Some banked grass pictures

[grassfarmer]

Here are some shots I took today.
Grazing through fresh snow. This will reduce utilisation but increase trampling of mature grass into the surface which is positive.
<a href="http://s481.photobucket.com/user/ieaitken/media/45W_zpsf222f2a2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr175/ieaitken/FEEDTEST_zps79870e62.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo FEEDTEST_zps79870e62.jpg"/></a>

[Horse]

I can just wish that was all the snow we have. There is over 12inches where it didnt blow off and heavy wet crystalized, I dont think cows would have an easy time of it here.

[ASRG]

Pretty impressive grassfarmer! I like your attitude towards raising cows and grass.

[sumdumguy]

Thanx for the pictures GF. I am not a livestock
producer and wondered what was "banked
grass." the cows look pretty plump.

[grassfarmer]

Just grass that is grown in a previous season and
stored in standing form for later use. In this climate it
stores very well with minimal quality deterioration
from going dormant in October right through to the
following May.

[oneoff]

"And the interim feed test looks pretty good."

What would been much more descriptive would be a condensed version of the actual feed test. Mature grasses have already lost much of their nutritive value; and the quality can only go down with unprotected over wintering.

While even straw serves as roughage; there are considerations such as stage of gestation and whether weight gain, milk production or a maintenance diet is the goal.
If you've got the feed test; then share it and you'd be passig on some additional interesting information.

Or was it just a case of believing a feed test would be "pretty good".

[grassfarmer]

oneoff, you really are a dumb-ass. In your childish
attempt to prove your intellectual superiority you
failed to realize the connection between the caption
and the picture of the "interim feed test". I'll leave you
guessing.
Maybe its time to crawl back over to the commodity
forum and bore them with your windbag foolishness?

[oneoff]

Another thing I have tried dowsing for is cooking food. I make homemade soup frequently. I check with my pendulum to see how much salt to put in, what herbs to add for flavour, which vegetables to use, how much soup base to add. I will ask if the soup has simmered sufficiently. The good part about this is that you can check with a spoon to see what you get. Occasionally, I have personally preferred to add more salt, or soya sauce, or garlic, and I have done so without guilt! I look at the pendulum in these situations as a "valued second opinion," but I feel free to make my own decisions on small matters if I happen to disagree with the answer.

[oneoff]

"You are BS'ing as
all "sound science" believers do"


Maybe the feedtest was that the cows didn't turn their noses completely up and so the quality was "pretty good". I just can't see a true "wiching believer" putting out money for an actual real feed test to determine protein content or digestible energy etc. Not when a pendulum is available; and a whole lot more accurate that some mere scientific procedure based on BS.

[kato]

Can you dowse some grass under this?

[URL=http://s17.photobucket.com/user/Kato1/media/c8dd332b-633c-4e39-b935-a609df36d28c.jpg.html][/URL]

[kato]

Ok, I'll try it again.

<a href="http://s17.photobucket.com/user/Kato1/media/c8dd332b-633c-4e39-b935-a609df36d28c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b67/Kato1/c8dd332b-633c-4e39-b935-a609df36d28c.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo c8dd332b-633c-4e39-b935-a609df36d28c.jpg"/></a>

[ALLFARMER]

My grass is all banked here too.....snow banked.

[littledoggie]

grassfarmer - curious as to whether you have wildlife move in over the winter? If we did that here in the Peace the elk would be all over it and there would be nothing left for the cows. Sure looks good though - wish we could do it.

[kato]

With us, it's deer. We left a bit of corn out because the cows were starting to calf, and we're averaging fifty deer a night out there. By the time the snow melts down enough to get back out there, we're not expecting any corn to be left.

At least it's keeping them off the haystacks.

[grassfarmer]

We haven't had elk here but I know there are some
probably 5 or 6 miles away. That's always deterred
me from swath grazing cereals. We have close to 20
mule deer that winter in a wooded area on our land
and they walked across these pastures regularly to
eat a neighbours alfalfa quarter this winter. Saw 19
deer and 7 moose on that alfalfa one morning - I
guess it's a bigger draw than my grass.