Post by jerseyrose on May 9, 2022 12:44:24 GMT -5
While not in TN I am in a neighboring state and I think our weather/ growing is similar.
We let our Cows / Horses / Goats all graze their respective pastures at will and then mow ( if needed) when the taller stuff drops it's seed heads and turns. This will be the first year we can let our cows have a field after baling it first and they won't be on that until most likely July. We will do it first as soon as wether permits in June.
Or even fencing in part of an acre for the week of harvest?
ETA: Well I forget we’re only dealing with 3 acres. I suppose you are right. Unless she has some more available pasture. Doggone.
I guess it really wouldn’t be worth trying to fence enough to support 2-3 rotations. Then again, with the projected price of hay this year…😳
On such a small acreage I would be afraid you wouldn't get enough grass to bale if they were allowed access to it first . Especially if it was divided into one acre parcels you probably wouldn't even to able to see where the windrows were to rake it up! We have that issue sometimes when doing a second cutting
With the cost of fuel I wouldn't bother unless you are looking at decent yield. We bale a small patch below our house that is under an acre but it has never been grazed, is extremely thick and we get a fair number of nice bales from it.
rosalind I know keeping the grass mowed is best , but I let my horses pasture get seed heads( before mowing) because I want their 4.5 acres lower in quality as they don't need it to be super nutritious. They have hay overnight when dry lotted. They are getting heavy already!
We have 2 other pastures for my goats and I don't let the goats graze them down too far but rotate them so it recovers nicely all year long. I also put them on the horses pasture for a while to find any weeds that might pop up and help with the grass. The horses hardly make a dent.
