[AT] Cattle farmers

Tue Aug 31 06:01:30 PDT 2021

 My understanding of Johnsongrass is that it is good forage, except during
the winter if it gets stressed due to extreme cold. Then it developes some
kind of poison that can make cows sick. Don’t believe it actually kills the
cow. Will see if I can find something online.

Carl

On Monday, August 30, 2021, Cecil Bearden <crbearden at copper.net> wrote:

> Mark:
>
> I bale as much Johnson grass as I can get.  Cut while it is less than 2 ft
> tall it is one of the best forages around.  55 years ago during a drought
> we put 200 acres of river bottom land that had grown up 10 ft tall in
> johnson grass in the silo.  It was all we could find.  We got a shower on
> it a week later and it re sprouted and we baled nearly 40 bales per acre
> off it.
>
> I know how it stays with the land, but if you keep cutting it or just
> graze it it will die out..   In the mean time my cows love it..
>
> Cecil
> On 8/30/2021 6:13 PM, Mark Johnson wrote:
>
> Cecil:
>
> There is a chance that Johnsongrass that has gone to seed can survive a
> trip through a ruminant...which could spread the stuff to the other side of
> that pasture fence! As long as your horses keep it mowed down before it
> goes to seed you should be OK. It is one of the most 'robust' grass seeds
> in terms of its ability to lie dormant in the soil for 10 years or more
> (most grass seeds will either sprout or rot after no more than 2-3 years),
> and survive animal digestive systems.
>
> I spent a summer during my college years working for a weed science
> professor who specialized in perennial weeds, most especially johnsongrass.
> At the time, the stuff was only found about as far north as Indianapolis -
> all our research fields were in deep southern Indiana. These days,
> johnsongrass is adapting to the climate and is seen much further north.
>
> Mark J
> On 8/30/2021 8:07 AM, Cecil Bearden wrote:
>
> My Dad grew up working horses to farm.  He always said you did not feed
> alfalfa to a horse that was going to be worked.  They would get too hot.
> They only fed alfalfa in the winter.   I sold horse hay for many years
> before I got cow that eat more than I can raise.  I had people coming from
> 15 mi away to get my hay.  I baled hay for a couple of "horse" people
> around here and they would wait until the hay was dry as broom straw before
> baling.  Many times I baled mine the same day it was cut.  I still do if I
> can get my old joints to keep calm..!!    Nearly every buyer would remark
> how my hay was always so green when opened up and their horses would eat it
> like it was candy.  I had one lady who called and returned 4 round bales
> because her 3 horses ate it up in 3 days.  She said she could not afford to
> feed that much hay!!!!
>
> Horse people are a funny lot.  My 2 horses are 15 and 11 yrs old, and they
> eat anything I drop over the fence.  I cut the weeds off their field with a
> swather and baled it to keep the weeds from going to seed.   I baled it
> very very green.  Big juicy weeds, 4 ft tall.  2 weeks later they were
> eating the bales where they sat!!!    Moswt horse people don't want johnson
> grass as they say is is bad for horses.  I had a vet tell me that a horse
> could handle more Johnson grass and the prussic acid that forms during heat
> stress than cattle could.  I noticed that my horses keep the johnson grass
> ate down as far as they can reach over the fence...   I bale it with the
> TS110 and now the new 504R Vermeer, then haul it in with the old 5000 Ford
> with the hyd bale trailer behind.   The best thing I can find on the new
> baler is it will wrap a 12in diameter bale.  I can wrap one like the old
> Allis roto Baler.   Net wrap though...
>
>
> Cecil
> On 8/30/2021 6:00 AM, Indiana Robinson wrote:
>
> I wouldn't know why it wouldn't be OK. As a late first cutting it will
> naturally be a little stemy but it will still be hay. I have seen beef
> cattle in particular winter through on some remarkably rough hay. Much of
> what is feedable is often just the perception by people of what is good
> hay. I've seen people that would turn up their noses at decent hay on a
> good hay year but in a shortage of hay year (or a tight wallet year) they
> would feed thistles and scrub brush and be glad to get it. Son Scott once
> had a girlfriend that kept her horses here. I knew money was tight so I
> offered to give her some fairly decent hay I still had in the loft. She
> turned it down saying that her primary horse was a show horse and he
> couldn't eat that rough hay. I pointed over to the corner of the fence line
> and said "He ate that damned gate"...  :-)
> Our own little private herd of 7 useless but loved equine creatures
> (mostly rescues) normally winter over just running about 65 acres of corn
> stalks and soybean stubble and usually get fat on them. When the weather
> gets really bad we do usually stick in a round bale, often something son
> Scott didn't try to sell because it didn't tie right or was miss-shaped.
> Most of the time if the world is encased in ice or deep snow we feed a few
> alfalfa cubes. About a pound per horse, hand-fed like treats late in the
> day seems to make a good difference in keeping them warm overnight. They
> have shelter but seldom use it. A couple of semi-recent old and starved
> rescues do get special feeding. They are getting pretty slick looking now.
> To be on topic... Any time I take an old tractor out in the pastures they
> all have to gather around it and study it carefully. Not sure why, none of
> them know how to drive...
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 29, 2021 at 11:52 PM Mike M <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi all, I have a question. I have a guy that bales my field, for his
>> cattle. I just give it to him, because it saves me the trouble of brush
>> hogging it, and it doesn't go to waste. It's  been so wet in SE
>> Michigan, he hasn't been able to get on it it yet, He's only baled 40 of
>> the 200 acres he normally bales. At this point of the year, is the hay
>> even any good?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Mike M
>>
>> --
>> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
>> https://www.avast.com/antivirus
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> AT mailing list
>> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com
>> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>>
>
>
> --
> --
>
> Francis Robinson
> aka "farmer"
> Central Indiana USA
> robinson46176 at gmail.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing listAT at lists.antique-tractor.comhttp://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing listAT at lists.antique-tractor.comhttp://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing listAT at lists.antique-tractor.comhttp://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.antique-tractor.com/pipermail/at-antique-tractor.com/attachments/20210831/7ead64e5/attachment.htm>