The State of the Stockpile

The grass stockpile that is.  Since we started figuring out how to stockpile our forages and increase our rest periods between grazing times,  I don’t worry about running out of grass during our dry summers.  However, we have had to learn what a well rested pasture looks like, and to not take our pastures for granted.  We are grass farmers, not beef farmers.  If we take care of the land and grass, the beef will thrive, so we focus on forage.

August 20, 2011.

The photo above was taken on August 20th, if you look to the left you see the grass recovering behind the cows in an orderly fashion that follows my grazing pattern in this particular field.  It looks much different to the naked eye than through the camera lens.  Green up is starting about 3 days behind the cattle like clockwork, despite not having any measurable rain for some time.

September 1, 2011.

This photo taken (11 days later) from the same place shows the continued green up behind the cattle as they rotate through the field.  Despite the lack of rain, our pastures are greening up behind the cows and look verdant, not spring lush verdant, but healthy and green.  Other pastures in our locale are done for the year, used up and grazed close with soil exposed to the hot, baking sun.

September 1, 2011.

You can see green grass in the background too, where we grazed earlier and cut hay.

August 20, 2011.

The preceding pasture pasture is showing good regrowth.  This portion is about 30 days  of rest, on a south facing slope.

August 20, 2011

Same grass,  30 days rest,  thick and growing up through the trampled forage.

August 20, 2011.

A close-up of the same grass, the trampled litter is providing food and shade for the soil critters, while also shading the soil from the intense heat.

It’s really hard to show the grass regrowth with camera.  Directly in front of the cow, 3 days behind the current paddock, the grass looks like this below.

Lots of litter cover.   Once the cows leave, the grass begins the recovery process almost immediately instead of going dormant.

Kind of looks like a train wreck to the untrained eye, just as brown as the burnt up pastures in my town.  But I have retrained my eyes to see the pasture differently.  Not as something to be taken for granted but to mold and shape into a different landscape than what is considered a normal livestock pasture.  And I like what I see.

Compared to the method illustrated on yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday post, applying carbon and cow manure with just cows and wee bit of fencing is much simpler and probably much better in the long run.  There will always be a place for composting animal manure on our farm, because I like to grows annuals too, but I am liking tall grass mob stocking more and more as a path to better pastures.

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