Go the cows out onto grass May 6th!

[ALLFARMER]

Most years it has been the 23rd or 24th for full tilt
grass. Now just some oats and 70 acres of hay
land they can clean up. Yard is drying up, new
branding irons ordered for 185$. Finished v
cutting the other day cat was starting to dig as
frost was coming out of the ground. Never got as
much done as I would have liked. Massively deep
snow was hard pushing so I waited (plus it kept
jamming in the tracks) likely got 160 acres cut
down. Hard corral calving kept me from getting
more done. Then the fastest melt I have ever
seen. -17 one night then plus 23 in a couple days.
The creek was the highest it's been in 18 years.
Now it's actually not high at all. With May calving
next year hopefully I can get done the last 2 bush
quarters done with out running calving at the
same frigin time!

Some open land sold at auction here. Not the
greatest soil or greatest location but brought $208
to 223 per quarter. Waiting for my new loader to
show up....easy feeder lifts the front end off the
ground if filled over half full.....which is still 35
bushels.

[grassfarmer]

It's truly the land of miracles where you live Allfarmer.
Record drought year followed by record late winter
snow melt yet your cows are on grass 3 weeks earlier
than usual. Hmmm something doesn't sound right?

BTW you missed out on some pairs in Innisfail this
week. 90 calved black heifers, OK cattle - nothing
exceptional. Sold to $2200 and must have averaged
around $2050.

[ALLFARMER]

3 weeks early Grassfarmer I was sure you'd be
impressed.

Usually I like to see 3 or 4 inches of green grass
before turnout. That being because a grass plant
looses 2/3 of its root system over winter. Limited
feed and wet corrals dictating changes.

So maybe the 1500$ I just paid for the prego
cows was not to bad since their worth over 2000
now

[grassfarmer]

Its not the natural winter die back of roots that does
the damage it's grazing plants before they have a
chance to replenish their depleted root reserves.

[wilagro]

One of my neighbours turns his cattle on pasture as soon as some green shows. By August there is NOTHING left. He is an idiot. The cattle patrol the fence lines looking for slack wires or poor posts so they can enjoy the neighbours grass or grain crops.

[ALLFARMER]

Yup my range management prof at Olds College
defined "Over Grazing" as man induced drought.

Each prof had their own spin on things. One
defined a "Weed" as a spruce tree in a corn field
or any plant out of place. Damb old age is setting
in, turned 39 the other day can't remember what
the lady prof called it. Something about invader
species.

[WestwardHO]

Weed...... any plant that grows successfully despite all efforts to control or kill it!

[WestwardHO]

invasive species, are ones that come into a habitat then take over the space and nutrients intended for the native species. Such as leafy spurge, scentless chamomile, etc

[grassfarmer]

"Weed...... any plant that grows successfully despite
all efforts to control or kill it!"

Thats the conventional thinking from a reductionist
standpoint. As beef producers maybe we should
reconsider what constitute weeds? I don't have a
"weed problem" on my place as there isn't a species
of plant or forb the cattle don't eat. Indeed I'm
convinced the diversity of plant species our cows
graze leads to better health and better results.

[smcgrath76]

Overgrazing - grazing a plant that has
started to regrow, before it has fully
recovered from the previous grazing event.
We are on volunteer barley and fall rye,
as well as some crested wheat right now.
We are grazing the CW a bit too early
based on its' stage of growth this year,
but won't come back to it until it has had
6 months to recover.

[ALLFARMER]

Well finished getting my new disk field ready
today ) Took off all the lights and wiring....won't
be needing that, it'll just get wrecked in the roots.
Torqued the wheels since I had all the rims off this
past winter and welded 2.5" nipples over the valve
stems. Tightened caps looking forward to not
blowing tires in the rough stuff. Had a neighbor
come over and he says let's try er out! I smiled its
a bit wet yet but the ground I want to do is usually
very hard and dry. Since our wives are busy
shopping in Edmonton it's been wiener rosts
around the fire pit for supper a couple nights now.

Friggin disk worked perfectly and the old 4440
with no duals and the loader/bucket on. Going to
drop the loader and get the duals on cause man
does that Kello cut nice! 4440 passed with flying
colors too. Sure nice when equipment, new and
old work good together. Would have kept going
but got rained off.