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Columbia City, Indiana | Trying to do more rotational grazing this year to extend the grass so I can max out my cow numbers. Basically all I'm doing is running a hot wire to divide pastures in half. Had the problem last year that some areas would get overgrazed while others seemed to go to waste. So I tried this experiment by running a hot wire along the lane that divides one of my pastures. First half seemed to work pretty well. Now they're on the other side of the wire, which is a little bigger than the first "half" because of the lane. The problem may be that the pastures are kind of long and skinny. Have to play the cards you're dealt I guess. They seem to be staying towards the front half and not utilizing the back half much. I thought this setup would work because they have to go into the barn lot at the front to drink, and they have to go to the back to get shade. It's not really hot enough yet that shade is too big of a deal to them apparently, because they are definitely favoring the front half of this pasture. 12 pairs, oldest calves about a month old, 5 yearling heifers and 4 yet to calve in the group, current pasture is about 5 acres. I spread clover and culti-packed it in, got an excellent stand. The grazing is excellent for them, they are loving it, but I want to get the most out of it I can, obviously. Any ideas or tips? I thought about using another hot wire to divide this half of a pasture in half again but pretty soon I'll have paddocks everywhere, which isn't really something I want to mess with. | |
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Question for rotational grazing.
