Pastures

With the last five or so days of July-type weather most all the crops got planted in a hurry and much has emerged looking great. Here, though, our organic corn and soybean seed is still in the bag.

Well, the grass and forage has really taken off. Last Monday, May 9, I clipped forage samples from the current lot and the field I would be going into. Everyone talks about the “spring flush” and its washy grass.

These are indeed turbulent times. The world is unsettled. We don’t seem clear of COVID. Issues abound in our local areas, our state and nation. And now to add to the chaos, it is an election year and campaigns are as ugly as ever and longer, too.

Rotational grazing and quality hay are important for conception rates in cattle. “It is important for the cows to have a good body condition score for good conception rates and that goes back to rotational grazing and good quality hay,” said Terry Bachtold.

Hello from Graze-N-Grow. Well, still no oats in and not a lot of growth in the pastures. Not even the rye is tall enough to start grazing yet. I’m predicting a late spring.

The cold and wet weather of late March has us glad our calving season hasn’t started, but talk of pushing back on bull turnout even further into July is a popular topic every time we get another mini winter blast.

It is absolutely an awkward time of the year. Yes, March is going out like a lion. Snow north of us, my youngest daughter sent a 4-inch photo, rain and snow/sleet mix here the last two days. The grass is green, but not growing.

The Embarras Grazing Partnership will offer a two-part virtual series on producer value chains and making pasture-based livestock profitable.

March has been teasing us with 70-degree temps followed by snow and single digits. Winter has a hard time letting go, but the forecast looks favorable for spring’s arrival. The recent snow cover did allow for finishing my frost seeding.

March is always an up and down month for weather. Nice one day and then cold and snowy the next. I am choosing to be positive and know it will not be long until spring. March is a good time to plan for projects when the weather turns nice.

It’s a beautiful spring day at 65 degrees today, quite a change from the weather we have been getting every Thursday for the last four weeks. I even missed several grazing meetings because of the snow and ice and you know it’s bad when that happens.

No single grazing system will work for all cow-calf operations. “I work with a lot of producers and we do a lot of different things,” said Mary Drewnoski, beef systems specialist and animal science associate professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

“In like a lamb” certainly is how March began in our part of the world, but I am sure we will pay some penalty strokes later in the month. The expected muddy season has arrived and the challenge of getting feed around to the cows is always part of it.

As spring approaches, farmers can prepare for healthy pastures. Considerations include stocking rate, soil fertility, plant inventory and improved grazing systems.

Rotational grazing can improve pasture quality, among other benefits. “Plants are more like us than I think we realize,” said Keith Johnson, forage agronomist specialist at Purdue University, during a webinar.