The hot dry weather that typically accompanies the months of July and August reduces the growth and production of cool season pasture grasses. It can be a challenging time to balance forage supplies, pasture health and livestock numbers. One option that some graziers use to fill in this summer slump period is warm season forages. [...]
When grass is green and abundant, our world as it relates to pasture management is serene. Perfect all the times, wouldn’t it be nice if life could always be that way? Unfortunately, we will experience drought, excessive mud, severe winters, excessive forage growth, summer slumps, livestock sickness and livestock death. The truly successful grazers have [...]
Many pastures in Ohio contain tall fescue as one of the cool-season plants which make up our pasture’s mix. Tall fescue is a persistent perennial bunchgrass that adapts to a wide range of conditions. It is tolerant of low pH, poor soil drainage and can endure drought situations well. Tall fescue adapts to most Ohio [...]
The 2008 farm bill provides many opportunities for grazing operations interested in improving their grassland and natural resources. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) has both the traditional program options as well as new initiatives mandated in the 2008 farm bill. EQIP One opportunity for farmers interested in assistance with developing or improving their grazing [...]
How are your pastures growing? If you are like most you would reply in terms like fast or rapid. It is the month of May and pastures should be right in the middle of the ‘spring flush.’ ‘Spring flush’ is the term to describe the rapid growth of our cool season forages during April, May [...]
What are you going to do this summer when growth in your cool-season pastures slows down? What will you do if they stop growing altogether sometime this summer? You must be thinking, “Aw come on man, why are you asking me that when spring has barely gotten into gear?” The answer is simply that a [...]
Many of you have seen them — farms split into paddocks where the animals are rotated each week, every three days, once a day or even every 12 hours. Some of you may wonder why? Why go to all of that hassle? Is it really worthwhile? I suppose to some, all of those division fences [...]
In the last “About Grazing” column, Chris Penrose wrote about some early season grazing management. In this column, I want to continue that theme and examine the strategies of set stocking vs. rotation to begin the grazing season. There is a saying that goes “Well begun is half done.” It implies that how a project [...]
By CHRIS PENROSE When we think of extending the grazing season, we usually think of how long we can go into the fall or winter without feeding stored feed. Another option often overlooked is how soon we can stop feeding as spring approaches. Several options There are several options to accomplish this. The first is [...]
Some cows I’ve seen lately look thinner than normal for this time of year. With more than a month of winter remaining, it could mean trouble for producers as calving time approaches. We’ve had colder than normal temperatures, combined with a longer than normal continuous cold spell in our part of the state and this [...]
