I am getting very close to the point of needing to decide what I'm going to do with our pastures this early spring (if we can get rid of some mud). Last fall we baled seven or eight acres on top of the hill and you can see some green starting to take off (that is very exciting to see), but the rest of the ground is still covered in last falls tall grass (switch grasses and more). The decision that I face is whether or not to let the grass grow up through last years growth or to go out with the bush hog and take it down mechanically and then bring the cows on as it grows.
If I were to intensely graze the pastures as they stand right now I am guessing there would be some benefit in turning out the cows on it. The cows may benefit by having some extra roughage that could help combat bloat from the early grass. But, it is also a possibility that the land would benefit also by having the cows there. Maybe the hoof action and the eating would help work last years tall grass into the ground as some good carbon material...
On the other hand I think there could possibly be some benefits from mowing down the tall grass. One possible plus would be the fact that they old grass would be chopped up and taken out of the way allowing more sunlight to reach the ground and the new growth. Then when the cows were allowed into an area they would potentially have more green grass available. Of course there would also be the side benefit of having some ant hills knocked down, which is something that needs to happen if we are going to bale different areas.
I am wondering what your thoughts on this issue are? Should I just head out and graze it ... maybe even now? Or, should I knock it all down and then let some good growth occur before putting the cows out onto the pasture? As always ... thanks for the help!
9 comments:
Since switch grass is a warm-season grass, there may not be much growth on it until late May.
PLEASE read Greg Judy's Comeback Farms - he'll answer a lot of your questions.
If it was me, I would brushhog it and then put the cattle out on the pasture.
My reasoning is that if a pasture was going to have a controlled burn it would be during this time of year, so brush-hogging in the same time frame should provide similar results in a pasture (while avoiding some of the drawbacks and hazards of burning).
I've brushhogged in the spring before in an attempt to control blackberries and brush and have noticed that the grass responds similar to if it had been burned (not exactly but similar).
So, if there isn't any brush to control, I would brushhog it at a little higher level (just clip a little bit more than the top half or so of the grass) so that any growing grass doesn't get smothered. After brushhogging, if the ground wasn't saturated, I would let the cattle have access to the entire mowed area to help 'stomp' down the thatch. Even though that might favor the future growth of warm season grasses, the area that you baled probably has conditions more favorable towards cool season grasses.
I wouldn't brushhog any lower areas where water drains off to avoid any erosion problems. But, placing a few round bales (without any bale rings, etc.) in these erosion prone areas might help concentrate the cattle so that they could 'break down' the channeled edges of the eroded area.
When the grass starts to green up, then you can start rotating your cattle through smaller paddocks.
Adding to my previous comment, I haven't read any of Greg Judy's books, but after looking around his website and pondering some of the possibilities of Ultra High Density Stocking, if I was in your situation (and could handle the fencing and watering issues), I might consider trying something similar by doing a 'trial run' of what he describes at:
http://greenpasturesfarm.net/blog.php?entryID=1227&cat=1
Stocking at a 75,000 to 150,000 lb/acre rate and growing more grass is interesting enough that I would be tempted to try it if and when I had the chance. Wouldn't a quarter of an acre sized paddock handle about 20 Dexter pairs (possibly still feeding hay until the grass greens up)?
Since you baled about a third of your available pasture, you could brushhog another third, and immediately start a Ultra High Density Stocking grazing plan on the last third. After a few weeks or months, you could compare the results from the different pasture treatments and start to form some conclusions about which grazing system would best suit you and your land.
Check out Joel Salatin's You Can Farm; He has a lot of advice and knowledge regarding pastures and cattle grazing.
You might want to post this question on homesteadingtoday. There is a post about rotational grazing that alot of people are following and I'm sure you'd get some ideas, whether you liked them or not.
http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=286704&page=14
My initial thought would be that bushhogging would be best considering that your fence isn't finished. If it was finished, I'd probably just start grazing with very small paddocks. I right now have 18 head (6 are smallish calves) on 0.14 acres per day and it's perfect so far. They have alot of forage where they are though. They are eating more than half and trampling some. I want them to trample it pretty well so that some of the young fescue that we planted last fall can get to the sunlight and have a fighting chance.
Oh, I thought I'd tell ya, we had been using the cheapest Gallagher reel with gallagher polywire for our temporary fencing. We got the nice wire, but the cheap reel. One already broke it's bobbin and we ordered a geared O'brien reel from Powerflex. It's really nice quality and we'll probably get another one when the next reel breaks! I went with the O'brien instead of the nicer geared Gallagher because of the price difference.
BH - I agree, I do need to read "Comeback Farms" ... just need to set aside the money and get it ordered. I have seen it recommended by so many people (including you and others on this blog)
Rich - You have the good thoughts there and the burning thing you mention briefly is something that has crossed my mind. In fact I just received an e-mail from someone on that topic ... something to look into.
Steven - I have been following that thread from time to time, but it has been awhile since I followed along ... thanks for mentioning it.
I would graze it now. You save hay and fuel. IMHO, grazing is better than mowing for the health of the pasture. Your cattle will eat the old growth now before the new growth gets going.
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