intensive rotational grazing

Thanks for the photos everyone, very inspirational.

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he told me that he doesnt section off a certain amount for hay. he just lets them graze until the grass gets to be to much for them, then he hays.

would trefoil end up taking over the alfalfa, or would it just add to the mix?

lonelyfarmgirl,
Is this a hobby for your friend or is this for income? If for income, your friend is forfeiting a big percentage of the possible profit due to the manner the enterprise is run. As an example, by sectioning a parcel off for hay that hay would have been free of parasites and the smell of manure. The animals that would consume the hay would not waste hay searching for uncontaminated feed. The area to be hayed would not have already had the most desirable forages eaten and the percentage of weeds would be less. The yield of hay would be greater and not as much area would have to be cut, raked and baled. The bales would be closer together and that would reduce travel time and fuel plus equipment maintenance when collecting the bales. As times seemed to be headed toward continued higher priced inputs, the importance of improving efficiencies is ever increasing. Carry this improved manner into becoming a low cost producer is what is going to permit those that remain in business to survive. Those that do not realize the necessity to address such issues will wonder why they fail as their profits shrink. The time to make the changes or adjustments is upon all of us now IMO.

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

I think it all started for him as a hobby, but as his herd increases, you are right, he's either going to have to get with it, or fail.
so Im asking for him.

your saying he should have a separate section for haying, and a separate section for eating? so at the point the eating part gets ahead of the cows, should it be left alone to go to seed, or mowed for them and left to lie?

Do the rotational grazing and adjust the size of the paddocks to meet the animals needs. In some years you may have grazed a larger or smaller area due to the weather or the amount of animals. Hay the unused balance if it is needed. If you have more hay than you need to bale then keep the area clipped to prevent the forage from going to seed and ceasing growth. The area not harvested and the grazed area will need less fertilizer (approximately 1/2 the amount) than the area hayed. Toward Fall, I let the unneeded forage grow and accumulate as stockpiled feed in the paddocks. Since we have little snow the cattle can take their noses and push the snow/ice aside and eat the dormant forage. This is how I go through the Winter. In areas with lots of snow I have read of farmers windrowing the late Fall growth and leaving the windrow to where the cattle will have a concentration of feed under the snow cover. This works into Canada from what I have read. Doing this process removes all the expense of making hay. Access to the windrows is controlled as with rotational grazing to control consumption. With some experience it is rather easy to predetermine how much feed the cattle need each day regardless of the conditions. Being able to make this determination is where the uninitiated get unnerved and start to question is it feasible to use the rotational grazing or not. I know, I have been there! That is one of the reasons that I will make an extra effort to help someone make the transition.

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

Bless you for the help!

I can only tell you of my experience. In time, one would end up with a sward of predominantly Trefoil, some Clover, and grass.

As to your earlier comment about grazing it down to nothing, I would only point out that the less residual you leave the longer the rest period will be required.

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CatherineE - If you have an interest in grass only dairying, here is a farm that practices it: http://www.jakoinc.com/

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thanks for the suggestions, I will pass them on. especially the one about windrowing. I believe he does get alot of snow. He is between lake michigan and lake winnebago, so he gets lake effect weather.

I think he would also prefer to hay than leave fallow simply becasue he doesnt need it. I think he is of the mind that the more extra hay in the mow, the better off you are no matter what.

Agman, your cattle are looking brilliant and so are yours Up North Great adverts for grassland farming and rotational grazing. Most of my cattle are out on the run-offs but I shifted the four I have at home yesterday and forgot to take my camera. Not that they compare with yours as they are mixed breed out of my dairy cows by an Angus bull, and a couple of Jersey calves I reared last year, but I'm well pleased with their condition.

Cheers,
Ronnie

This pic is of one of the best calves IMO that I have produced. At the time of the pic he was 13 months old. He is 7/8 ths commercial Angus and 1/8th Murray Grey. He has never had any grain and he was born at the beginning of the worst drought on record here. He was permitted to graze ahead of the brood cows as all my calves are. During winter when I had to supplement feed the brood cattle he was allowed to free roam the farm and glean whatever he could from the parched and nearly barren pastures. He does have a large gut which is necessary for grass only cattle. They have to be able to take on a lot of roughage in order to obtain the nutrients required for exceptional growth. Hope you like him! PS...This is what the pastures looked like that he grazed this past winter..

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Agmantoo
If they can do it,
you know you can!

Oh my goodness! He's gorgeous! He does look like he's got a bit of a tummy (thanks for the tip!) and he's so well balanced and well filled out! I'm a novice at this grassfed stuff, but I'm really thrilled to see what you've been able to accomplish! Is this big boy going to become your future stud of choice? He looks like he should be! Wow, wouldn't the big beef producer guys be amazed that you can grow something that looks like THAT without inputs, not to mention on THAT pasture?!! Wow! My hat is off to you!

Lonely Farm Girl- On this technique of cutting windrows and leaving them lay for winter grazing. A sound technique, yes. I do not write this to discredit the technique. However, in areas heavily influenced by Lake Effect Weather, i.e. Lake Michigan, a windrow swathed and left lying in the late summer or fall will become a black, rotten rope of no feed value to your friend's cattle.

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you are probably right. he gets 6 and 8 foot snow drifts up the side of his buildings. I know he does round bales right now, and that seems to work just fine.

he is also getting a highland bull to bring more feed thriftyness into his herd. I think he already has 2 highland females.