Last week we started a discussion about how to go about stockpiling in the coming months. This week we continue with some thoughts from Greg Judy. Greg is always innovating, and in this case he’s looking at stockpiling a bit differently.
In Part 1, we talked about one of the hardest parts of stockpiling: it generally starts in August and goes through September, a time of year when folks often have a forage shortage. It also depends on having adequate moisture to give pasture cool season plants what they need to grow.
In this 5:39 August 2019 video, Greg describes different methods of stockpiling. One way is to shift animals to just a few pastures and allowing the rest to grow, something Greg used to do. Now, he keeps his animals moving through all the pastures making sure they only graze the tips of the plants so he can maintain the bulk of the forage in the pasture. When fall rains come he gets an explosion of growth. This allows him to feed his animals, while still growing a stockpile. He also shares a lot of good grazing management tips, especially for those of us managing through drought.
Keep in mind that Greg is able to do this because his pastures are not overstocked. If you’re running too many animals, you won’t be successful at this.
Greg’s pastures have a healthy fescue component that he’s learned to use quite well. It’s an excellent grass for stockpiling as he describes here:
Help your On Pasture community by sharing your experience, ideas, and questions in the comments section below.
Interested in learning more? Check out Greg’s website and Youtube channel.
