Pastures

[grassfarmer]

A lot of cattle are either being fed in the pastures or have been removed from pastures. I've never seen them this bad before. The poorly managed ones are the hardest hit.

While your area is undoubtedly drier than ours this year it still amazes me how many ranchers/cattle owners/grass farmers manage their pastures to create drought like effects every year.
Checking/moving cows this morning:

Daily moves, controlled grazing

what we leave behind

another group

and their animal impact.
Yet most of the pastures in the area look like this. Same season, same soils, same moisture, same heat.

Doesn't matter how dry or wet your season has been controlled, managed grazing is more sustainable and will always produce more than uncontrolled overgrazing. Given that extension services have been preaching this stuff for 20 years I fail to understand why there are so few people managing their pastures to enhance their bottom line?

[bucket]

Glad you brought this up....guys are asking for the use of pastures because they are grazed out.....not my problem that they doubled their herd without more pasture or better grazing practices.....if I lend them my pasture ....

A. will I be repaid the favour? Not likely....

B. What will I have for my kid other than no banked pasture?

C. Why would I lend my savings account....

I am a prick I know....

[sofa.king]

Grassy you slam sask farmer because he doesn't know what dry is and obviously you don't either by the look of your grass. My tame grass turned brown in June and the cows won't even eat it and as for native prairie grass it never turned green this year. I agree with rotational grazing but if everything is dead what are you supposed to do. I don't ovregraze I stock about 1 pair for every 35 acres and they are nearly out of grass.
.

[chuckChuck]

Our area is similar. Rotationally grazed pastures look better and are more productive this year and most years. The overgrazed ones from 2016 look horrible this year even without any grazing.

[grassfarmer]

Grassy you slam sask farmer because he doesn't know what dry is and obviously you don't either by the look of your grass. My tame grass turned brown in June and the cows won't even eat it and as for native prairie grass it never turned green this year. I agree with rotational grazing but if everything is dead what are you supposed to do. I don't ovregraze I stock about 1 pair for every 35 acres and they are nearly out of grass.
.

I'm not comparing my grass to yours, i'm comparing it to some right over the fence so your observation is invalid. Overgrazing isn't measured in acres per cow it's a function of recovery time. One cow per 35 acres could be either under grazing or overgrazing depending how long she is on it.

[Hamloc]

I am a bit slow but it just clicked reading your last post Grassfarmer. The reason you and Sask3 butt heads so much is you both have same personality, I am right no I am right. Enjoy your day :-)

[sofa.king]

What if the govt said you had to share your grass with those who ovregraze because you work hard and are a good manager and the lazy poor managers on the other side of the fence don't think it's fair because you have more than they do.I realize this is getting off topic of grass management but it's a good opportunity to make a political statement you can understand. Please post directions to your place cause there is a family of new canadians I know of that needs to find grass for a couple liner loads of goats for next year.

[sofa.king]

Hamloc you may be on to something big here. Saskfarmer and grassfarmer could they actually be the same guy with a split personality. Similar names but constantly at war inside his own head. Hmmmmm!

[Crazyharrows]

Thinking the same thing that's funny lmao.

[AllisWD45]

Have to agree on this one with you Grassfarmer. It's all about grass management. What always has floored me over the years in my neighbourhood is the tremendous effort in time money and management that is put into grain farming to try and get a decent return but when it comes to cows it's get them out of my sight as quickly as possible and see you in the fall and then you wonder why such poor results.
I think a lot of the time it comes down to nose to the ground and ass in the air i got no time for this rotational grazing shit too busy doing it the same way i have for a life time. Just sayin it's what i see.

[farmaholic]

I know there is nothing I can do to make it rain. But I find the mindset of pasture management needs to change around here. Short-sighted gain for long term pasture damage....how long does it take to recover from "constant abuse".

Some of you guys need to put the petty political differences aside and respect each other. We may not always agree with each other's ideology but surely we can respect each other otherwise.

It's obvious the man is doing something right.... if I wanted a model to emmulate raising cattle on good pasture....grassfarmer's would be hard to beat.

Give him a pat on the back instead of taking a jab at him.

[Blaithin]

I've been working for the last few years to rotationally graze my small acreage more intensively and help get it back to good production from being just a vacant plot. I've slowly been building up my herd, always cautious of hitting too many animals and causing damage.

This year I had a few things against me and I'm absolutely gutted that it's probably going to mean next years grass is fubared now.

The first thing is it quit raining in July. Not as bad as some areas of course, but bad enough the grass stopped.

Second thing is my parental figure has a few head here as well. The old school philosophy of graze it to the dirt and then just feed hay came through loud and clear this year. As did the mentality of "sell calves when they're bigger to make more money" which lead to a handful of weaned calves being carried along when they should have been down the road. There was no foresight to the future, just vague "Well deal with it when it happens"

I admit, I'm quite overwhelmed with the thought of next year already. Without some serious precipitation this winter it is going to be tough anyway and I don't think I have any leeway now. Some neighbours are in similar boats looking at their current pastures, many of which still have cattle on them. But some are looking alright and managing well. Years like this really makes those putting in a bit more effort stand out more!

[sofa.king]

Aw c'mon farma it's Sunday afternoon I'm bored and just want to have a little fun and throw a couple jabs at graskfarmer3.

[farmaholic]

You can't let grassfarmer get under your skin.....in his previous life he was from the Hypoderma Bovis species, so its just his nature.

[Braveheart]

I see a well managed pasture from Grassy. Nice mobbing, great ground cover, lots of rest, also good mix of species, love legumes in pastures.

Blaithin, your family member just cost you next years' pasture. That person needs to be put out to pasture.

BTW, I'd bet on Grassfarmer in a spelling match with SF3.