Brad Young of Wausa Utilizes Several Low Cost Concepts toKeep His Cow
By Curt Arens
Nebraska Farmer Magazine
February 2008
Low-costApproach Lifts Profits
BradYoung of Wausa utilizes several low cost concepts to keep his cow-calf herd andhis grasslands healthy and productive, including the establishment of legumesinto his pasture. Young runs his cowherd over 350 acres of pasture, dividedinto 30 permanent paddocks and subdivided into small parcels for daily moves.
"Ifeel the main advantage is that mixed grass/legume pastures seem to be moreresilient under stress," says Young. "This is probably because of acombination of several factors, including nitrogen fixation, better nutrientcycling and more diverse soil life."
At arecent series of "Profit Tips for Cow/Calf Producers" meetings acrossthe state, University of Nebraska Extension Forage Specialist, Bruce Andersonand Holt County Extension Educator, Gary Stauffer, teamed up to present severalcost-cutting production tips.
Andersonsaid that brome pastures inter-seeded with legumes in a Mead research grazingstudy, showed substantially better growth than brome pastures with nitrogenfertilizer added, particularly in the second half of the grazing season.
"Legumesneed to be considered more with fertilizer prices increasing," Andersonsays. "They boost production of pasture and animals, plus they reduce oreliminate the need for nitrogen fertilizer."
"Thebiggest challenge is getting them established," says Anderson. Using aseed drill is optimal, to increase seed to soil contact, particularly whenadding expensive legume seed like birdsfoot trefoil or alfalfa, to establishedpastures, he says.
ButYoung mainly "frost seeds" his legumes, or basically broadcasts seedon the top of the ground in the winter or very early spring, while the groundis still frozen. "The snow, rain and repeated freezing and thawing settlethe seed into the soil, so that it is ready when conditions are right in thespring," says Young. "This works especially well for red and whiteclovers" which germinate easily and are the least expensive of legumeseed.
Youngalso frost seeds alfalfa, which is a method not usually recommended for alfalfaestablishment. "One of the most important things is to set up specificpastures for frost seeding, during the previous grazing season," he says."Graze very hard and short right up until dormancy. This minimizes thatchbuild up, allowing the seed to get to the soil."
Legumesin a pasture prevent the use of broadcast herbicide application for controllingtroublesome pasture weeds because the herbicide will also kill the legumes."Using Management Intensive Grazing (MIG) and utilizing at least dailymoves minimizes most weed problems," according to Young. "High stockdensity grazing, with several moves per day, does a great job at reducingCanada thistle. We hand rogue most thistles and spot spray Canada thistle andleafy spurge."
Andersonand Young agree that establishing legumes in grazing land adds to the bottomline. "They provide some nitrogen back to the grassland and improveoverall animal performance," Anderson says.
MoreProfit Tips from Gary Stauffer