Advisors: flush season grazing plan

This month’s question: What’s your flush-season grazing plan?

Jon Bansen– The period of spring flush is probably by far the most important to manage correctly for a successful grazing season.

An error we made the first couple of years grazing was always chasing over-mature grass. This led to a loss in milk production and a slowing of grass growth after the spring flush due to the plants getting too far into their reproductive stage (setting seed). This slowdown led to more milk loss after the flush. Continue reading “Advisors: flush season grazing plan”

March 1, 2007April 18, 2020

Grass-fed: with imports coming, it’s time to go local

By Jim Munsch, Coon Valley, Wisconsin — At a grazing meeting last month, I heard that fresh, grass-fed beef from Uruguay and other countries had shown up in Upper Midwest specialty food stores catering to the health conscious. The question that was being bantered about: “Why can’t that beef be produced in the U.S.?”

Certainly grass-fed beef can, and is, produced in the U.S. But the question today centers more on the markets in which U.S. graziers can successfully compete. If grass-fed beef is coming from South America and Australia, and if it is being sold fresh at prices lower than what we can offer while still making a profit, do U.S. grass-fed beef producers have a future? Continue reading “Grass-fed: with imports coming, it’s time to go local”

January 1, 2007April 18, 2020

No-grain dairy: potential benefits, but handle with care

By Karen Hoffman, Norwich, NY — Over the past two years, I have given at least 30 presentations on feeding pastured dairy cows. In many of those presentations, the question has been raised about feeding no grain to lactating animals.

I realize the concept of not feeding grain has been popularized across the country due to interest in increasing the CLA content of grass-based milk. Most of the research has shown that grain feeding reduces the amount of CLA in both meat and milk. For those looking to capitalize on potential markets for high-CLA, grass-fed products, grain is almost a taboo thought. Continue reading “No-grain dairy: potential benefits, but handle with care”

December 1, 2006April 18, 2020

Our pursuit of success vs. our boys

By Jim Van Der Pol, Kerkhoven, Minnesota — We are not doing so well with our boys. I know this because I used to be one. Statistics says that boys are twice as likely as girls to suffer and die from physical abuse. They are four times as likely as girls to commit suicide. Learning disabled boys outnumber girls, two-to-one.

Simple observation tells us that most boys reach manhood able to express one emotion only, that being anger. Half of all marriages fail, and in far too many of those failed marriages, the man walks away from the children. Our incarceration rates are now approaching seven per thousand of population, up from a mere one per thousand just 30 years ago. The large majority of prisoners are male. Prison building is our other growth industry along with the construction of suburban McMansions. We have a big problem. Continue reading “Our pursuit of success vs. our boys”

October 1, 2006April 18, 2020

Organic forum: What are you doing to reduce supplementation costs?

Kathie Arnold — My response to the growing cost of supplementation is to focus on improving the quality and yield of our pasture and hay crop to reduce the need for grain. That is playing out ina three areas: harvest management, seed selection, and focusing more on fertility.

With all of the recent research showing increased energy levels due to the reduced time baleage and haylage sits in a windrow respiring, we are trying to do “hay in a day” whenever possible. Other than pasture, haylage is the main forage for our milking herd. We mow in wide swaths with crushing rolls backed off as far as possible, as research has shown that leaving the stems whole facilitates quicker drying for baleage and haylage by allowing more moisture to flow up the stem and out the leaves. Crushing only seems important when we want to dry the crop all the way down for dry hay. Just prior to chopping, the cut hay is merged after having had the benefit of more sun and air exposure given the greater surface area in the wide swaths. Continue reading “Organic forum: What are you doing to reduce supplementation costs?”

August 1, 2006April 18, 2020

Solving the permanent pasture puzzle

By Nathan Weaver, Canastota, New York — Slowly the puzzle of proper grass production from semi-permanent pastures appears to be pieced together.

In the last decade we removed our farm from a forage/grain operation to a forage-only farm. We placed a heavy emphasis on forage harvestable by grazing cows.

Initially we looked at the new varieties of seed that had become recently available. These grass and clover seeds took us a long way beyond what we thought were the perimeters of grazing at that time. Quality feed and good summertime production were the standout improvements over the traditional forages available to us previously. Continue reading “Solving the permanent pasture puzzle”