The Most Efficient Harvest

We write a lot about our harvest of forage for our cattle. Probably because we put a lot of time and effort into the crop, and it culminates at one point in time when the crop is stored for the upcoming season. I'll always defend our system of stored fermented forage for several reasons. The primary reason is that lush green pasture is just not always available in Georgia. Even if you do everything right, several months out of the year forage will be sub-optimal, and there are a few months that live growing forage is just non-existent. We need premium quality forage to feed during these times, and that is why we produce and store the forages that I write about here often. However, there are some great times of year in Georgia for grazing. Right now happens to be one of those grazing periods. In the top two photos from late last week, these cows are grazing a diverse pasture of Ryegrass, Fescue, Crimson Clover, and White Clover. Last week was actually the second time we have run this group of cows on this same paddock this spring. They grazed it down over a month ago, and now we are back for round two. It is beautiful to watch, and obviously the efficiency can't be beat. It's definitely less work on me when the cows do the harvesting. Not a single ounce of diesel was burned. I walked out to the pasture and switched around some gates, Walked to where the cows were grazing on their old paddock, Yelled for them, and they followed me in a trot to their new paddock. It is that simple. If we could do this 365 days per year we would love it. By combining good rotational grazing practices with premium stored forages, we make sure that everyday of the year our cattle are able to eat their fill of green nutritious forage that grew right here on our farm.