Grazing corn / Millet?

Just looking for some ideas to trial (amongst a few already planned) this spring - i have some areas with teff grass in and was wondering about growing corn for grazing by cattle or millet? mainly younger fresian bull calves....

Can you graze corn before its mature? is millet safe at any height? Teff is very aggressive and lookingf for something that could grow amongst it...it tends to smother lucerne i've found...so something a bit larger is needed...forage rape could also work but would be scared grass getting up against it and the acid killing it..

Ant...
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
sheep but...............

by chance,i had sheep in oats that were coming into ear / grain fill last year ...they .continued to graze that part of the field until the main part was combined normally.
they did well on them,i think,............i was short of grass tho tbf

also,iit would've been better done with strip fence .
 
sheep but...............

by chance,i had sheep in oats that were coming into ear / grain fill last year ...they .continued to graze that part of the field until the main part was combined normally.
they did well on them,i think,............i was short of grass tho tbf

also,iit would've been better done with strip fence .

Oats maybe a good option, it will mainly be for cattle...sheep can stay on the drier grass etc and use the lick feeders...if they take to the teff could throw both in there together!!!

Corn grows very well in our area but only 2 dairy farmers grow it for chop silage...i think seed and silaging cost kill it a bit...i was just going to use a cheap and nasty seed or even sweet corn etc...shiloe millet i can get at reasonable dollars...

Ant...
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
1498053558109.jpg

hope this works, Ant
missed a bit of the blurb but not much, I am thinking of field peas as a spring planted crop, mow& bale at budding, graze and then stitch this in for winter and next spring after, with balansa after it runs out of steam?
 
Last edited:
i will see if we have this available here....I will have a fair bit into perm pasture but i reckon it will pay to have some surge paddocks set up to grow bulk feed...especially after clover seed crops being in for 2 years as there will be big bank off N sitting there...so before going back into perm pasture good position to whack these into some crazy ideas and see what works...

I will most likely move towards strip grazing but first year might be more a 3/4 days style set up as i find my feet.

I like the option of trit as i can harvest my own seed...the joys of having that CTS!!!

Ant...
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
i will see if we have this available here....I will have a fair bit into perm pasture but i reckon it will pay to have some surge paddocks set up to grow bulk feed...especially after clover seed crops being in for 2 years as there will be big bank off N sitting there...so before going back into perm pasture good position to whack these into some crazy ideas and see what works...

I will most likely move towards strip grazing but first year might be more a 3/4 days style set up as i find my feet.

I like the option of trit as i can harvest my own seed...the joys of having that CTS!!!

Ant...
There are a couple of cultivars of grazing triticale out there but I am leaning towards this one myself..
I think it is made for strip mob block style grazing much like forage oats etc... just need to keep them off the grazed stuff and still get a drink.
Do you have a portable billabong :hilarious:
 
There are a couple of cultivars of grazing triticale out there but I am leaning towards this one myself..
I think it is made for strip mob block style grazing much like forage oats etc... just need to keep them off the grazed stuff and still get a drink.
Do you have a portable billabong :hilarious:

I have a portable bong?.,...so i just need a billa to go with it i guess....

I will have a trailer with tank plus have alot of troughs i can graze in an arc - front fence and rear so the graze stuffed has recovery...

I will get some blue metal and lime and pack in around troughs etc...

Doesn't appear we can get double take here - i will email them...

Ant...
 
You'll only have to buy the seed once :sneaky:
One of the better options that I can see..
other than growing some billa in amongst your corn!! ;)
I'd say it will boom on your X clover land (y)

Email sent to Agricom...might be over here under different name

What sowing rates do you use? Do you plant early autumn..and first grazing? and do you sow as a mix? Do you graze then lock up for silage etc?

Ant...
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
Email sent to Agricom...might be over here under different name

What sowing rates do you use? Do you plant early autumn..and first grazing? and do you sow as a mix? Do you graze then lock up for silage etc?

Ant...
I imagine you'd grow either as a straight stand @150kg/ha or plop in 30kg of italian and drop it back to say 110?
Plant early March and you'd probably have it ready by May and it'd be back again by August? Then I'm not sure, you could lock it up for wholecrop (and a little sneaky combining) or just keep grazing it?
I think trit takes a good 100 days more like 120 to mature normally so you might need to hang on for a while til you got viable seed? Does it have viable seed being a hybrid, a lot of things I don't know about it :scratchhead: but will in a year or two :whistle::whistle:
I do think DLF will probably have it in the U.K. if thats of use to anyone else out there. :) I feel like I've done a good deed for the day
 
by corn,....... do you mean Maize ...?


if so, i have actually seen that cut down whole and fed out straight away.....in another paddock to dairy cows.

By maize do you mean corn!...was thinking of short season or possibly sweetcorn variety...in the states they grow and leave it standing...when ground freezes just let cattle into to munch...no diesel required...

Ant...
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
By maize do you mean corn!...was thinking of short season or possibly sweetcorn variety...in the states they grow and leave it standing...when ground freezes just let cattle into to munch...no diesel required...

Ant...

Fiat 580 didn't use much diesel ..... with flat bed trailer ...all hand cut and loaded ;)

then hand forked off in the other paddocks.

it would've been forage variety no doubt ...... and it also had good cobs....that was in late March [autumn ]:confused:
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 77 43.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 62 35.0%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 28 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,286
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top