Zero grazing advice

[Andrew1983]

Have 30 acres of decent grass, half is a reseed I can’t graze with cattle, other bit could be but I’m just wondering if I would get better utilisation if I mow it, don’t see point in wrapping as feeding silage already.

If I mow it to bale and feed can I bale 2 or even 3 days worth at a time? Or will it need to be done daily, workload wise this wouldn’t be a problem but weather wise it might be, what do proper zero grazers do if it’s pouring rain?

Will wilting it be of much benefit weather seems to be pretty crap so could be a week or more before we can get to it....

 

[AndrewM]

Think the bales will get hot and spoil if you dont get them eaten quickly. Not sure how long, 24 hours i guess? Might be able to bale every other day? Also Depends how long your expecting it to last in feeders

 

[Ysgythan]

They bale grass and take it to the livestock lines at the Royal Welsh. There’s always a rush for it as it arrives because it warms up so quickly.

 

[Andrew1983]

Aye that makes sense about it heating quick, so is it a case of once you start a field if it turns wet do you revert to feeding silage or just keep taking wet grass in? I suppose cows will be eating it wet if they were actually in the field?

 

[Chae1]

We're doing the same at moment with bales. Bale about 10 per day lasts 2 days.

 

[Ysgythan]

Why are you worried about water?

We cut and carry forage (grass clover plantain chicory and tyfon) to lambs kept in overnight a few days before sale. If it’s not used straight away we add water to the bags. It’s bruising that kicks off the heating so we cut it in the base with a hedge trimmer and collect by hand into plastic sacks. If you don’t add a splash water it wilts with time. Even if it has started to wilt a splash of water will revive it like lettuce in a shaker.

Now I know this is a totally different scale to what you have in mind, but there’s a few guiding principles which translate I think - don’t use a conditioner when mowing, don’t tedd it, make smaller looser bales, bale then as you feed them and feed them as you bale them, don’t worry about the grass being wet.

These are of course my thoughts on extrapolation from what we do, I’ve not tried this and am therefore prepared to be shot down in flames by someone who has.

 

[Sheeponfire]

We're doing the same at moment with bales. Bale about 10 per day lasts 2 days.

+ 1....... our 10 bales last 3 days!!!

mind you 2 tractors tied up with mower and baler!!! as am dammed if am "yolking into em" every other day!!!

but I do like this form of "zero grazing" !!!!

 

[devonbeef]

As long aa you can physically bale without doing massive damage to ground,bale it daily,can get away with every other day mower ing in Autumn.they waste a lot and make a mess grazing,cattle still perform very well in wet weather as they can get a good volumes of grass consumed unlike with grazing in wet weather,very hard to.

 

[Andrew1983]

Reassuring to see others are doing so!

Next question, knifes in the baler or not!?

I’m also tempted to try a few bales of forage rape, anyone tried this?

 

[Sheeponfire]

we

Reassuring to see others are doing so!

Next question, knifes in the baler or not!?

I’m also tempted to try a few bales of forage rape, anyone tried this?

we graze our rape off using lecy fence.. am cert not tempted to bale it

chopper on baler is off... the bout is way too short to chop

 

[Andrew1983]

we


we graze our rape off using lecy fence.. am cert not tempted to bale it

chopper on baler is off... the bout is way too short to chop

Thought I could feed rape to multiple batches if I bale it where as only one group of cows will be able to strip graze it. Will maybe try a strip to see how it does.

 

[Andrew1983]

Well grass is pretty much eaten off, decided to graze one field as plenty stock around it, 16 acres of zero grazing kept us off silage for 10 days though which was a bonus. I’m still tempted to try a bit of forage crop zero grazing, will see what weather does next week.

 

[Jim75]

Did you see the video of someone baling forage crop and putting straw through a blower into the bout. Bit of job creation but interesting concept.

 

[Dog Bowl]

Did you see the video of someone baling forage crop and putting straw through a blower into the bout. Bit of job creation but interesting concept.

Have you got a link to the video?!

 

[Jim75]

Have you got a link to the video?!

https://twitter.com/fertilephillis/status/1055514849025974272?s=21

 

[michael N123]

Once it’s baled it’ll heat up fast it won’t matter if it’s mown and on the ground a few days tho

 

[Chae1]

Well grass is pretty much eaten off, decided to graze one field as plenty stock around it, 16 acres of zero grazing kept us off silage for 10 days though which was a bonus. I’m still tempted to try a bit of forage crop zero grazing, will see what weather does next week.

Have seen us cut kale and let cows graze bout under fence. Did this to reduce waste and stop fence earthing on kale when it was really high.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

How long will grass hold after being cut and catered before it goes off

 

[Pan mixer]

How long will grass hold after being cut and catered before it goes off

Only a few hours before it gets hot for me and I am not baling it although there is a lot in there.

 

[Andrew1983]

How long will grass hold after being cut and catered before it goes off

We were doing enough on a Friday afternoon to last until Sunday, a couple times had a bale left on Monday morning, it was flat as a pancake but cows still ate it quick. We baled them quite slack to make it easy on the baler.