Post by ladyliberty on Feb 25, 2011 14:30:25 GMT -5
This is from Lady Liberty's husband, John.
The first thing you'll discover when looking at Management Intensive Grazing (MIG) and Mob Grazing is that most of the people playing in that sandbox are beef farmers and not dairy people.
We run dairy using a modified MIG approach. The beef raiser strategy with MIG is to massively improve grass so that no other feed is necessary with the exception of mineral supplements. People Like Joel Salatin and Greg Judy have succeeded in a huge way.
Beef farmers tend not to do dairy cows. It's rare you see someone mixing dairy and beef. So MIG information has a beef-centric feel to it.
Beef farmers have an advantage here. The flesh of their cows have no competition for food, whereas milk cows are feeding their flesh and their mammary glands constantly at the same time. But this actually creates an advantage for dairy cows in that we are not just feeding glands, we are making product. Where as to the beef farmer, all supplementation robs them from the bottom line of their meat product 12-24 months down the road, dairy farmers have product for all but a few month of the year. The product can offset or pay for the supplements. And you can also adjust feedwise for a dairy cow's condition without ruining the "end product" 12-24 months later.
Does MIG's beefcentric message preclude a dairy farmer? No.
You can't follow their practices precisely. But the information can be very useful. Better quality grass in greater amounts for a dairy cow means less need of supplementation.
Our girls feed in small temporary paddocks, just like MIG beef cows. They move at least daily. If the grass is low quality, they move more quickly.
When I see bad quality patches I can use Murphy, Judy and Salatin to give me an idea what I might do to fix it and what may have caused it.
Will I ever be supplement free? I can't picture it, but with that as a goal, I make each gallon of milk just a little less expensive.
What are my results after 2 years? I think the grass is better. I see clover where I never saw it before. Last year we wintered with a lactating cow and a nursing calf. This year we wintered with A lactating cow, a nursing calf and a dry cow. We went through less hay this year with more cows. I believe it is because we copied MIG methods to make a better winter stockpile.
This year I'll be working my tail off to improve the grass using their methods. Because the beef MIGers have good results, there's no reason to expect I won't either.
John
The first thing you'll discover when looking at Management Intensive Grazing (MIG) and Mob Grazing is that most of the people playing in that sandbox are beef farmers and not dairy people.
We run dairy using a modified MIG approach. The beef raiser strategy with MIG is to massively improve grass so that no other feed is necessary with the exception of mineral supplements. People Like Joel Salatin and Greg Judy have succeeded in a huge way.
Beef farmers tend not to do dairy cows. It's rare you see someone mixing dairy and beef. So MIG information has a beef-centric feel to it.
Beef farmers have an advantage here. The flesh of their cows have no competition for food, whereas milk cows are feeding their flesh and their mammary glands constantly at the same time. But this actually creates an advantage for dairy cows in that we are not just feeding glands, we are making product. Where as to the beef farmer, all supplementation robs them from the bottom line of their meat product 12-24 months down the road, dairy farmers have product for all but a few month of the year. The product can offset or pay for the supplements. And you can also adjust feedwise for a dairy cow's condition without ruining the "end product" 12-24 months later.
Does MIG's beefcentric message preclude a dairy farmer? No.
You can't follow their practices precisely. But the information can be very useful. Better quality grass in greater amounts for a dairy cow means less need of supplementation.
Our girls feed in small temporary paddocks, just like MIG beef cows. They move at least daily. If the grass is low quality, they move more quickly.
When I see bad quality patches I can use Murphy, Judy and Salatin to give me an idea what I might do to fix it and what may have caused it.
Will I ever be supplement free? I can't picture it, but with that as a goal, I make each gallon of milk just a little less expensive.
What are my results after 2 years? I think the grass is better. I see clover where I never saw it before. Last year we wintered with a lactating cow and a nursing calf. This year we wintered with A lactating cow, a nursing calf and a dry cow. We went through less hay this year with more cows. I believe it is because we copied MIG methods to make a better winter stockpile.
This year I'll be working my tail off to improve the grass using their methods. Because the beef MIGers have good results, there's no reason to expect I won't either.
John
