Corn Experiment To Date...

[RSL]

Keep in mind we live about 300 miles north of the Canada/US border. We now have neighbours that only grow corn for feeding their cows in the winter - no bales. We are trying a 20 acre experiment and addressing many issues such as Agronomy (we have not fertilized in 1992 or sprayed since 2004), sustainability, cost, and whether this fits our personal ranching ethic. It has been interesting.
June 8th - neighbours bought a planter and are custom seeding for us.

July 15th - Roundup Ready spray job

Great spray pilot and a VERY ENTHUSIASTIC passenger

A couple more Gopher Getters...

 

[leanin' H]

My altitude and late spring/early fall frosts make growing corn a risky gamble as well. Some neighbors do the grazing thing also but a lot sure gets wasted in the process. Please keep us updated as to how your experiment turns out. Hope it works swell!

 

[burnt]

It will sure be interesting to see how it turns out for you. Best of luck with your experiment.

 

[Kato]

We're 160 miles north of the border, and we've been doing it for years now. Up until the Roundup Ready canola incident this year, it's been great. We grow 75 acres, and that will keep 175 cows going from October to sometime in January depending on how good the crop turned out. We don't use any where near the fertilizer that people use to grow grain corn, and as the years go by we need less and less. Those cows leave a lot of nutrients behind them.

In the fall, you can post a picture like this!

 

[RSL]

We are hoping to get a pretty good yield. Our neighbour has gotten 290 and 190 AUGD repsectively in a normal and drought year on 1500+ pound cows. Our cows are 250 pounds or more lighter, so it should translate to more days. (he also got crop insurance both years).
We are thinking that we will come off grass in mid January, onto swaths, then onto corn, then maybe on to bale grazing. I think we are even going to try backgrounding calves on corn grazing.
The costs are cheaper than buying land around here, but they still stagger me a bit...

 

[Kato]

When we bring our cows home in the fall, we don't always get the calves weaned right away. Those cows actually gain weight with big calves nursing them, and we put weight on the calves too. I would think you could background on it. Let us know how that works out.

We always get ours assessed by crop insurance, even if it looks good. Last year it did 17 tonnes/acre, but I don't know how that translates into the way you calculate yours. It's been as low as 12 and as high as 17, but it's always been enough to carry the herd until calving starts.

Show us some pictures of it as the year goes by.

 

[Angus 62]

More specifics please! Varieties, row width, populations.

Corn stalks have been grazed after harvest in many places for years but there are some draw backs, harvested stalks end up in the mud or buried in snow then turn to crap when it thaws. GM corn = something cows won't eat in some varieties.

 

[RSL]

Brett Young Roundup Ready Fusion is what we are growing (My little brother is a seed pimp for Brett Young). Fusion is a 2200CHU variety that is semi flint. It is a tall growing grazing corn. Rows are 2 feet on centre I think. 28 to 30000 seeds per acre.
We put on 75 pounds of actual N (156 pounds of product), seeded with an 8 row planter, sprayed 1 litre per acre of Roundup. The only harvesters that will be touching the corn will be cows. We plan to graze it in mid-January or later depending on pastures, swath grazing, etc.
http://www.brettyoung.ca
This is the first fertilizer we have bought since 1992, and the first time we have sprayed in about 6 years. I know next to nothing about farming so questions are difficult and suggestions are welcome...

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

More specifics please! Varieties, row width, populations.

Corn stalks have been grazed after harvest in many places for years but there are some draw backs, harvested stalks end up in the mud or buried in snow then turn to crap when it thaws. GM corn = something cows won't eat in some varieties.

I think some of the difference is that grazing corn they limit the acess and make them clean up before they let them at more corn. I have never done it so just going on what I have heard other do.

 

[prettyview]

Hi everyone. Very interested in this topic as we make a business out of corn seed sales and corn planting mostly for grazing and have sucseesfuly grazed for years.The bueaty of it is once you start using a field for corn grazing year after year you need only a blend of 0-0-0 fertilizer. Every year we have new customers seeding a small acreage to try it and every year we get more people hooked. In our part of the world we aim for 180 to 200 cowdays/acre and our optimum seeding dates are from May 25 to June 15.
We own a 12 row 30ft planter with 30inch row spacings and rent it out to our customers. The rental includes delivery ,instruction and pickup of the planter. We are actively searching for a second planter for next season.
Our son has convinced me to write an illustrated detailed "Corn Grazing How To" E-book which i hope he can publish on our website by next Feburary or March. This book will detail everything from site selection to varieties to planting, paddock setup,etc. etc. It will also include the economics of this sytem. We will try to make it as hands on common language as possible. For more info you are welcome to go to our website www.prettyviewangus.com
Looking forward to more progress reports and more discussion about corn grazing