Winter Stockpiled Fescue Trumps Hay Every Time – Part 1
Some folks say we should do all we can to get rid of Kentucky 31 fescue in our pastures. But Greg Judy has other ideas. In this four part series he covers his experiences, good and bad, with this grass, and why he’s keeping his. He starts with the basic benefits of winter stockpile.
When folks start investigating methods of shortening the winter hay feeding periods on their farms a
- Published: 3 years ago on February 5, 2018
- By: Greg Judy
- Last Modified: February 13, 2018 @ 2:30 pm
- Filed Under: Forage, Grazing Management, Pasture Health
One of my paddocks has lots of threeawn so I’ve stuck most of my cattle in there this winter and have put the hay to ’em to help out this paddock. The dung beetles have been doing a tremendous job with all the manure pats so I’m looking forward to improved fertility. Even when the temperature has slipped into the teens the dung beetles have been doing a very complete job. It has been real dry, though. That seems to always be the most important factor for them.
Another thing though; I left a gate open to another paddock one day and all the cattle were up there grazing even after I put out fresh hay. It was all dormant warm season native grass (side oats grama and little bluestem, mostly). They were much more inclined to graze that old dormant grass than the good sudan hay I put out. Go figure.