Swath Grazing

[cowman]

My son figured we should give swath grazing a whirl but I talked him out of it for this year anyway!
Now I do understand the benifits because that's what most articles on it mention. The main benifit I can see is you don't have to start the tractor and spend a couple of hours feeding. And you don't have to bale it and haul it. You still have to seed it, spray it, fertilize it and swath it! And somehow slogging through snow up to my ass moving electric fences just doesn't appeal to me! Especially in a southeast wind! I wonder if the cows would appreciate that fresh air?
I wonder how well those fences work when it's forty below...or what happens to the battery?
When I feed hay everyday it is very easy to catch anything that is sick or calving. I suspect we might have to sharpen up our cowboy skills with swath grazing? Personally I think a handy squeeze is a lot more fun than the old rope and tree method!
I guess I'm just not progressive enough. I actually like to walk through the cattle after I feed them. They tend to get pretty tame over the winter when you are feeding them every day.

[Bruce14]

Tell your son that you will try it next year and you won't be sorry.

We have done it for the past 2 years and it works well for us.

We use the same fields due to proximity to home yard where they calve. Delay seeding until late June and treat it like a greenfeed crop for inputs.

Saves hauling bales in and back out which is time and money. I can run a quad and move a bit of wire a lot cheaper than starting a tractor plus shredder everyday. We bring them in before calving.

This fall has been dry so the Millet we were going to swath graze has been fall grazing but we will sure be doing it next year. (Might go back to Barley)

[cowman]

Oh I expect we will be trying it! He pretty well runs the show now and I have been designated as the resident "dinosaur"! Which is okay.
My grandson is almost three and he just loves coming out to the farm. He's old enough now that he wants to do everything from driving the tractor to pounding in staples(he can't do either but sure likes to try). The other day he was out with me in the pickup taking out some salt to the cows. He told me" When I grow up I'm going to be a farmer Grandpa" So I asked him where he was going to farm. "Right here. And I'm going to run all these cows" he says.
I asked "Well what will Uncle Joe(my son) and I do?" "Uncle Joe can take care of the oil leases" he replied. "Well what about me, what can I do?"
I asked. " Oh, I guess you can feed the cats" he replied with great reluctance!
So there it is! My future mapped out for me! I am to be the keeper of the cats! Sounds about right to me...sure had a good laugh over that!

[rsomer]

Swath grazing has worked well for us for the last four years, extending the grazing period to January even March one year. With the right amount of snow cover electric fences weren't needed for us. Snow did get too deep mid February last year for grazing but just put cows with calves back on that field after the snow left and they had it cleaned up in April. Saved me having to buy expensive bales.