|
|
Producer seeks quality forage with less fertilizer
A light rain is falling as Denny Pogue walks through the tall grass, moving electric fencing to form a new two-acre paddock for his cows and calves. He does this every evening when he gets home from his job in town. "What we are really trying to do is raise real high quality forage without using large amounts of fertilizer," Pogue said. Pogue, who raises grass and cattle on the family farm near Rolla, Mo, is using high density stocking to help accomplish this goal. Pogue started with a management intensive grazing (MIG) system in 1998 and then last September started doing the real high density stock grazing or "mob grazing." The original grazing system had 16 paddocks ranging in size from 8 to 10 acres. These are permanent paddocks with a water system in place. For his high density grazing system, Pogue subdivides these paddocks into two-acre paddocks using pigtail posts and electric wire. "We have a base cow herd of 60 to 65 cows, fall calve everything, and then put them on one- to two-acre paddocks depending on the forage," Pogue said. All of the pastures have trees along the edges and when Pogue was using the MIG system, the cows would go there and lay in the shade. Consequently, most of the manure and urine ended up under the trees and not on the pasture. "It won't do us much good if the manure is under the trees," Pogue said. "I want to redeposit as much of the manure out in the pasture as possible." Pogue hopes to accomplish that by using high density stocking rates. He runs all of his 65 cows and their calves in one group on small two-acre paddocks, moving them every day or two depending on the forage. Using pigtail posts spaced 50-feet apart, Pogue can walk off a two-acre tract quickly. "I like to see a pile of manure every 10 feet or closer," said Pogue. "When we get to the first of December and we pull them to an acre, the manure pile will be pretty close. It will nearly cover the ground." Last year Pogue spread six tons of fertilizer on 80 acres of the 200-acre grazing system and this year he reduced that to two tons on 30 acres. And he is still maintaining the quality of the forage just by making sure the manure and urine stay where it is needed. Pogue wants to be as efficient as possible and that means using as little hay as possible. A few years back, his haying equipment was just about worn out, so he sold it and started buying hay. Then hay got pretty expensive. That was when he sold his first group of cows and eventually sold a second group. He was running about 100 cows at that time and is now down to 65 cows, their calves, and a dozen yearling heifers that he will breed this fall. "We fed 15 bales of hay last year and that was after an ice storm and a snow storm," Pogue said. There are 250 big round bales in the barn just in case they get a 12-inch snow; and Pogue said they would, at some point. If and when it does happen, he will need all of that hay. "If we get three to four inches of snow or a half inch of ice, that does not bother me; but more than that and we will need to feed hay," Pogue said. When he was using the MIG system, Pogue tried to graze the paddocks from the first of April through the first of February and then fed hay in February and March. Last year he was able to eliminate the hay by using high density stocking and use about one-third as much fertilizer. "And this year we are doing it on about 10 percent as much fertilizer," Pogue said. Like many farms in the Ozark region of Missouri, Pogue's farm includes some fairly poor rock hills that don't have much tilth in them. If he leaves plenty of cover on the pasture, the dead grass will rot down and help build up the organic matter in the soil. Pogue wants the cows to harvest everything off without grubbing it into the ground. The green grass will fluff back up and get growing, while the dead grass will rot down. If possible, he wants to keep everything in a vegetative stage. "What we want is for them to go in and eat the good stuff out, knock as much of the bad stuff down as possible, and then get them moved to more good stuff," Pogue said. "If they eat off the tops of the plants, in about three days it starts growing again." Pogue said it has been amazing how quickly the grass does rebound, if it has not been grazed too short. It also has been amazing to see the increase in plant diversity. When Pogue and his wife, Mary Beth, moved back to the farm that has been in her family for seven generations, the bottom ground was broken into small fields of corn and soybean. They sowed that field to timothy grass and orchard grass. During the next 20 years, Pogue over-seeded the whole place twice with Red Clover. About 10 years ago, he planted some lespedeza along the tree lines in hopes of bringing back the quail population. From the natural soil bank, he has seen gamma grass and Bluestem come back gradually. There is also some foxtail and crabgrass, along with a primary stand of fescue. The next step in Pogue's plan is to bring in about 200 nanny goats and 30 to 40 ewes to help control the brush and open up some areas for additional grazing. He needs a way to keep the brush eaten back without using chemicals. "If the goats pay for the extra fence, that would be great; but if they keep the brush down and we recover 80 to 100 more acres of pasture, that will pay dividends," Pogue said. As Pogue ties off the portable electric fence, he looks back at his visitor and warns him that the wire is hot, now. Then 65 cows and their calves eagerly move into the paddock of fresh grass. Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com.
Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2011. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com |
|
