[AT] Cattle farmers

Tue Aug 31 06:05:08 PDT 2021

https://www.farmprogress.com/livestock/johnsongrass-frost-can-be-deadly-grazing-cattle

Found the above link. Looks like it can kill cattle if consumed too much at
the wrong time of the year.

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/20210831/01d5056b/attachment.htm>