Grasses and Grazing

Winter is right around the corner, and if you’re dreading traditional hay feeding, there are other alternatives for you to consider.

There are a wide variety of forage crops you can choose as you improve your forage system. Choices include grasses, legumes and forbs (both annuals and perennials).

In the last several decades, two grazing management strategies have become the go-to for most pasture-based livestock operations: rotational and mob grazing.

Weed control in pasture and hay is as much a matter of when you spray as what you spray. I’d like to share some thoughts on both in the hopes it might help you in your weed control efforts this year. Let’s take a moment to first review the basic weed life cycles.

The constant trade-off between time and money management is a never-ending battle for producers. Fencing can be a particularly tough decision on whether to spend more money on materials or spend the long, hard hours fixing something that will inevitably be knocked down again.

Every spring, there is a chorus of calls and emails asking, “When is the best time to put nitrogen (N) on tall fescue?” The answer that I usually give is, “Probably about five months ago.”