spacer


[Table of Contents] Intensive Grazing at Owenlea Holsteins

Intensive Grazing at Owenlea Holsteins

by F. W. Owen

The purpose of this document is to describe HOW we do Dairy Intensive Grazing at Owenlea Farm.

I wrote this and printed a bunch to pass out at an early Ohio Grazing Conference. They had me on the program along with a bunch of extension agents and university professors.

I figured that the extension agents and professors wouldn't know what they were talking about, which was right, they didn't, mostly because they had not figured out Voisin.

I also figured they wouldn't let me talk except for a few minutes at the end, and that was right too.

So I got the idea the night before to write this and pass out a few to dairy farmers and maybe do a little bit of good. It turned out to be a hot item. I could have sold them! Since then, I've had hundreds of requests for this and have mailed out a couple hundred pounds of them.

It's easy to figure out WHAT to do. It is a lot harder to figure HOW TO ACTUALLY DO IT.

This was written in January 1994. [In 1997, I don't agree with some of this. For example, I no longer see much point in feeding a lot of grain.]

At that time:

I didn't know any other graziers,

hadn't heard of Graze-L,

hadn't read anything on the subject except Voison,

didn't know about New Zealand management techniques,

and had about 8 years intensive grazing experience.

So, this is pretty much untainted by thinking or outside influence except for what I thought I understood in Voisin.

Where I don't agree with myself, I've added comments in:
[square brackets and green type] .

Scattered through this paper are comments that begin:

FWO GRAZING RULE:

I feel that if I break these rules my intensive grazing program will begin to fail.

Here is a strongly worded rule to get you started:

FWO GRAZING RULE #1: Only a madman would feed stored forages during the grazing season.

Contents

  • General Comments
  • Why Won't High Input Dairy Farmers Adopt Intensive Grazing Technology?
  • Effect Of Water Availability On Pasture Consumption
  • Effect Of The Amount Of Grain Fed On Pasture Consumption
  • Effect Of Shade On Pasture Consumption
  • Build A Mist Generator For Hot Days
  • Effect Of Physical Characteristics of Pasture Plants On Pasture Consumption
  • The Worst Pasture Plants For Dry Matter Intake Per Bite
  • The Best Pasture Plants For Dry Matter Intake Per Bite
  • Tall Fescue Is A Special Case
  • Effect Of Moving Cows To Fresh Grass On Pasture Consumption
  • The Importance Of Clover
  • The Danger Of Falling Between Two Stools With The Use Of Fertilizer Nitrogen.
  • The Most Powerful Secret In American Agriculture
  • Grain Feeding On Pasture
  • How Much Grain To Feed
  • To Estimate Total Daily Dry Matter Intake Per Cow
  • Factors limiting how much grain you can feed on pasture
  • Protein Supplements.
  • Formulating The Ration
  • The Owenlea Holstein's 1993 Ration
  • Example Results
  • Pasture Equipment
  • Water Lines
  • Water Tanks
  • Portable Fence
  • In Pasture Grain Feeding Equipment
  • Pasture Improvement
  • Mud And Hoof Damage In Rainy Weather
  • Weeds
  • Fertility
  • Fertilizer Related Disasters Are Possible
  • Where The Poop And Pee Is Deposited Is Critical To Soil Fertility.
  • Mowing
  • Reseeding
  • Frost Seeding
  • Pasture Plants
  • Manage Hay And Pasture Differently.
  • On A Scale Of 1 To 10
  • In My Opinion White Clover/Bluegrass Pastures Make The Most Milk.
  • Ladino Clover
  • Lawn Type Perennial Ryegrass.
  • Pasture Type Birdsfoot Trefoil.
  • Alfalfa
  • Orchard Grass
  • Red Clover

    • 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 [3 or 4 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. [so it doesn't appeal to innovators and agro-technocrats]

    • 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 [Make that 50 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 [this refers to small portable tanks, big permanent tanks are no problem] 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 [small portable tanks only, big permanent tanks stay cool enough].

     

    EFFECT OF THE AMOUNT OF GRAIN FED ON PASTURE CONSUMPTION

    FWO GRAZING RULE: 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 if you are trying to match the neighbor's TMR production.

    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.

    • 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: Never provide shade.

    FWO GRAZING RULE: Replace fly tags every 30 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 THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 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 [almost] 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. [chew some too]

    • For extra fun, try tearing off early bud stage alfalfa with your bare hands.

     

    THE WORST PASTURE PLANTS FOR DRY MATTER INTAKE PER BITE [because they are too loose and hard to grasp]

    • Orchard grass.

    • Alfalfa.

    • Red Clover.

    • Hay type perennial ryegrass.

     

    THE BEST PASTURE PLANTS FOR DRY MATTER INTAKE PER BITE [because they grow densely]

    • 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.

    4. [And repeat the cycle forever.]

     

    TALL FESCUE IS A SPECIAL CASE

    • Tall fescue is bitter tasting and difficult [very tough] 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.

    • [The best fertilizer for Tall Fascue is ROUNDUP]

     

    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 [not that long].

    • 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. [twice is OK but not near as good as 3 or 4]

     

    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.
    [Twice a day is enough, once a day is not going to do the job]

     

    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

    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.

     

     

    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.)

      [I now think that zero is the most profitable amount in Ohio.

      But lot's of folks want to participate in the       registered business and need milk production records equal to the competition. I say, "let them feed extra grain, it won't hurt much and it will make them happy."]

    • 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. [WAS, not IS]

     

    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 [40-42 is more realistic, even for big show type Holsteins.] . 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. [only for cows trying to milk 100 lbs]

    • 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 100 lb plus milk production. As production declines reduce UIP to no less than 2.0 lb. [Forget about UIP under about 70 pounds.]

    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. [take responsibility!]

    • 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.) [Wrong, EVA breaks after kinking a few dozen times, use rubber hose.]

    • 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.

     

    [Portable] WATER TANKS:

    [The best solution is to have PERMANENT WATER tanks in each paddock.]

    • Don't buy commercial water tanks. They are too heavy and expensive. You will be moving the tank at least 3 times per day. [once is enough]

    • 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. [There is nothing wrong with feeding grain in a long row right on the grass, either out in the middle of a paddock or under the fence.]

    • 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% [I don't know this is very accurate] of the nutrients in the grass are redeposited in the poop and pee.

    • 90% [I don't know this is very accurate] 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. [If you are importing feed (fertility) onto the farm, you won't need commercial fertilizer.]

     

    FERTILIZER RELATED DISASTERS ARE POSSIBLE AND VERY COMMON:

    1. 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.)

    2. 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.

    • 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.

    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 [rush them slow and calmly] in to milk.

    • We milk them fast.

    • We rush [rush slow and calmly] them back to the pasture quick.

    • No offsite pooping allowed!

     

    MOWING [and thinking]

    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.

    • [The thinking will do you more good than the mowing. You could just park the tractor under a tree, sit on it, and think.]

    • 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 [and takes land out of production].

    • 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. [Lawn type ryegrass may be endophyte infected, but it will survive Ohio winter. Regular perennial ryegrass won't.]

    • Walmart or K-Mart is a good place to buy blue grass and lawn type perennial rye grass seed. [Lawn type ryegrass may be endophyte infected, but it will survive Ohio winter.]

    • 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. [Or Annual ryegrass in the spring and Winter Rye in the fall.]

     

    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.

    • [Graze the hay fields part of the time if you want to, but don't let the pastures grow to hay length. It will shade out too much clover.]

     

    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 [in Ohio and most of the land around the Great Lakes].

    • White clover/bluegrass can be very productive in mid summer.

    • Mow immediately after each grazing to provide a moisture retaining mulch [It is essential to mulch bluegrass if you expect it to produce in hot weather.]

    • 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. [It definitely is the Miracle Pasture Plant]

    • 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.

    • [It may be endophyte infected (or maybe not) but it will survive northern Ohio winters.]
    • [Agriculture type perennial rye grasses are 3X as expense as Annual Ryegrass and won't live any longer.]

     

    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. [At least it hasn't worked in ten years of trying here, sow Ladino instead of Red Clover] There may be some degree of auto-toxicity [probably not] in red clover just as in alfalfa.

    -end-

     

    [Table of Contents] [Top] [fwo@ bright.net]