Looking for opinions

[topside1]

Well I started out raising feeder calves, and have now shifted to goats. Last year I mowed my land so much it looked like a golf course. I guess I had to much extra time on my hands.

This year I have lots of goats and very few steers, so here's my new plan: instead of mowing my fields I am going to let them grow wild from spring to lets say February, because most of what I was mowing last year is what my goats love to eat. Secondly I would also presume that the fields would hold loads of dead vegetation that the goats would continue to browse on during the winter months, thus saving me hay money. Keep in mind they would always have hay available 24/7, but would'nt this new method almost be like storing hay and weeds in the field instead of a barn? Get me back on course if necessary, but if you do then tell me why? This experiment is going to happen regardless, but I am extremely open minded and will love to hear your comments and or opinions. Thanks as always, go goats!!

[AnnaS]

Hay cut in the growing stage & stored under cover is different from dormant weeds & dead grass in a pasture. There's two reasons.

First, growing plants have their nutrition in the leaves and stems. When hay is cut from growing plants, the nutrition stays in the hay. When perennial plants go dormant, they transfer all the nutrition to their roots. Annual plants put all their nutrition into the seeds. By fall, the forage in unmown fields have the nutritional value of straw. All the good stuff is below ground or in seed form.

Second, sunlight breaks down vitamins in hay, and rain and snow leaches nutrients out of even excellent hay. Any nutritional value in dead standing grass will quickly go away.

If your goats have their nutritional needs met with grain or good quality hay,
then there shouldn't be a problem with grazing dead pasture. There are high producing dairy cattle that get straw in their ration for bulk and they do great as long as nutrition is coming from somewhere else.

[topside1]

Great explaination Anna!!! Thank you so much for your advice...sure makes sense.

[susanne]

anna that was a very good explanation. thank you.
i was thinking about it as my bucks are on a pasture with a lot of high grown but now dead grass. i did not see the boys eating much of it but know now why.

[Westwood]

Originally Posted by AnnaS

Hay cut in the growing stage & stored under cover is different from dormant weeds & dead grass in a pasture. There's two reasons.

First, growing plants have their nutrition in the leaves and stems. When hay is cut from growing plants, the nutrition stays in the hay. When perennial plants go dormant, they transfer all the nutrition to their roots. Annual plants put all their nutrition into the seeds. By fall, the forage in unmown fields have the nutritional value of straw. All the good stuff is below ground or in seed form.

Second, sunlight breaks down vitamins in hay, and rain and snow leaches nutrients out of even excellent hay. Any nutritional value in dead standing grass will quickly go away.

If your goats have their nutritional needs met with grain or good quality hay,
then there shouldn't be a problem with grazing dead pasture. There are high producing dairy cattle that get straw in their ration for bulk and they do great as long as nutrition is coming from somewhere else.

Best explanation I've heard in ages.

[Up North]

Now the other side of the story, LOL. In Tennessee you should be far enough south to practice winter stockpiling, and then grazing in small allocated strips to replace hay consumption many(I did not say all ) days of the winter.
Stockpiling is growing in popularity and being done. It may require different plant species and management techniques from what you are used to.
If you are able to access www.stockmangrassfarmer there are many articles and even books dealing with this topic.
This is not a disagreement with Anna S. - Hey, She's right. Yet there are ways to make winter stockpiling and grazing work, and work well. Works best in areas with minimal to no snowcover below the snowbelt.....Cheers.

[topside1]

Thanks again Anna/Upnorth, the experiement will be kicking off once spring ever gets here. I will remember to send an update to everyone with either a report of success or failure. Upnorth sure don't know how you do it...Brrrrrrr

[Bearfootfarm]

For Winter grazing you can also overseed with cereal rye. If you seed heavy, you dont even have to till first, and it will provide forage through most of the Winter, and really take off at the first hint of Spring.

[topside1]

Great idea Bearfoot, I will write that down and seed a small plot next fall,,Thanks

[Blossomgapfarm]

Here we planted "winter rye" as well and it has been wonderful. The goats and sheep both graze on it and have done so all winter. We also have bamboo that stays green all winter and both love that as well. We cut bamboo poles for them as the stand is not in their pasture and take it to them. They clean all the leaves from the poles then we can use the poles for projects when warmer weather gets here. Bamboo grows well in most places in the lower 48 - not sure how far north though, and it makes wonderful feed for the animals. Note: our temps have only gone as low as about 20* and we have not seen any snow this year but even in colder years, with ice and snow, the bamboo stays green.
Dawn

[leecofarm]

feeding bamboo is new to me. but how do you make sure no bamboo pieces start to root in the pasture?

[Blossomgapfarm]

Bamboo is new to us this year to but it works well. I googled it and found that it has similar nutrient contents as most forages and sustains animals well. The goats and sheep come running when they see us with it. The "pasture" that the bamboo connects to is the area they live in and is about 2 acres. There are actually a few bamboo poles growing in the pen but they have stripped the lower branches off. The sheep and goats eat any new bamboo that comes up. The stand is along a fence line and the neighbor has cattle on the other side. This stand has been in the same general area since I was a child and has not taken the pasture over.
Dawn

[Up North]

Originally Posted by topside1

Thanks again Anna/Upnorth, the experiement will be kicking off once spring ever gets here. I will remember to send an update to everyone with either a report of success or failure. Upnorth sure don't know how you do it...Brrrrrrr

We just completed 91 consecutive hours below Zero Degrees. And plenty of wind and snow to plow. Needless to say stockpiling for winter grazing is not an option here.
But it may work well for you. There are dairy farmers in Oklahoma and Missouri that have it down to a science(this drought year excepted) where they graze stockpiled forages, winter rye, winter wheat, fescue and are able to feed hay only a few weeks of the year. Letting the animals harvest the plants and then re-fertilize the land makes good sense. If you wish to gain knowledge on maximizing the potential of your land and animals working in Symbiosis( big word for together, LOL) the book "Quality Pasture" by Allan Nation is excellent....cheers.