The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council. |
Monday, January 28, 2008
25
Getting Off of the 'Louisiana HayRide'
James D. Vinson, USDA-NRCS, 4974 Central Ave. Suite B,, Monroe, LA 71203 and Paul Wells Sr., Wells Farms, Dunn, LA 71232.
Winter time hay feeding and supplementation is by far the single most expensive field operation for today’s cattle producer. Number of days on hay and other supplemented feeding sources seriously affect the livestock producers’ ‘Bottom Line’. Planned practical utilization of forage produced from grazing lands is a key component to profitability in the commercial cattle business. Conservation and protection of the grazing lands natural resources that the cattle producer utilizes to make a living and be successful create this long-term sustainability. A viable, easy-to-do livestock grazing management alternative that can be used to significantly reduce the number of hay feeding days for you as a cattle producer is the method of ‘Stockpiling’ dormant warm season perennial grasses for late fall/early winter grazing. Cattlemen across the southeastern U.S.A. rely on warm season perennial grasses such as Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) and Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum) pastures and hayfields which work well with this ‘stockpile grazing’ technique. Paul Wells, a commercial cow/calf livestock producer in northeastern Louisiana has found a way to get off the ‘Louisiana HayRide’. For the past three years Paul has been developing this system to virtually eliminate hay feeding to his spring calving cow herd. Through trial, error, or maybe accident a beneficial twist has surfaced. For several previous years Paul had been over-seeding hybrid Bermuda grass pastures/hayfields with annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) for the purpose of cool season grazing. With this management practice being used, a huge, reserved ryegrass seed bank has become available. During the last two years, after the stockpiled Hybrid has been strip grazed close, the volunteer annual ryegrass germinated and propagated. Result: Louisiana ‘Lagniappe’ - double forage crops for the same price. This grazing management program has resulted in a very successful planned grazing system alternative.