each grazing to provide a moisture
retaining mulch.
Apply plenty of manure in the winter to provide a moisture
retaining mulch.
Back fence immediately.
Don't allow any grazing of regrowth as root reserves are
modest.
LADINO CLOVER
The Miracle Pasture Plant if it exists is probably ladino
cover.
Think of ladino as white clover with a turbocharger.
Ladino clover is extremely productive, self seeding and very
aggressive.
It can be a tall upright plant but instantly adapts to the
low spread growth required for intensive grazing.
LAWN TYPE PERENNIAL RYEGRASS.
Make sure it is lawn type so it doesn't shade out your
clover.
PASTURE TYPE BIRDSFOOT TREFOIL.
Might be good to frost seed a bit of this.
It will likely remain unnoticed in the background almost forever.
In a drought year the trefoil might come forward and be your
salvation.
TALL GROWING HAY PLANTS ARE BAD.
THESE ARE THE REAL WEEDS TO A INTENSIVE GRAZIER.
Anything that shades out your clover starts a downward turn
in your fortune as a grazier.
ALFALFA
Forget it. It isn't dense enough for high dry matter
intake.
The milk production will go down when you move from dense
clover/bluegrass to good alfalfa.
ORCHARD GRASS
Forget about it. It is too loose and leafy. The cows will
get tired of trying and go lay down.
Milk production will go down when you move from dense
clover/bluegrass to good orchardgrass.
RED CLOVER
This stuff will break your heart. It is so much taller than
white clover that it will shade out your white clover. Then
the red clover disappears, leaving you with nothing.
You may think that you can frost seed red clover every year
and maintain your stand forever. Sounds good but it won't
work. There may be some degree of auto-toxicity in red
clover just as in alfalfa.
-end-
Kindest regards,
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@ F. W. Owen @
@ Owenlea Holsteins @
@ 9430 Spencer Rd. @
@ Homerville, OH 44235 @
@ 216/625-2369 voice & fax @
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