Anyone do irrigated pastures?

[theHiredMansWife]

The lesser half just went to a workshop today on the subject. They were mostly coming at it from the angle of intesive grazing though. He's thinking more along the lines of cool-season grasses that he can use in the spring before branding (and heading out to summer grass) and fall before/after weaning.

He's trying to convince the corporate office to cut down some on the farm and turn the corn pivots to grass (so he can build up the ranch :wink: )

He's doing some more 'net research, but I thought I'd ask here, too.

Anyone currently doing this, or have experience with it? What pros and cons have you noticed? Water consumption in sandy soils?

 

[pknoeber]

Triangle H in Garden City does some of this. They use it exactly as you describe, as a fill-in between the summer grasses & the cornstalks that they graze.
I also know of a few people that are exclusively irrigated grass. This is usually only on marginal wells here in SW KS. I still think that for big water irrigated grass doesn't pay. Remember when you start harvesting that much grass off of ground you have to put almost as much fertilizer on it as you do on a cash crop to keep it productive. The natural grass that rarely has any inputs put to it works that way b/c there's a minimal amount harvested/acre when compared to an intensive grazing outfit.
Just some thoughts.
Phil

 

[jodywy]

I do, but then I am in a high moutain valley. The irrigated pastures are around the creeks and rivers and are mainly sub irrigated from the irrigated hay meadows next to them. The cows go on the moutain and the hiefers, 1st calf hiefers and old cows and thier calves stay on those irrigated pastures during the summer and thier calves will be 25 to 50 lbs lighter then those comming off the moutain. But they are3 to 4 cow pairs per acre/ month on the irrigatec pasture vers around 4 to 10 acres /month on the moutain.

 

[Northern Rancher]

My nephew runs yearlings on irrigated ground but there's alot of alfalfa in it so they bolus every critter for bloat control.