any ideas for converting to rotational grazing?

trbizwiz, Your cows will learn to eat the turnip out of the ground, as with all new feed scources it is a learning process. Here about the only time one could get good finish quality pasture would be mid-Aprril to mid June and maybe Sept. unless annuals were utilized.

Yes I believe annuals are integral to forage finishing beef. Nothing great is free. But even planting annuals and spreading litter every three years has to be more affordable than grain.

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Sold the farm no more critters
I have a postage stamp lot now
I aim to make it the most organic productive 1/3 acre in southwest Missouri
With a 20 acre plot to be added in 3 years or so

Have you researched Eastern Gama grass? If I remember correctly very good quality, but needs high rainfall and good fertility. the high rainfall disqualified it for me.

I generally have high spring and fall rainfall but little to no summer rainfall. Last year no fall rainfall either sobmy winter annuals did poorly. I don't think eastern game grass would make it past July here.

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Sold the farm no more critters
I have a postage stamp lot now
I aim to make it the most organic productive 1/3 acre in southwest Missouri
With a 20 acre plot to be added in 3 years or so

3 pictures of where the cows are headed next. Grass is at least 4 feet if not closer to 5 feet high. While I think its Johnson Grass I am not sure so if you think you know speak up! Pictures taken Saturday June 12.

I think your right. Pull or dig some up and see if it has rhizomes. If it is johnson grass you can eat it out in 3 to 4 years by keeping it ate off to less then 4 inches if you want to get rid of it.

Looks like plenty of grazing. Have you been over that before, and if so, how does it look after it's grazed? Seems like all the taller sections I have are sparse once they're grazed down, which means they don't recover as well.

I grazed this area for the first time starting in January and lasting through Feburary, cattle have not been in this area since the 2nd week of March.

Depending on how well the area holds up I plan on grazing this 40 acres till the end of August then letting it recover - stockpiling it for winter again.

I don't know that I want to get rid of it... I have not thought that far ahead yet. In the spring this area in the past has been too wet to get into so I'm not sure what if anything I can do with it yet.

SCRancher

That is a really good stand of Johnson grass. I do not have concentrations of Johnson grass to match yours but I do have some. You are aware there are some issues feeding it. I have not knowingly experienced any problems with my herd when feeding it but you do need to be careful. Here is an article
http://www.vet.purdue.edu/toxic/plant43.htm. Just be careful and do not let your animals tank up on an empty stomach.

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

Thanks for the article Agmantoo - I have read a lot of that before but when grazing something potentially toxic it does not hurt to read it again.

I will take your advice however and make sure I turn them into it AFTER they have done their morning grazing so they will not be hungry when they hit it.

Hopefully they will find plenty of other things to eat as well - there are cattails, various grasses, bushes, trees, weeds, and vines a-plenty in the area. Not sure they will eat cattails...

I am thinking this would be a great area to overseed with Rye Grass at the end of August what do you all think? The area with the Johnson grass had a very heavy cover of dead grass from the stand last year that didn't get eaten so pretty much nothing grew in this area for them to eat during the winter - they had plenty though with all the rest I mentioned. I figure if I overseed with rye grass this will be an ideal area during the winter.

Johnson grass differs from cool-season grasses such as fescue and orchardgrass in that the first frost completely kills the above-ground forage. It becomes unpalatable and so provides no winter grazing whatsoever regardless of how much forage there is. Cows absolutely will not touch it after it's been killed back for a few weeks, as opposed to fescue or orchard which can be grazed anytime throughout winter. Ideally you would graze it down in the weeks prior to a expected frost so there will not be much residue that will have to be mowed or allowed to fall down (blocking good stand growth in spring). With the thick established root systems I don't know if you'll have much luck getting annuals to interseed. Heavy grazing may open up the sod enough to allow seed germination... but if you seed before frost you will have a lot of competition with the regrowth. Johnson grass does provide good grazing through summer despite heat, and has quicker regrowth rates than most other plants due to its extensive roots. It also looks like it's in a low/wet place which also is a benefit for summer growth. Maybe maximizing summer growth without regard for winter grazing would benefit your operation more, as it would allow you to take grazing pressure off of your other pastures when the 'summer slump' is occuring for the cool season grasses?

Eastern Gama, if allowed to get established, should easily make it through a typical summer in the midwest. The hot and dry is when the native warm season grasses really shine. From what I have read, they have roots up to 5 feet deep. Last summer we were much hotter and dryer than normal and the only grasses that were still green and growing (in some cases really growing) were the native warm season grasses. One farmer, just down the road from me, had a 5 acre or so field which is mostly switchgrass. He cut hay twice on it after most everyone else was feeding hay. I have to admit I called a NWSG seed company after that and placed an order just to play with some. I am hoping to get some established on my property just for the hot and dry times. I will have a hard time planting Eastern Gama, since it is best done with a corn planter and my place is all hills and rocks. Since I have started rotational grazing, I have noticed an increase in switchgrass and other native grasses. I am pretty excited about that. I would love to see some Eastern Gama grass just show up out there. Maybe wishful thinking.

bigbluegrass

Do not give up on the possibility of other desirable grasses "showing up". I have never knowingly planted orchard grass yet I am slowly getting more orchard grass than I want. I also have volunteer timothy. Here is a pic of some of the orchard grass

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

agmantoo
I need help.
What can I do with a pasture being overrun with sericia lespedeza. I have finally gotten it identified and I want it gone. Have read how it is almost impossible to get under control.
Can you give me some details? My pasture is just about worthless as is for the horses

lamoncha lover

I need information in order to aid in making decisions. How many and what size are the horses? How many acres are in pasture? Do the horses have full time access to the pasture? When have you last had a soil sample taken of the pasture? What nutrients did the soil test indicate you needed? Did you apply those nutrients? What was the PH? If lower than 6.2 did you apply lime? How much lime and what was the date? Are you willing to allocate a grazing period to the horses? If so, do you have a location where the horses can "lounge"? Do you have a tractor and a rotary "bush hog" cutter? What forage would you prefer to grow? Do you have a budget for the pasture renovation? Do you bale the pasture land? Give me the answers to these questions and some time and I will make a recommendation. Meanwhile do not let the sericea go to seed by mowing/cutting it.

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

How many and what size are the horses?
I have 3 horses on about 5 or maybe 6 acres They are regular sized 900-1000 pounds
Do the horses have full time access to the pasture?
The pasture is set up in 3 about equal paddocks plus one holding/sacrifice area. I do rest 2 paddocks while using 1, but this year so little grass I rest one and use 2.
I have pulled the horses off as it is riding season and the horses are here at my house. The land is a good 25 miles from me.
When have you last had a soil sample taken of the pasture?
We have not yet gotten a soil sample. I know that is the first step and will do my best to get there this weekend and get one. We did have one paddock limed about 2 years ago. We have owned 2 of the fields for 5 years and the other for 3yrs.and had horses on it all that time
Are you willing to allocate a grazing period to the horses? If so, do you have a location where the horses can "lounge"?
Yes..the pasture is so low yielding of any grass right now, other then an excersize area it is worthless. I have my place at home and also the sacrifice area at the land to hold horses
Do you have a tractor and a rotary "bush hog" cutter?
We have a small kabota tractor and a bush hog and a disc and box blade.. A few weeks ago I went to mow the fields and the thing would not start. Hubby is working very long hours and many days in a row but I am hoping he can get it started for me this weekend It needs mowing for sure.
I am considering taking an old water holder..think 250 gallons..the plastic kind with the metal frame around it and trying to hook a hose to it so that I can super spray the fields. There is going to be no spot spraying and I need to come up with something that will work to poison 6 acres. Thought maybe I could put it in back of truck and drive over the pastures.Any thoughts?
What forage would you prefer to grow?
Pasture for the horses..maybe fescue, orchard grass and white clover mix? Whatever I can get the most feed out of.
Do you have a budget for the pasture renovation?
We do not have a lot of cash to put in but knowing it is worthless as it is I will try to scrape what we need..as economically as possible
Do you bale the pasture land? no. We have in the past but since we do not have the equipment it has worked better to just buy hay. The pastures were mowed a lot last year..maybe 3 or 4 times as I was staying out there. Now we are back in town and its hard to get out there as often as needed.
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lamoncha lover
I can help get the sericea under control but cannot totally eliminate it. Sericea seed can live a long time in the ground and when conditions are right it will still germinate. You do have some issues with the location being distant and the number of grazing areas. Forage cannot be established and grazed simultaneously. The forage once germinated and growing will still require time to build a root system. Once this is overcome you still do not have an arrangement for the horses and the 3 different grazing areas that will allow for the recovery time necessary. As you are well aware horses are hard on pastures, they can an will eat the forage to a point the forage is stressed. Horse hoof action and habits of pawing are also detrimental. With the 3 horses and 5.5 to 6 acres plus your not being near the animals to allocate the grazing period and then to move the animals to a sacrificial paddock is IMO more than the acreage can tolerate. This situation is what allowed the sericea to get a foot hold. As the grasses that had been present were stressed and became sparse more sunlight reached the sericea seed and contributed to the sericea germinating. There simply was less cover to smother or to hold back the sericea. Sericea is well known to flourish under conditions that other plants cannot tolerate and that is what you have witnessed.
If you want to put the sericea under control and to reestablish grasses and clovers we can do that without the horses on the property. If the horses are reintroduced at a later date under the same setup, the situation will repeat itself.

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

Well..
I am totally hoping that I will be there within a years time. Cannot say for sure though.
Once I am there it will be easier to control grazing.
I would like to establish a good pasture..It is of no calue the way it is. Eiother way..I will behaying. Mise well try and set it up so eventually I will have grass.
thanks

lamoncha lover
If we are going to tackle the sericea then getting the tractor going ASAP is necessary. You need to be inquiring as to where you can purchase Remedy Ultra herbicide and a surfactant/crop oil.
Is your husband mechanically inclined and would he be able and willing to make a small modification to the bushhog?

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

Which would you recommend? The PasturePro or the newly designed PowerFex G2 posts. I have seen comments on both in this thread. What depth do you recommend? I will be using the posts for a single high tensile wire for lanes. So should I buy 5 1/2' post? The wire height needs to be around 40". I know I will need pilot holes. Can you drive a round 1" metal rod, pull up with a t-post puller, and drive the post with a post driver?

I currently use rotational grazing on 8 paddocks but would like to move to an intensive type system. Thanks for any replies