Year Around Grazing

pointer_hunter · #21 05/27/10, 09:16 AM

Copperhead - I agree. He has some low lying areas that water does pool up in. He breaks it up during winter with the front bucket of his backhoe when to drops a round bale off.

Karin – Thank you, I’ll keep googling as well as save that .pdf as a favorite.

NT – That’s the book I’m talking about. I’ll probably end up buying it even if I don’t move to the winter grazing. Just to have the knowledge.

Tinknal – Thanks for the idea, that may help me move toward my idea a little at a time to help the cows get into the groove of it.

anvoj · #22 05/27/10, 09:17 AM

I'm no expert, but I think the windrow grazing they do up in Canada only works because they don't get rains in the fall. I expect your climate is a lot like mine, which means lots of fall rain which would turn the windrows to moldy mush. I would think you could graze into winter though, until the snow got too deep.
Also depends on the breed. A neighbor of mine had a couple highlanders go wild for 2 years before he finally shot them for being a nuisance. This is in -40 winters in swamps. They'd probably burrow through 10' drifts like mice to graze.

tinknal · #23 05/27/10, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anvoj

I'm no expert, but I think the windrow grazing they do up in Canada only works because they don't get rains in the fall. I expect your climate is a lot like mine, which means lots of fall rain which would turn the windrows to moldy mush. I would think you could graze into winter though, until the snow got too deep.
Also depends on the breed. A neighbor of mine had a couple highlanders go wild for 2 years before he finally shot them for being a nuisance. This is in -40 winters in swamps. They'd probably burrow through 10' drifts like mice to graze.

I think the windrows would work if you waited til very late fall to cut. Maybe hay it or graze it until the middle of the summer so it isn't over mature when you cut it.

francismilker · #24 05/27/10, 04:32 PM

There is absolutely no way I could windrow graze without killing my cows. I can't leave hay on the ground very long at all in windrows without it becoming black mold and mildew. The water table is way too high in my hay bottom and it is critical in the drying period to get the perfect window to bale it.

tinknal · #25 05/27/10, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by francismilker

There is absolutely no way I could windrow graze without killing my cows. I can't leave hay on the ground very long at all in windrows without it becoming black mold and mildew. The water table is way too high in my hay bottom and it is critical in the drying period to get the perfect window to bale it.

I understand why it wouldn't work where you are Francis. I should have said that it would be an option where the ground freezes solid for a significant portion of the year.