Jonny B88
Member
- Location
- ballykelly. NI
Thats great thanks, fine looking cattle there!! Would you try and aim for more grass eaten than that is that what you mean?
"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..
- Thread starter Kiwi Pete
- Start date
- Location
- Devon
Reasonably happy with utilisation. There's areas eaten tight enough, like in the bottom pic, near the fence. With tightening them up I'd hope to get at least as good utilisation, but more even, within 24 hours, and cattle that aren't so fidgety for the last hour or 2! Also would hope for anything remaining to be a bit more trampled.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
That's actually the beginnings of a very interesting tale about SCENAR
Won't bore you too much as the info is all out there, but the Russians developed a device to make antibiotics redundant on their space station - as the water is recycled onboard, nobody can use AB or very soon the bacteria become resistant with the low-level dosage in the water.
So, they came up with a spankin' little machine which has the power to detect and reset damaged cells' abnormal vibrations, is my understanding - the same type of thing that would show up on an MRI scan.
My old employers had one, cost quite a few grand but was incredible. Helped my sore neck (they get sore after you break them!) but was great for getting the SCC of the herds down fast without using drugs on them.... we had the lowest BMSCC in Southland that season, which for an organic farm (we can't use AB's at all here in Organics) is really quite a thing.
Not many herds will think there's a cell-count issue when the docket goes over 50k SCC
Obviously there's big money in poor health.... or they would be commonplace
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
An oldie, but a goodie... quite relevant
- Location
- somerset
so much about farming is instinct, something that grows with age - is this the same as importing nutrient ?
we are finding grass is getting a bit to 'stemmy' for best milk production, and it's getting a lot harder to manage the grass ! The difference between this year, and the last 3, is chalk and cheese. We have taken grazing paddocks out, and cut them for bales, and l think we will start mowing behind the cows, to give a bit of a 'reset', that will give a good tidy up as well, which is important, when spray cannot be used, the downside of diverse leys, though there is a marked increase in dock grazing !
I have always said this is a seriously grassy farm, the dry summers, just shook my belief in that. So having learn't to try and manage grass, when scarce, now have to relearn use when abundant, 2 very different scenarios, we have gone from being tight stocked, to understocked, with no intention to buy any more, to dear. The surplus will be conserved, for a dry day. The changes we have made, can now show what they can do, in a 'good' year, the inclusion of herbs has been an interesting experiment, and we can finally say, we know the difference between chicory and plantain, we were right at the beginning, but got confused by 'experts', cows love them, that use will increase.
Our journey has taken us down paths, we would never have taken, desperation forced us to look, and a whole new range of ideas have emerged, but at the end of the day, the main path, has been governed by instinct, and instinct is the true driver of successful farming, in any form.
we are finding grass is getting a bit to 'stemmy' for best milk production, and it's getting a lot harder to manage the grass ! The difference between this year, and the last 3, is chalk and cheese. We have taken grazing paddocks out, and cut them for bales, and l think we will start mowing behind the cows, to give a bit of a 'reset', that will give a good tidy up as well, which is important, when spray cannot be used, the downside of diverse leys, though there is a marked increase in dock grazing !
I have always said this is a seriously grassy farm, the dry summers, just shook my belief in that. So having learn't to try and manage grass, when scarce, now have to relearn use when abundant, 2 very different scenarios, we have gone from being tight stocked, to understocked, with no intention to buy any more, to dear. The surplus will be conserved, for a dry day. The changes we have made, can now show what they can do, in a 'good' year, the inclusion of herbs has been an interesting experiment, and we can finally say, we know the difference between chicory and plantain, we were right at the beginning, but got confused by 'experts', cows love them, that use will increase.
Our journey has taken us down paths, we would never have taken, desperation forced us to look, and a whole new range of ideas have emerged, but at the end of the day, the main path, has been governed by instinct, and instinct is the true driver of successful farming, in any form.
- Location
- somerset
your last bit, money in poor health, = snake oil
MRI scans are incredible 'things' having had several, although they are incredibly noisy.
looks like some russian digging is called for, on the net.
can't see the point in mowing behind the cows ?
topping maybe
- Location
- somerset
topping with a mower, especially in sunny weather, leaves a 'swathe' that cows love to eat, it's basically new hay, a flail topper leaves a smeared mess, which cows won't touch, so full use, or compost.
both of which could be termed as useful, in their own way, but especially for dairy, that long fibre, helps milk solids, which we are paid on.
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Walwyn
Member
- Location
- West Wales
Got the impact today!! Putting bulls in created some excitement.
- Location
- somerset
take a block out, and cut it, you keep a better grass for your stock, and if the wheel turns, and it 'dries' up, you have the bales to feed then, not quite the idea, but whatever stock you have, some need quality grass.
We have taken another 12 acres off the grazing platform, and cutting today, all bar 3 acres are leys, that have been grazed twice, huge swathe. The 3 acres is pp, down in the village, part of a 6 acre block, reserved for y/s, simply to much for calves, son said not much there, but it will tidy it up, l think he has had a change of mind ! That ground was last cut 22 years ago, not sure how we will get the rake in there, yet.
Interesting your comment on docks, all our stock, except the 4 month calves, are having a good chew on them, fair proportion have been through our very 'tight' grazing, as either i/c hfrs or dry cows, and we thought/hoped they had developed a taste for them
We are finding it very hard to keep decent grass in front of the cows, and will admit our back fencing isn't quite up to normal standard, not that bad though. A welcome change from the last 3 years, having farmed for a dry farm, l think the type of leys we have sown, are showing their full potential, in the grazing platform, they seem to have better ground cover, and hence thicker = bigger yields. The cutting only leys, seem thin in the bottom, we have had 2 good cuts off them, and they are coming on again, but l think they may well get a top up in the autumn, yield on all grass, can be summed up, as the thicker the base, the bigger the yield, is there a link between seed size ? The grazing leys have had more timothy, cocks foot, fesque, lower prg inclusion, clover and herbs, all significantly smaller than rye grass seed, does that equate to more plants, at same germination rate, as the r/grass r/clover in the silage leys ?.
Never got on well with topping with a mower as they won't go high enough and the last thing I would want to do this time of year is cut it low
Have got a few acres I’m going to cut which were grazed at the beginning of the first round at the end of April. That field can stand being mown as it’s probably the strongest field on the block will be about 5 acres of the 50. This section they are in the last thing it needs is cutting, too much ryegrass and open in the bottom and has always struggled to get going since being reseeded 3 and a half years ago. Big silage yields in the first 2 years didn’t help.take a block out, and cut it, you keep a better grass for your stock, and if the wheel turns, and it 'dries' up, you have the bales to feed then, not quite the idea, but whatever stock you have, some need quality grass.
We have taken another 12 acres off the grazing platform, and cutting today, all bar 3 acres are leys, that have been grazed twice, huge swathe. The 3 acres is pp, down in the village, part of a 6 acre block, reserved for y/s, simply to much for calves, son said not much there, but it will tidy it up, l think he has had a change of mind ! That ground was last cut 22 years ago, not sure how we will get the rake in there, yet.
Interesting your comment on docks, all our stock, except the 4 month calves, are having a good chew on them, fair proportion have been through our very 'tight' grazing, as either i/c hfrs or dry cows, and we thought/hoped they had developed a taste for them
We are finding it very hard to keep decent grass in front of the cows, and will admit our back fencing isn't quite up to normal standard, not that bad though. A welcome change from the last 3 years, having farmed for a dry farm, l think the type of leys we have sown, are showing their full potential, in the grazing platform, they seem to have better ground cover, and hence thicker = bigger yields. The cutting only leys, seem thin in the bottom, we have had 2 good cuts off them, and they are coming on again, but l think they may well get a top up in the autumn, yield on all grass, can be summed up, as the thicker the base, the bigger the yield, is there a link between seed size ? The grazing leys have had more timothy, cocks foot, fesque, lower prg inclusion, clover and herbs, all significantly smaller than rye grass seed, does that equate to more plants, at same germination rate, as the r/grass r/clover in the silage leys ?.
- Location
- somerset
The ground cover, has really been hammered into us this year, that is dictating yield, Nearly all the grazing leys have a much reduced amount of prg in them, more 'other grasses'. The cutting leys are r/grass and r/clover, both have yielded well, but cutting the newer leys today, yield is massive, and cannot see much soil, as you work backwards, to older leys, with more prg, more visible soil, as with the cutting leys. Suggests a new approach, our new land, all very long term leys, produced massive cut, and good quality, shut son up, quite effectively, he didn't think there was much there !
To be honest, massive 1st cuts, on new leys, don't do them any favours, main reason l like the white maggots in the winter, you don't get that 'winter growth' that basically shades out spring growth, grass uses to much of it's 'energy' to get that spring growth, when it's 'got it', we nasty farmers give it a good thrashing, by cutting it, it weakens the r/grass, and lets the weed grasses in = ley doesn't perform, as expected, that, and dig a hole with a spade to see if anything wrong underground, ie pan causing shallow rooting.
More variety and less reliance on ryegrass definitely seems to work. Have some second year red clover leys here which cut 7 tonnes/ acre first cut with minimal fert. That definitely has a big future with me with growing and finishing cattle.
GS4/ herbal leys also look to be very promising just have to get the right mix to suit the ground. It’s probably too wet for chicory here to survive unfortunately.
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
ah yes.always looking for a place to stuff some wool.Its inherintly too precious to throw away, but can’t actually find a use for it!
- Location
- Quebec, Canada
My as yet ungrazed grass went to seed very quickly, but down below all the gaps are being filled with legumes despite the high temperatures and lack pf rain.
I’ll take some! Was looking for some to stuff in my flower pots this year but everyone I asked had tossed it away
- Location
- Glen Clova, Angus, DD8 4RD
I do question how the seed developers assess their new wonder varieties. Taking a hard first cut off a new ley now feels like a brutal approach to me. It almost guarantees poor ground cover in the longer term.
Your dead right about the thick bottom too. Often pp has huge feed mass in the bottom 6 inches where rg leys have very little.
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I always underestimate it.
Even though I tell myself what you just said!
I shifted them at lunchtime today (finally got a turn!) and they still have "a day's worth" of tucker in their paddocks by 5:30.
you'll know exactly where this is, (I think my handful of cattle were in where the middle mob is about 4 years ago, and the sheep were up where the cows are now, out of shot to the right)
Funny how things have changed in that time
We had 424 hoggets and 14 cattle grazing, and 70 housed IIRC
Never pays to say things like "has never had a single lamb in her life" too loudly. She's now had lamb number 9 (not bad for a 3yo)
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