Grasses and Grazing

Tall fescue is a mainstay of the American beef cattle industry. It grows on about 35 million acres of pastureland in the eastern U.S. University recommendations in the Mid-Atlantic region generally suggest applying 60 to 80 pounds of nitrogen in late summer (end of August) to stimulate forage growth with the onset of cooler weather in the fall.

Despite being planted on over several million acres in the southeastern U.S., bahiagrass has always seemed to me to be the “Rodney Dangerfield” of perennial warm-season forage grass species. It just doesn’t get a lot of respect.

Come … join me for a pasture walk.

I know you’ve already walked through lots of pastures, many times, but a formal pasture walk is different.

Have you ever run across a grazier who claims to be making high forage yields without fertilizer? Some sceptics don’t believe it is possible, but we work with some pretty astute and credible folks who can document that claim.

“An optimal diet will feed the rumen to maximize energy supplies,” says Jim Paulson of Fieldstone Consulting.

Let’s evaluate your pasture. “Let’s not and say we did,” would likely be the response from most people. Who can blame them? Evaluating pastures is often so subjective that it’s useless, or made to be so complicated that it’s impractical.