From the Barns: Grazing in a drought

Where did October go? Yes, time flies when you are having fun and it was fun to see the crops disappear rapidly in great harvest weather. The plant breeders should be acknowledged for their hybrids developed over the last few years that can turn out yields like we have in this very dry year.

The East Fork of the LaMoine tells us that it is the driest here at River Oak since the mid-1950s. Our nine ponds are the lowest they have been since construction, beginning in the ‘50s and ending in 2012. We will be challenged to water cattle grazing our winter stockpile. We are being told by this drought to build four of our five watering ramps deeper, longer or do some dredging nearby.

Carson and I and our part-timer, Chris, just finished a project that has been on our “to-do” list for a couple of years. I know many of you have “cattle trails” where cattle continuously travel and if they are on a downward slope the result is some serious and ugly erosion.

We were able to nab some railroad ties along the highway at Plymouth from the company that was loading them outbound for landscaping use. We dug perpendicular to the cattle trails and placed these railroad ties, covering them with enough dirt to hold them in place. We had several placements and an overall appearance of steps leading down to a water tank. We used the same method a few years ago and know it works.

I just returned last night from three days away to attend the Heart of America Grazing Conference in Springfield, Missouri. It was very well attended and some serious exchanges occurred between graziers and the “experts,” in other words, those more than 50 miles from home.

Missouri being the third-ranking state in beef cattle numbers makes for a good place for a grazing conference. There with me was our new Illinois grazing coordinator, Christian Lovell, and also, Dean Oswald from Midwest Grass and Forage, our seed house here in Macomb.

Our two groups of cows here at River Oak are partway through the transition between green grass and no grass and then green grass again in our winter fescue stockpile. Carson has one group in our STF 43 soft leaf fescue stockpile and one group still on corn residue with hay supplement. When Carson gets back from his viewing/buying trip out to Nebraska, we probably will be ready for full winter grazing.

Carson had 40 acres of rye placed with the fertilizer spreading truck and that is now coming on and casting a nice greenish hue over the acres. With some dry weather and small showers it did not germinate, but 1.5 inches of rain and warm temperatures have brought it on. It should be some good early spring grazing.

A little side note away from ranch and cattle news. I feel like the conditions in our managed white oak woods is near perfect for getting herbicide from a helicopter down through the oak canopy to the invasive and destructive bush honeysuckle.

If the contractor can be here before the winds next week, we should be able to treat. The canopy is dormant and many leaves are down, but the bush honeysuckle is bright green. We have waited several years for the right conditions.

Stay safe and sane in the lots, barns and fields!