Yes, PureCountry we are still grazing out in the west country. Took a mile hike this afternoon to check on my mature cows and open the gate into their next block. It was -20C but with wind chill supposed to be about -30C. Tough walking but I reckon if I expect my cows to graze I should get a real idea of what conditions are like - snow depth, grass quantity, drifts etc. Your climate still scares the crap out of me sometimes but with careful watching I'm increasing my comfort zone with regard to winter grazing.
A research guy was telling me the other day that what I was doing was leading edge in the area :???: I thought I was more a lunatic fringe type of operator :lol2: :lol2:
Heading cross country to the cows - get the chance for some easier walking (on water) a few times as the river meanders through this area.
Onto pastures new.
Some nice fescue in this loop of the river.
Eager grazers.
Communal grazing when they find a lush relatively clear spot.
A wise loner (I was curious and upon closer inspection see she found a patch of clover with the little heads showing through)
Thin crust of snow on top where the grass is thickest - this will be easy for the cows to access.
Heading home through the last block to graze - should be late January before we need to start feeding. Will resume grazing banked grass in early April once the snow goes.
Pulled the snow aside to show the volume. This pasture was ungrazed all growing season so quality will be lower. As long as we have volume we don't worry too much about quality in the deep snow season.
The reason ?? - we are selecting for a cow type that can handle our conditions versus alter our system to suit cow type. This is where we select our herd for feed efficiency - not by putting our young bulls in a feedlot "feed efficiency" test.
A young Angus cow that is new to the system - note the dramatically less gut fill on her than the last cows. Not picking on Angus there are good and bad types in all breeds but we find a higher proportion of our Luings to be the right type for our system.
Another horrible cow type for our system - I guess I should quit buying these cheap cows - with the higher percentage of culls and higher feed needs they don't finish up so cheap.
Cultivated land right through the fence - almost bare down to the dirt. Our banked grass really holds onto the snow and I'm sure that helps our moisture in the summer.