Grazing in Michiana
The best part of the growing season is happening now and for the next 60 days. But it's very dry. We're very fortunate to have irrigation on our grazing farms where we have the dairy cows. We have already applied about 3 inches of irrigation water and the pastures are growing very well.
When we put in the irrigation system, I figured there would be an increase of high quality pasture by 30%, and a corresponding increase in milk production. That figured out to be about a two-year payback on the irrigation investment. That was in 2012, so I don't know how that would pay out today, but as I watch the grass grow and stay green and lush and the cows keep milking very well, I believe it is still a very good investment for growing pasture.
The other day I checked our hay fields to see if they are ready to cut again, and it didn't look good. The grass is going dormant in some spots and not growing much in the rest of the fields. It needs rain! We are going to go ahead and harvest what is there because our manure pits are full, and we always clean the pits out and apply the manure to the hay fields for fertilizer.
This year, we decided to make a cutting of hay on Abby's farm where we graze the heifers. We thought if we took a cutting before we got the heifers there the pasture would be of higher quality, rather than getting too mature. We harvested 90 bales. But with the dry weather we haven't seen much regrowth. So, with those 90 bales, that gives about 50 days of feed.
We will soon move the heifers there and, if it hasn't rained, we know we will have at least that many days of feed there for them. Of course, there is a little regrowth already, so the feed supply will last longer than the 50 days.
When we did our first cutting of hay we learned something new. My brother was running the hay rake one day and he called me and asked if I knew we had poison hemlock along the edge of the field beside the creek. I didn't even know what it was. Well, we learned it is very bad and can kill cattle and people. It is very poisonous.
I was very thankful he happened to be helping us that day. We were able to bale that part of the field and set those bales away from the rest so we didn't kill any of our cattle. If you don't know what poison hemlock is, you need to find out and make sure you don't handle it or bale any of it up to feed to your livestock.
Our calving season is starting to wind down and there are only about 70 more to have calves. Last month I wrote about using the refractometer to test the quality of colostrum and it's really showing up as I look at how well the calves have done and how well they are growing.
One other interesting thing I learned this year is using milk as a fertilizer source for pasture. A friend told me about the idea, so I researched it and decided to try it on a couple of patches. It's too early to tell if it made a difference yet. Supposedly it increases pasture growth and increases the biological activity in the soil.
I sure hope the weather changes and we start getting some rain soon. Back in March, I wrote that I hoped the rain would stop and it would get a little drier. Well, I guess it got drier!
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.