When you suppose of turning your oxen onto pasture , do you figure plushy light-green fields that your animals can banquet upon joyously ? This may be the slip during periods of seasonal teemingness , but your pastures do n’t involve to be pic - perfect for your cattle to gain nutritionary value from them . In fact , having your cattle graze on harvested battleground — called “ stubble grazing”—offers many positive results .
What Is Stubble Grazing?
“ When cattle are graze stubble field , it ’s not so much the actual stubble itself , ” says Lorne Klein , grass specialiser with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture . “ It ’s the words or bunches of stubble , husk and cracked grain that went through the combining that they are looking for . ”
These stubble field can be the harvested remnant of crops like cereal or corn , though in corn , a good percentage of the flora line will likely still be standing . So what the cattle are grazing on is harvest residues , which can be collected during harvest and left in bunch in the field for graze during the fall and winter . By collecting the balance in Ralph Bunche , you improve access during adverse atmospheric condition conditions and take away the chore of needing to haul it by , saving you both time and money .
“ A mass of the work on chaff collection used to focus on it being hauled or used in some manner on the farm , ” Klein says . “ This is all about leaving the crop residue in the theater of operations in a lot , giving you protection against the snow . ”
Why Graze Cattle On Stubble Fields?
The main driver for employing stubble shaving on your farm is economics .
“ You ’ve already grow the crop , ” Klein says . “ Provided there ’s a beginning of water , whether a dugout or snow , all you need to do is get [ the sphere ] perimeter - fenced . ”
While the stubble - grazing method acting is not complimentary , it is one of the most price - efficacious ways to do fall and early - wintertime graze . It is also potentially the humiliated monetary value provender for cattle , potentially gimcrack than summer pasture .
Part of the delivery comes in lying-in toll by having cows spread their manure on the land themselves , instead of in the barnyard , where you ’d have to manure and spread it later .
“ keep them in the yard on full feed , you ’d be await at [ spending ] around $ 3 per day per cow , ” Klein says . “ Having them stubble grazing after all the add monetary value , you are looking at about $ 0.85 per day per cow , depending on the different variable . ”
Stubble Grazing Management
A James Leonard Farmer can use any parcel of land for winter stubble grazing , as long as they have four thing :
Using snow at a weewee author conduct with it a training full stop for the cattle .
“ You have to be deliberate how you go through this training point , ” Klein says . “ For example , one thing people will do is feed their cattle far and farther off from the water source in the winter , so finally he cattle get feast up walk for water and exhaust the snow . ”
The need for and amount of supplemental feed depends on whether you are grazing fend smoke , residue or belt grazing annual cereals . The best way to have a go at it the contentedness is to do a provender trial of what it is you are await your animal to salvage / graze . Then , base on provender mental test , you will need to balance their provender ration with texture , pellet or hay .
“ With slothed cereals , you might be capable get a complete ration , but if you ’re winter crop standing Indian corn , you ’re in all probability pass to postulate to supplement feed , as corn is short on protein , ” Klein says . “ If you ’re grazing harvest residual piles , you almost necessitate to be supplementing feeding through the duration , because … unless there ’s a whole muckle of green stuff and they are able-bodied to browse that as well in the winter , potentially with crop residual chain reactor and some amount of supplemental feeding , you may go until the first of April . ”
watch the ration is critically crucial , especially within the two months prior to calving .
So if you ’re look for a way to salvage costs , work your herd more efficiently and give your oxen some extra shaving clip in the cold months , look at add stubble grazing into your management system .
