Grasses and Grazing

Some good pasture still may be available this fall – from your alfalfa fields! Alfalfa can provide considerable, high-quality grazing this fall. Grazing avoids the problem of slow curing hay that often occurs during the fall, and it eliminates the cost of baling.

Research results from the Northeast, Corn Belt, Gulf states, Great Plains, Intermountain and Pacific Northwest all agree: Pastures that receive a significant amount of their production from legumes are more profitable than nitrogen-fertilized pastures.

Management-intensive grazing and other intensive grazing systems have been promoted for quite a few years, but what does the word "intensive" mean when it is used with grazing?

Recent drought events such as those in the Southern Plains in 2011 and throughout the Great Plains and Midwest in 2012 left many seeded pastures and rangelands in weakened condition.

Despite widespread use of continuous grazing on native grass rangelands, the practice has often been questioned for eastern pastures where we receive more than 40 inches of rainfall per year.

When do you cut your grass hay? Do you wait until all row crops are planted? Maybe you plan to cut between your first and second irrigation of corn or cutting of alfalfa. Some growers wait until mid to late summer to minimize weather risks or cut off late emerging weeds. Or, like some folks, maybe you cut grass hay just when you get around to it.