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Grass Management

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sdcowboy

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northwestern south dakota
I ranch in northern meade county and I'm excited about a new pasture management technique. I'm working on restoring balance and increasing forage production through herbicide application and grazing management. I was very skeptical at first but after seeing the results all over eastern montana, I'm a believer. This really works. The thought behind the program is land 30 miles from me sold recently for almost $600/acre. Now there's no way to pay for that with cows so I have to look at improving the land I have to run more cows on the same number of acres without overgrazing. With so much moisture being taken up by non-palatable plants like cactus, sagebrush, and sagewort, the grass is limited. THis program takes out 70% of the broadleafs so you maintain the native diversity of species but decrease the competition for moisture. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on something like this.
 
And how is it applied? Aerial spraying?

We did some sagebrush that way and it worked well, but we couldn't
justify the cost to spray for cactus and clubmoss. I hate them both and would be interested in what you have found that might deal with both of these.

Just so no one gets upset, we didn't spray ALL the sagebrush. Just where it was the worst. We like it for the calves to get behind out of the weather.
 
I have found that after a couple of years of rotational grazing the need for spraying is reduced or might not be needed.

I reciently bought ground that had been grazed year round and was a total mess. A 980C cat loader (60,000# and 424 hp ) took most of the osage orange and hawthorn and thorny locus out then I went in with a dozer to shape things up.

This will be the second year for it being in my pasture rotation and I don't think I'll need to spray as the cattle should be able to keep things under control now. I will evaluate as the summer goes on.

Bottom line - - - if done properly you can double or triple the stocking levels on your property. Does it pay? Around here ground is costing around $5,000.00 per acre. Either make maxium use out of it or someone will plant houses on it.
 
Personally I have no use for chemical on our land. We're not certified organic, but if there's a way to do it w/o spending that kind of cash and dumping crap on the land, I'll find it and do it. The best thing I've tried so far for brush and such, is to throw the mineral blocks and tubs into the middle of the patches. We just move them back and forth every few days, and when the cows are done, the buckbrush looks like you went through with a disc. It works great.

Another method I've seen other folks do, is to put up temp. electric fence around those patches, and bring someone else's sheep in for a few days. Put out a tub of water and give them time, they'll nip it all off at ground level. The key there, just like my system with the mineral blocks, is to give those patches some rest time before regrazing. There's lots of little things can be done without dumping cash or chemicals. :wink:
 
PureCountry said:
Personally I have no use for chemical on our land. We're not certified organic, but if there's a way to do it w/o spending that kind of cash and dumping crap on the land, I'll find it and do it. The best thing I've tried so far for brush and such, is to throw the mineral blocks and tubs into the middle of the patches. We just move them back and forth every few days, and when the cows are done, the buckbrush looks like you went through with a disc. It works great.

Another method I've seen other folks do, is to put up temp. electric fence around those patches, and bring someone else's sheep in for a few days. Put out a tub of water and give them time, they'll nip it all off at ground level. The key there, just like my system with the mineral blocks, is to give those patches some rest time before regrazing. There's lots of little things can be done without dumping cash or chemicals. :wink:
Click to expand...

Yup, I agree.

I used to want to get rid of all my buckbrush in our summer pasture as it seemed like it would provide a lot more grass if it weren't there, until one evening when we were riding and checking steers and the heel and nose flies were giving us hell. All but a few of them dumb ol' steers were laying down in the brush, and they flies weren't bothering them too much. I decided that maybe it was ok to have some around. :wink:

I think "diversity in all things, is a good thing", to almost quote Martha. :wink:
 
That is why I leave a few hedge apples ( osage orange) in each pasture. The cattle can go there and for some reason the flys stay out.

I have been told you can cut the hedge apples in half and put in the basement of a house and all insects will leave but I have not tried it myself.
 
Jinglebob Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 12:09 am Post subject:

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What is the cost per acre?


THe cost is around $20/ac. Which is really high for ground that has never had a $ put into it. But everywhere I saw in Eastern MT that they've sprayed the forage production doubled. When was the last time you could buy an acres worth of production or an acres worth of hay for $20.
Click to expand...
 
Faster horses Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 12:43 am Post subject:

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And how is it applied? Aerial spraying?

We did some sagebrush that way and it worked well, but we couldn't
justify the cost to spray for cactus and clubmoss. I hate them both and would be interested in what you have found that might deal with both of these.

Just so no one gets upset, we didn't spray ALL the sagebrush. Just where it was the worst. We like it for the calves to get behind out of the weather.


Yes with a plane. We're spraying cactus and have seen where clubmoss was sprayed and seven years later the difference between treated and untreated is amazing. $20-$22/ac doesn't seem to bad when you spread out the benefits over 10 years.
 
George Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:40 am Post subject:

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I have found that after a couple of years of rotational grazing the need for spraying is reduced or might not be needed.

I reciently bought ground that had been grazed year round and was a total mess. A 980C cat loader (60,000# and 424 hp ) took most of the osage orange and hawthorn and thorny locus out then I went in with a dozer to shape things up.

This will be the second year for it being in my pasture rotation and I don't think I'll need to spray as the cattle should be able to keep things under control now. I will evaluate as the summer goes on.

Bottom line - - - if done properly you can double or triple the stocking levels on your property. Does it pay? Around here ground is costing around $5,000.00 per acre. Either make maxium use out of it or someone will plant houses on it.
Click to expand...

I agree that rotational grazing is crucial and a phenomenal tool. But I look at herbicide as just another tool. In my part of the world we don't get much rainfall, the last 5 years we haven't had any :wink: and so what we can do with chemical in one year takes 10-20 with rotational grazing. Because of the time it takes for the ground to recover.
 
I think "diversity in all things, is a good thing", to almost quote Martha.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. This program is about balance and maximizing the pastures potential. In order to keep that potential we must keep a diversity in species and legumes. Its not a miracle, just management.
 
sdcowboy said:
I think "diversity in all things, is a good thing", to almost quote Martha.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. This program is about balance and maximizing the pastures potential. In order to keep that potential we must keep a diversity in species and legumes. Its not a miracle, just management.
Click to expand...

If you do it right every time, it is a miracle! At least around here! :wink:

Whats the "old man" think about this deal SD Cowboy?
 
If you do it right every time, it is a miracle! At least around here!

Whats the "old man" think about this deal SD Cowboy?
Click to expand...

He's comin around to it. He sees the value in it but we just drilled a deep well last year and have to get over that b4 we can do a lot of acres.
 

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