- Thread starter
- #51
WildRoseBeef
Range nerd & bovine enthusiast
Went for a free lesson today with one of the instructors after talking with them over email about my driving experience in '09. Turns out I have quite a few good habits already, but need to work on my lane-changing: Mirror-Shoulder-Signal-Shoulder-Move. Easier said than done, especially if done in a hurry, so I have to try not to get in such a hurry in getting all the steps down right. And of course I can't get in the bad habit of moving into the other lane before/as I signal. So I've got a bit of practicing to do before I go for my road-test on Friday. THIS Friday!!
At least I got to drive in a Chevy Camaro.
Anyway, I've been bugging a friend from another forum about bale-grazing practices, and am learning quite a bit. I learned so far that in order to minimize or eliminate N fertilizer costs it's much better to incorporate legumes like trefoil into the forages than just growing grass. Alfalfa wouldn't work because it's sometimes hard to get the timings right for cuttings (of course that varies with different areas/regions), clover would choke out other legume stands, and alfalfa and clover are a bit dangerous because they tend to cause problems with bloat. Legumes like bird's-foot trefoil (the stuff the guy I'm talking to has in his hayfields), sanfoin, cicer milkvetch or laspedenza are bloat-resistant and great for bale-grazing.
All sorts of good things about bale-grazing: more efficient, less use of the tractor in winter time, gets the cattle out of the sacrifice area and eliminates sacrifice area, eliminates manure spreading in the spring, increases forage biomass in the spring and summer because of the manure present in there, etc. It's best for areas that see more frost on the ground than those that don't get the frost.
Always learning.
At least I got to drive in a Chevy Camaro.
Anyway, I've been bugging a friend from another forum about bale-grazing practices, and am learning quite a bit. I learned so far that in order to minimize or eliminate N fertilizer costs it's much better to incorporate legumes like trefoil into the forages than just growing grass. Alfalfa wouldn't work because it's sometimes hard to get the timings right for cuttings (of course that varies with different areas/regions), clover would choke out other legume stands, and alfalfa and clover are a bit dangerous because they tend to cause problems with bloat. Legumes like bird's-foot trefoil (the stuff the guy I'm talking to has in his hayfields), sanfoin, cicer milkvetch or laspedenza are bloat-resistant and great for bale-grazing.
All sorts of good things about bale-grazing: more efficient, less use of the tractor in winter time, gets the cattle out of the sacrifice area and eliminates sacrifice area, eliminates manure spreading in the spring, increases forage biomass in the spring and summer because of the manure present in there, etc. It's best for areas that see more frost on the ground than those that don't get the frost.
Always learning.
I got my license about a month and a half ago. It feels awesome knowing I can go somewhere when I want to and not have to wait on anyone to get home to have a ride. (Though of course my mom makes me text her before I leave, when I reach my destination, and before I leave to come back home.)
Not really, but my mom and dad did want to know when and where. But we did not have cell phones.
