Tap said:
Jinglebob is to be commended for the undertaking of getting his program going. I know I am not the first to grab on to change, but we put a grazing system into place, and I can sure see the good it has done us. One year my dad and I set 18 rubber and bottomless tanks ourselves, and the next year we put the fencing in for our rotational system. I think adding units could be a benefit, but my main goal was to keep more grass on the ground during the dormant season. Old grass sure gives our new grass a good start, especially in the drier years.
One purpose of the rotational systems is to give all areas an equal amount of rest, and that equates into a longer time for the grasses to recover. One one 5 pasture rotation, we start moving the cattle every 6-7 days, and by the end of the summer it may be 2 weeks before we move again. This gives more chances for your pastures to benefit from the summer showers that green things up too. It is just a win/win situation all together. We backed our calving dates up too along with the rotational grazing, and our weaning weights actually got heavier! We start 2 weeks later than we were calving a few years ago.
Jinglebob, I am interested in the days of rest you give your pastures between moves. How many pastures per rotation, and how many days do you stay in a pasture.
We have an OUTSTANDING NRCS man here. We are damn lucky to have him.
There is no set pattern to the days of rest. When I go out an look and the cattle have taken the most good, while trying to leave about 3 inches tall grass left, it's time to move.
Some pastures I move faster, in order to try and get certain species when they are at their best or before they get a chance to seed. As the summer goes on, the cattle get into bigger pastures and stay longer.
If I was really doing this the proper way, I'd go back and subdivide every pasture again.
The beauty of this system is that you can't hardly mess it up, if you just watch the cattle, they will tell you when the good is gone and it's time to move. And moving them just amounts to opening a gate or two and the next day going back and shuting them off from the pastures they have been in. If it wasn't pretty foolproof and easy, I sure as heck couldn't do it! :wink:
One of my biggest problems is getting the guys who I summer for, to let me put all of their cattle together. With a bigger bunch, I can create more competition and do a better job and I only have one bunch to rotate thru' instead of two or three. And only one bunch of cattle to cheak!
In the spring when the crested is good, I've got to hit it hard and by the time I get it all grazed off the way I want, it's time to go back and get it again. By then the warm season grasses are ready to be grazed.
I ain't very good at this stuff, but it sure has made a difference in how many more cattle I can run and how much grass I leave. Basicly, I'm trying to cut grass as most would with a swather or haybine. But when I do it, I'm also fertalizing and working the ground a little with hoof action. And I don't have to go back and bale it. Simplify, simplify! LOL
Give me a call Tap and we'll visit. Some of the stuff that works down south or southeast of here works a little different up here in our country. And there is no right or wrong to it, as long as you are getting the grass grazed, the way you want to and the cattle are doing well. there is a feller over by Wibaux, who puts cattle in a psture and they don't get to leave until all the sagebrush is gone. then he'll rest that pasture for two years. Sounds like he's running more cattle and got more grass than al of his neighbors.
As far as ovewrgrazinbg goes, what does a chunk of farm ground look like when you tear it up. but it grows back and if you did it right, it will be better than before. You can do the same thing with cattle and not have to own a piece of machinery or set on a danged ol' tractor!
Think about turning a kid into a resturant and telling him he can eat anything he wants, but he has to stay there for 6 months. You can bet he'll eat all the sweets and candy like stuff at first and the vegetables will be last and then he'll only eat them because he was starved into it. And they sure won't taste very good after setting there for 4 or 5 months!
Thats what we used to do with our cows. By the time they had to eat the grass they didn't lke, it was way past and had little food value. I'm just making them eat a balanced diet, like my mom used to do to me! :wink:
Face it, I'm just lazy and there isn't a lot of hard work involved with this!
All of those who say this type of system won't work on their place, just mean that it can't, as they are too comfortable doing things the way they always have. And thats fine with me. Everybody has got to hoe their own row! :wink:
And change comes real hard to all of us hard headed ol' ranchers and cowboys! :lol: :lol:
I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't kind of forced into it, just cuz I wanted to pay ALL of my bills, instead of just a few every month! :shock: :lol: :lol: