Grazing in Michiana
I thought it would be good to share a few thoughts about why we decided to start grazing our cows. In 1988, before we were grazing our cows, we had a very bad drought and found ourselves in a tight financial position. Because of this I was looking for a way to reduce costs and maintain the income we had. I think it was also about that time that information began to become available about rotationally grazing cattle.
In the early 1990s we decided to give it a try on our farm. We have been at it ever since, and it has worked out well for us. We found that we were able to increase our cow numbers very rapidly without buying any because they lasted so much longer in the herd when they were on pasture. We did not need to increase the cost for facilities for the cows to live in because they were out on the pasture year-round.
One thing we did spend money on was increasing the size of the milking parlor, so the milking time wasn't too long with the increased number of cattle.
Years ago, at a dairy conference and in reading the dairy magazines, I learned that one of the challenges in dairy farming is overcapitalization. This means we tend to invest a huge amount of money in equipment and buildings to manage keeping cattle indoors.
When you are overcapitalized, it tends to lock you into needing a high production per cow and per stall of the barn to be able to finance the operation. With a grazing system, you can be more flexible with the number of animals, which reduces the financial risk.
Some other benefits that we have seen from running a grazing operation are that the animals have been very healthy and have very minimal respiratory problems. We don't have a lot of foot problems because they aren't on the cement very many hours a day. A few cows need a trim that we take care of, but sometimes we wonder if occasionally a hoof trimmer would be beneficial. We still deal with mastitis and, during the wetter muddy times of the year, we may see an increase in cases.
Another important benefit we have seen is that there is little to no soil erosion with the pastures. There has also been a steady increase in the health of the soil measured by the increasing level of organic matter and the increasing number of earthworms; these are all parts of biological activity in the soil.
This fits in with one of the goals we have for the farm, which is "using farming practices that are sustainable from generation to generation."
Several management things we have done to make the grazing system function well over the years are high quality cattle lanes, adequate water supply in the pasture for the cattle, and irrigation systems so the grass continues to grow well during the dry season. And also important is a good high-powered electric fence system.
When driving down the road I have seen pasture fields that are continuously grazed and noticed that the cattle have a path worn right down the center of the field. It seems like they walk down a "lane" to go where they want to graze next.
When we were researching how to set up our farm for grazing, we learned that it is important to subdivide the pasture into smaller lots so the cattle are on for only a short period of time, 12-24 hours, and then they are off that section until the pasture has time to regrow (and how long it takes to regrow depends on the time of the year and the amount of warmth, daylight hours and precipitation).
The research we read said that you can get anywhere from two to four times more pasture production per acre rotationally grazing over continuous grazing and we have found that to be true, and even more so with irrigation.
I have written before that on Aug. 15 we begin to lengthen the rotation of the pasture since the days are getting shorter and we have seen a tremendous amount of grass coming on. With the dry weather we have been having, we are irrigating to keep the pasture growing out ahead of the cows.
Of course, we have increased the amount of hay at the bunk since they are getting a smaller section of pasture this time of year. However, since it is longer till we come back to an area, the growing conditions are still very good so there is a substantial amount of grass for them even though it is only half the area they had prior to Aug. 15.
This is due partly because of the longer rest time the leaf grows longer and has surface area to collect more sunlight—photosynthesis! Our pastures are predominantly cool-season grasses, and they excel in growth because it is cooler this time of the year.
I saw a good example of the difference that irrigation makes for the pasture this week when I got a posthole digger to put in some new fence posts. A hole I dug on one of the farms that is irrigated had adequate moisture the whole way down. Then I went to one of the farms that is not irrigated and drilled six holes and they were all fairly dry the whole way down. No wonder that adequate irrigation makes a tremendous difference in grass growth during dry times.
If you are thinking about seeding some cool-season pasture, this is a good time of the year because there is normally an increased amount of moisture and the weather is cooler and there is less weed pressure. It is also a good time to seed cover crops. We are planning to seed oats and turnips in a corn silage field next door for fall grazing.
On another field, we will be seeding oats, turnips, radishes, rye, triticale, hairy vetch and crimson clover. We will be grazing heifers on that mix this fall. Some of the plants in this mix will overwinter for next spring.
Editor's note: Mike Martin invites readers to send in grazing-related questions for him to answer in future columns. Readers should send their questions to: mikesue.martin@gmail.com.