Do\u27s and Don\u27ts in Grazing Alfalfa

I want to discuss some of the issues in a talk I presented nearly twenty years ago. At that point we had been grazing Alfalfa about eight years and made some general remarks about the concerns I had at the time. I will look at these as presented then and how the thoughts may have changed

Will Improved Grazing Pay for Extra Fencing and Water Cost?

Expectation is founded on faith, and in faith lays opportunities. I suppose as we look at most farming operations most changes occur from force not by choice. What I propose today and hope to convince most of you; is that here is an opportunity to make more profit, if you’re willing to change and have faith that it will work. Most of us have heard of, if not practiced rotation grazing for a long time. The question many ask, is it worthwhile. Does better grazing management make me any more money? I hope to at least provide some insight as to answers to that question

Opportunities for Alfalfa as a Grazing Crop in Kentucky

As we think about the possibilities of alfalfa as a grazing crop, maybe we need to look at some of the limitations and where alfalfa may fit into Kentucky producers programs. When looking at Kentucky\u27s land area of 25 million acres we see that nearly half is in woodland. Of the 12 million acres remaining; about 3 million is in row crops, 2 million in hay, 2 million in non farm uses, and the rest is pasture. That is about 5 million acres in pasture or at least available to the pastured. With at least 7 million acres in hay and pasture and currently only 300,000 acres of alfalfa, there appears to be plenty of room for more alfalfa

Techniques for Reducing Mud Problems and Improving Pasture Abused Areas

I would like to approach this topic from two directions, mud control and then problem areas. Mud control in concentrated areas almost impossible with forages alone. Using a mud control product is usually advised. I will talk about several

Opportunities for Warm Season Grasses

Today I would like to do two things, first talk a little about warm season grasses, where they come from, and where they might fit in your grazing program; and second, talk about the four major native grass species and two introduced species. Native warm season perennial grasses were an important part of the native forage species of Kentucky, supplying food and cover for deer, buffalo, and other wildlife when settlers arrived into Kentucky. With settlers plowing, overgrazing, and the introduction of other forages, Native Warm Season Grasses (NWSGs) were on the brink of extinction. These grasses included switchgrass, eastern gamagrass, indiangrass, and big bluestem. Over the past several years, there has been interest in re-establishing these grasses back into Kentucky, for soil conservation, wildlife and forages for livestock

Do\u27s and Don\u27ts of Alfalfa Grazing

I usually start grazing in April when alfalfa is about 10 inches tall. I like to start with enough cattle to graze a paddock clean in two to five days, then move to another paddock, returning to re-graze in about 35 days. I usually need at least eight paddocks in the system. You must rotate cattle on Alfalfa for the stand to persist. It will take seven or eight head of 500 pound calves per acre to keep up with alfalfa growth in the spring. Part of the calves will need to be removed in June and maybe some more in mid-July. Three or four head per acre will probably be enough during the summer

Designing a Grazing System for Alfalfa

As we think about grazing alfalfa, we should decide why we are considering alfalfa and where it fits. I want to address some of these issues from my prospective as a grazer with several years experience and as an agriculture employee working with many grazers over the years. Alfalfa is the most productive, high quality grazing forage we can grow in Kentucky; we need to be using it more

Opportunities for Alfalfa as a Grazing Crop in Kentucky

Why do we continue to hear people talk about Alfalfa as a grazing crop? In my opinion there are two words that come to mind when I think of grazing Alfalfa, quality and yield. Alfalfa is without a doubt the highest quality forage we can graze. Alfalfa is also one of the highest yielding forages we can graze and maybe the highest yielding widely known and widely grown forage available to Kentucky farmers

Developing Fencing for Grazing Systems

Expectation is founded on faith, and in faith lays opportunities. I suppose as we look at most farming operations most changes occur from force not by choice. What I propose today and hope to convince most of you; is that here is an opportunity to make more profit, if you’re willing to change and have faith that it will work

Listing Contract Length and Time on Market

Miceli (1989) in a search for the optimal time to allow a broker to market property provides a theoretical model which posits that the principal (seller) may use the length of the listing contract to motivate the agent (listing broker) to better align incentives. Expanding slightly on Miceli, this present work predicts that longer time allotted the broker to market residential property will decrease broker effort resulting in lower search intensity and eventually a longer marketing span for property, ceteris paribus. This prediction is borne out across three empirical modeling methodologies commonly used in time on market studies.