The Value of Leaving Some Forage in Pasture

The problem at Virginia Tech’s McCormick Farm in the Shenandoah Valley was not dissimilar to what many cow-calf operators face — too much feeding of hay and not enough days on pasture. It seemed reasonable to fall stockpile some of the farm’s toxic tall fescue pastures, but as a result of frequent late summer and fall droughts, there was simply no place to put cows whenever fall stockpiling was attempted.Former Farm Superintendent David Fiske recognized that there was an overabundance of pastur

The best cow I ever bought was a real beauty. Her name was Miss Unaweep Rafter 145, and she came with some fancy registration papers and a bull calf at her side that my mother thought could be our next herd sire. I know old Unaweep was a good cow. She must have been – I paid $1,700 for her! Those were 1971 dollars (the equivalent of $10,976.28 today) and represented the majority of my cattle account. That calf did grow up to be a fine bull, but I wound up shooting that cow only three year

Last week we told you why we don’t use Brix to measure the value of forage in pasture. Our primary reason is that it’s not a very reliable tool for looking at the nutritional value of a specific plant. Another reason is that so many people have measured forage value for so long, that you can get a pretty good idea of what’s going on in your pasture without taking any measurements at all. What We Already Know About Forage Quality One tool that we’ve all used to get a mea

It’s August, and I know it’s August without looking at a calendar.  The days are getting shorter and it’s state fair time.  August is always a busy month for me and I am usually left wondering what happened to it all.  I start thinking about assessing pastures, how much forage is present, and how much more forage can be grown between now and dormancy.  It’s sad, but winter is already on my mind.  Not that I’m looking forward to it, I’m not, but it’s time now to start preparing. I want to be abl