mob stocking

[Farmersdaughter]

Back to paddock 1 today - in and out in 8 hours - hungry cattle and not much grass. Growing fast now though. I was thinking of moving over the paddocks quick and leaving a good amount of leaf on for max regrowth. Sound like a plan?

About to have similar issue. Still grazing what would of been hay fields but on last field now. They are not so keen on it now, when moved each day they don't put head down straight away but run around a bit and bawl at me. It is normally quite a wet field so still could easily push stakes in even before rain, but quite a few rushes in that they don't touch. They got out into nextdoor field that had been cut for hay end of June. They loved the aftermath and grass in scrapes there, they thought they were water buffalo getting in water. It was not easy getting them back. Will finish first round in a week, not sure if I start grazing the beginning(not much regrowth), give them the whole block (150acres) mix of hay ground and mob grazed, or keep in one field and transport hay back to them. If they have whole area they can clear up round ponds and hedges etc, but will they kill regrowth.

 

[ChrisStep]

View attachment 699690 View attachment 699692 View attachment 699694

Other end of the spectrum, and season down here.
I have unleashed the hill-lice to maintain cycling (and cashflow)

Third leaf just about here but will crack open the silage. Thanks for the advice! #whenit'sgoneit'sgone

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Third leaf just about here but will crack open the silage. Thanks for the advice! #whenit'sgoneit'sgone View attachment 700156

They look in great nick, Chris.
You're doing well with matching your grazing speed to the growth, too

Going into that type of cover, you may be as well to simply open them up slightly to match your growth rate, I was expecting another desert photo when you said "not much grass"

 

[ChrisStep]

That's the difference 25mm of rain makes. We put on 25mm with irrigation, and it never seems to do anything. Crops grow far better with proper rain. We've some over year silage in the back of the pit needs clearing out, so we'll be feeding that for a few days to slow them down and let the grass get ahead. We spread muck on the first few paddocks after first grazing, but being so dry it just sat there on the top and hasn't broken down. This doesn't help grass utilisation as the cattle won't graze too low into it. Understandable really. However, we should get good regrowth given how much leaf they leave. The rest of the muck had better go on a wheat stubble.

Just out of interest, does anyone use a plate meter? Is it worth buying one. What will it tell me that the cattle won't?

 

[BSH]

I havent gone back through recent posts but am feeling justified in sticking with the mob grazing programme this year as the long breaks between grazings and the subsequent good root mass has meant grass has held up in this dry period pretty well considering. I well remember getting it wrong with a previous set stocking system ( or effectively set stocking) and we were organic at the time with only expensive options to resolving not enough food!! Glad I changed!

 

[Samcowman]

I havent gone back through recent posts but am feeling justified in sticking with the mob grazing programme this year as the long breaks between grazings and the subsequent good root mass has meant grass has held up in this dry period pretty well considering. I well remember getting it wrong with a previous set stocking system ( or effectively set stocking) and we were organic at the time with only expensive options to resolving not enough food!! Glad I changed!

Have you got any pictures of pre grazing, post grazing and regrowth?
Glad you are getting on well with it.

 

[ChrisStep]

Am I looking at a bloat risk? Not that they seem to want to eat the stuff.

 

[BSH]

Have you got any pictures of pre grazing, post grazing and regrowth?
Glad you are getting on well with it.

Sorry I havent got any pics.

 

[The Ruminant]

Me neither

 

[Celticattle]

Hi just finished reading the thread as my wife and I have just taken in a farm in Cornwall and will be looking to mob graze around 50+ cows and calves.

Part of the ground we are taking on has around 140 acres of arable land that we are going to reseed into herbal lay, cover crops and red clover silage ground (thank you ) first question I had was that if I was seeding this month what would be the optimum time for us to graze the reseed with the cattle, with a view to minimise damage to the new lay by the cattle but maximise grazing?

Secondly as options for grazing are limited this backend, we have around 60 acres of PP to graze however growth on these fields is not great. What would be the advice on grazing these? Straight in with mob grazing or use paddock grazing till spring?

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Hi just finished reading the thread as my wife and I have just taken in a farm in Cornwall and will be looking to mob graze around 50+ cows and calves.

Part of the ground we are taking on has around 140 acres of arable land that we are going to reseed into herbal lay, cover crops and red clover silage ground (thank you ) first question I had was that if I was seeding this month what would be the optimum time for us to graze the reseed with the cattle, with a view to minimise damage to the new lay by the cattle but maximise grazing?

Secondly as options for grazing are limited this backend, we have around 60 acres of PP to graze however growth on these fields is not great. What would be the advice on grazing these? Straight in with mob grazing or use paddock grazing till spring?

New seeds are ideally grazed first with sheep to help tread and firm the seedbed, eat off annual weeds and encourage tillering (thickening the sward). Will you have any sheep or have you any trusted neighbours who could do this for you? (They should pay for the privilege).
This can be done once there is 5-6" growth, during late autumn/ winter.
Others with more experience of herbal leys and cover crops may modify this advice for those.
Depending on your ground probably best to keep the cattle off the new seeds until well into next spring.

 

[Celticattle]

That was my thought process too! Was thinking of buying 100 or so in lamb ewes to run through and sell on with lambs at foot but was wondering how the cattle only boys dealt with new lays?

 

[Poorbuthappy]

That was my thought process too! Was thinking of buying 100 or so in lamb ewes to run through and sell on with lambs at foot but was wondering how the cattle only boys dealt with new lays?

Most I know take sheep in to keep- and I'm very happy to oblige. But you're a bit far from me

 

[Kiwi Pete]

That was my thought process too! Was thinking of buying 100 or so in lamb ewes to run through and sell on with lambs at foot but was wondering how the cattle only boys dealt with new lays?

Hi
Most of the cattle guys here look to reseed in the Autumn, which takes the time pressure (and weed pressure in many cases) off the new grass.

That way you've got a bit longer to cultivate more weeds (if that's your system) and then a longer time and more water weight to consolidate the soil, by the time it's fit for cattle it's damn near fit for silage as well!
But you don't need to have 600kg cattle grazing in the springtime either, yearlings or calves can be let to take the top off the leaves a few times if need be, before "properly" grazing it.

Big advantage if you can start from scratch to some degree, and go straight into mob grazing, it will prevent having to counter the negative effects of improper grazing strategies from the start

 

[Kiwi Pete]

@ChrisStep I had a plate meter, and a pasture meter

In some ways it can be handy to budget feed precisely but they don't make any real difference to your success in real terms, most of the plate meter people seem to have much poorer seasons than the average "not much/a bit of/lots of grass" type farmers

In a monoculture type sward they can tell you your long grass is long and your short grass is short, and put numbers to that.
But, 4 inches of grass 8 weeks ago vs 4 inches of grass today: do they have the same DM?
No, they don't, so that's where fundamentalist grazing systems fall apart IMVHO, a sward stick is more use than a RPM.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Did it rain in time for you guys and girls?

How are your covers looking?

 

[martian]

That was my thought process too! Was thinking of buying 100 or so in lamb ewes to run through and sell on with lambs at foot but was wondering how the cattle only boys dealt with new lays?

Plant it now and leave alone till springtime would be my advice. It's been such a strange year though, in reality if it gets well ahead this back end then you could graze some weaned calves on it without too much worry. You just have to judge what you've got and how well anchored it is and graze accordingly...

 

[martian]

Did it rain in time for you guys and girls?

How are your covers looking?

Still pretty dry here, but things seem to be growing. In fact, I've just had a week on a Greek island staying with friends as there didn't seem to be much to do on the farm, so everything here looks ridiculously lush. The Greeks are destroying their soils with over-grazing, ie permanently set-stocking with goats. The only things that survive are football sized thorny shrubs which the goats nibble at, everything else is bare soil, or more commonly rock as what soil they once had is washed away or burned up by the sun. A guide book I was reading (written in 1978) described a neighbouring island as 'lush' with vines and olives etc. It's now a desert, with thousands of tourists cramming the few yards of beach. Lots of abandonned terraces too on the hillsides, that the goats have eaten everything down to bare soil. The few that are still worked are cultivated to death. Really depressing to look at.
Sorry, not really answering your question, just made me all the more aware how we must look after our soils...

 

[Kiwi Pete]

It's finally decided to rain here! Has been really dry here, considering it's been winter and spring is here with a bump.
We'll start the silly season well short on subsoil moisture but could get an inch tonight.

It is lambing time after all..

We're about to get some serious growth happening, and so begins the quest for the golden hoof

I don't think I'll head to the Greek Islands, that sounds depressing alright

 

[ShooTa]

just not enough sheep on this thread !