SOUTHWEST GRAZING NOTES

SOUTHWEST GRAZING NOTES

Volume 2 Number 2 April- May 2005

UPPER TN. RIVER ROUNDTABLE

MICHAEL G. ALTIZER

GRAZING SYSTEMS SPECIALIST

Managing Spring Grass

Chris Teutsch from the Southern Piedmont AREC in Blackstone had an excellent article in the spring “Virginia Forager”. I’m just going to highlight some of Chris’s thoughts on managing our spring flush, which will be upon you before you get this newsletter. 1-YOU must be in control of grazing. To do this you must do rotational grazing so you will be in charge of the livestock. 2-Rotate animals rapidly. Let livestock clip tops and move to next paddock. This will help plants stay vegetative and next grazings will be of better quality. I’ve already seen orchard grass wanting to head on April 22^nd.When plants heads it quit tillering and quality goes down. This probably means we need to make 1^st cutting hay before May 10^th this year. 3- Do not apply spring nitrogen. Spring nitrogen makes the problem of too much grass at once even worse. Nitrogen applied after a hay cutting or early June grazing will help produce some grass to stockpile for the mid summer slump.4- Remove some paddocks out of the grazing rotation and make hay one time and then put paddocks back in rotation as needed in June when grass growth slows down. There are several other things you can do but if all else fails paddocks can be clipped and left laying if clippings are not too heavy.

Mowing for Management or Revenge?

This was an article that Jim Gerrish wrote for “The Livestock Grass Farmer” in 2004. Jim said, “the first of May is a lot better time to be thinking about getting pastures back under control than waiting for the 4^th of July. If you wait until the grass is headed before you start clipping pastures you are mostly doing it for revenge not management. If you want to clip for management purposes you will need to start early”. Jim does a tremendous job explaining why you need to mow early. He says that “when the switch to reproductive stage occurs, the growing point begins to elevate above the crown area and can be removed by grazing animals or a mowing machine. Once the growing point is removed, no more new leaves are generated by the tiller”. It’s the new tillers that the grass needs to produce volume for mid and late summer production. Most haying, pasture clipping and any close grazing needs to be done by late May or pasture production will be decreased for the rest of the season.

Anyone that would like a copy of Chris Teutsch’s or Jim Gerrish’s complete article send me an e-mail.

Up and Down the Valley

Holston, Clinch and Powell

¨Jay Greenstone moved to Lee County in 2003. Jay has had extensive grazing experience in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Jay bought 50 acres in the Flatwoods section and put in a grazing system. Jay has about 50 hair sheep and is involved in production and marketing for our local Coop. He also grazed some yearling cattle on contract in 2004. This year he is grazing 75 yearling heifers and told me 2 weeks ago that he was moving the heifers every 12 hours to a fresh paddock. This is being done to get a lot of pounds but in April and May moving cattle fast will help to control spring growth. Jay’s trying to keep grass vegetative by preventing orchard and other grasses from heading. Jay will slow his cattle movement soon and expects to move some of the cattle off his farm probably by late June. Jay has no machinery and expects to maximize grass production and utilization with sheep and cattle.

¨Andy Wallace has operated a seasonal grass dairy on Plum Creek in the edge of Smyth County for about 10 years. Andy has 105 acres in his home farm and this year will calve over 80 cows and 2 year old heifers. Andy starts calving in March, milks mostly off grass in spring, summer and fall and turns cows dry about Christmas. Andy has a simple water and fencing system that allows him to manage his grass through the season. He makes no hay at home and buys in most of his winter hay needs from neighbors. If you would like to visit a truly innovative young farmer who enjoys what he’s doing and is making money call me and I’ll arrange a visit.

¨The Harding family of Castlewood is composed of Tom, Jo, and Jeff and part-time by Tom’s sister Mary Harding. The Harding’s just completed a grazing system on April 20^th. Gary Wilson of the Clinch Valley SWCD and I helped design the system. This is the old Grandview Dairy Farm, which has come through Jo Harding’s family. The farm is now a beef cow calf operation. Fencing was poor, fence rows were grown up, pastures were not sub-divided and water access for cattle was limited. State BMP cost share funds were obtained to assist with this project. Ponds and sink holes have been fenced out so cattle do not have access and will result in improved water quality for the Clinch River which is a short distance away.

I visited with Tom and Jeff on April 23rd. Grass will fast get away from them. I suggested moving the cows’ daily for a while to clip off as many heads as possible. You could already see some orchard grass trying to head. The system consists of a lane that connects paddocks to the barn and working area. All interior fencing is single wire high tensile. All paddocks have access to water furnished from a well. Most waterers are JUG’s with one tire waterier. The Harding’s have already determined that one paddock is too large and needs to be sub-divided. Water may be furnished for this paddock with a freeze proof hydrant and a portable system.

The Harding’s like what they have experienced so far. They are controlling their livestock. With the single wire division fences calves can go under so leaving a calf behind in a move does not create a disaster. Tom and I looked from a distance at the back part of the farm which looked about like a jungle last fall. Tom used some poly wire to force cattle to do some brush work and the “jungle” now looks manageable. A bull lot was built into the grazing system so now a positive management change can be made. Previously the Hardings had to let bulls run with cows year round so cow nutrition needs could never be made for the whole herd because cows were in various stages of nutrition needs.

Mike G. Altizer

PO Box 506

Lebanon, VA 24266

There are a lot of graziers who have learned that selling grass can be profitable. People like Paul and Max Campbell, Charlie Clark, Wiley Price, Tom Brabson, Bill Thompson, Hal Campbell, Joe McConnell and many others who are having an influence on how people perceive grass management in SW Virginia. I’ll probably tell about some of these folks next time.

Multiflora Rose Control

Ohio and West Virginia have both done extensive rose control work using goats and or sheep. Ohio State University Agriculture has a Bulletin 857 that I got off of their website, which can help SW Virginian’s better understand how and when to graze multiflora rose to get the most effective control. I understand that Washington County is now the Number 1 goat producing county in Virginia so goats should be available for brush work. To read this article in full visit this website http://ohioline.osu.edu/b857/ .