Riding the Mechanical Cow
by Troy Bishopp
They say “Ignorance is Bliss”, which essentially describes a state of being carefree because one doesn't know about something potentially problematic. It suggests that avoiding knowledge of something can lead to a happier, less stressful life. And I like low stress.
But when someone suggests you’re simple-minded, my stress level elevates quickly to match the ignorance of context. Let me explain. I was out on my mechanical “Deutz” cow mowing down nice, green, 2-foot-tall pastures that were starting to head because I have too much grass and not enough custom-grazed animals right now to keep up with the explosive growth on my hundred acres. To the curmudgeon with the icy stare across the fence, it looks like a pure waste of opportunity or worse, “vanity mowing”. Those judgement-zone eyes have little idea of our holistic land plan and why the lashing out occurred, from lack of context and understanding.
This situation, like many, was the result of circumstance. Here in the Northeast we had a “real” winter with abundant slow-release moisture and “April showers growing May flowers” and good grass. I said on the Grazing Sheep Podcast that the reason for this abundance is from last year’s management of healthy recovery periods and high plant residuals going into the winter. However, between a planned, Easter family vacation to Myrtle Beach, my grazing partner still calving and a burst of hot weather, we had a great spring flush which we couldn’t keep up with logistically. We had too much grass!!!
Looking at my grazing plan indicates that by the time (30 days) I get to some paddocks, they will be more like straw than an animal performance pasture. So, I’m trying a new idea, based on an old concept; pre-clipping. Or as my grazing mentor, Cliff Hawbaker, calls it----pruning. In my view, it’s more for soil health than grazing.
My friends, Gabe Brown and “Soil” Ray Archuleta preach, that many regenerative-minded farmers are rolling down growing cover crops as green manures and mulch in building soil health for the next crop. The traditional practice adds nutrients and organic matter benefits, so in my mind, it wouldn’t be a stretch to figure pruning or trampling down of a highly nutritious grass and forb crop could help fertilize itself without spending money on outside fertility. I won’t argue cows (grazing animals) “would be” better to eat the excess, but this is a short-term inventory situation, that frankly is a blessing, considering many of my peers around the country have drought-stricken forage resources.
What to do with all the “seedheads” and excess pasture has been a hot topic on many social media platforms and group chats. The typical banter is to cut it for hay, put on more animals to eat it down (not so easy with high cost!), custom graze (which we already do), do some form of adaptive mob-grazing and/or clip pastures before or after the ruminant’s graze period. Recipes and off-handed comments, (just do this or that), abound with little context for individual farm goals, tools, experience and the price of high input costs. Considering what your best options are, should be holistically vetted given your current parameters.
For many farmers without the scale, resources or desire to make winter feed from their pastures in this non-brittle environment of high costs, the thought process can be daunting as the plants mature, and feed quality dwindles. Maybe all this grass has a silver lining.
“You will never go broke having too much money or too much grass.”
An enterprising alternative, back in 1955, was used by Farmer/Author, Newman Turner who wrote about his experiences in “Making a Ley with a Mower” as a chapter in his book, Fertility Pastures and Cover Crops, which I use as a must-have resource.
Turner wrote, “In my experience the only essential is organic matter. The use of adequate organic manure (crop residue) and animal wastes will, on all soils, ensure the release of all other requirements of the “ley”—pasture. Organic nitrogen, phosphates, potash, even calcium in small but usually adequate quantities are supplied in the process of decomposition of organic matter.”
He continued, “The orthodox reason for topping (mowing) after grazing is to stop the seeding stems and encourage fresh, leafy growth. But I soon discovered the benefits resulting from mowing after grazing, consisted of deep rooting herbs and a diversity of plant herbage supplying a rich supply of subsoil minerals, trace elements, plant hormones, mycelia, fungi and who knows what, contributing free fertilizer back on itself. I found in this way that I could maintain, entirely by utilizing free natural processes, the high production of the pasture.”
I’m not sure if they called him dumb, but his premise and study didn’t really sit well with fertilizer salesman and his own “Ministry of Agriculture experts”. The frugal farmer was more concerned about thriving from his homegrown, productive, diverse pastures and his practical observations than making friends from industry. Perhaps this sentiment could be expressed in today’s farming environment.
There is a bevy of information on how many nutrients are extracted from forage harvesting per ton. Many university bulletins give a range of 40 to 60 dollars’ worth of nutrients in a ton of hay harvested as an example. What if we looked at this as fertilizer instead of cow feed only?
This is what I think about as I ride my mechanical Deutz cow with Woods mower in tow, emulating Mr. Turner’s teachings and pruning my ungrazed or tall grazed pastures. This ain’t no vanity mowing. This is fertilizing pastures. But is there another backstory for our cool season grass region?
Will this pruning and residual forage left be a problem? It runs contrary to the grazing principle that when more than half the forage in a pasture is grazed (or mowed?), the roots begin to decline at a rapid rate. “At 50% forage utilization, 2 to 4% of root growth stops. But if you take another 10% of the forage, root decline approaches 50%. By the time you get to 80% forage utilization, you essentially have 100% root-growth stoppage (Dietz, 2006).”
I reached out to several agronomy professionals for a hypothetical look on what I may be achieving. According to my pasture sward measurements, I am pruning down 1 to 2 dry matter tons/acre (20 inches x 200lbs./in/ac) before or after the 50 head beef herd took their grass cream off the paddock.
Some said the greener the material the more nitrogen potential. All said it takes time for the material to break down and provide its slow-release fertilizer so the benefits aren’t immediate like other sources of fertility. There were many intangibles from mowing such as weed suppression, covering the soil, encouraging new growth, feeding the biology community, providing a natural seedbank and creating organic matter on the soil plus roots sloughing off the plants under the soil.
The fertilizer value of bushhogged pasture was said to “depend” on what stage of pasture maturity was getting mowed. Apparently, the older the plants the less nutrients applied. After much discussion a 10-10-45 fertilizer ratio on a dry matter basis was agreed upon. Given that today’s prices are over a dollar a pound for nitrogen and phosphorus, and .60/lb. for potassium, a hypothetic value of this mowed fertilizer is somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 dollars per acre. Not bad if you have excess grass to invest in your soil and don’t have enough cows to eat or trample it down.
Of course, mechanical cows don’t run for free or horse drawn iron, for that matter. For me, I bill the mowing operation out at $90/hr. these days to account for the increased fuel, maintenance and labor costs. I’m keeping track on my grazing chart how long it takes me to mow a field off behind the cows. Typically, I can mow 4 acres of heavy pasture down to 6 inches in 1.5 hours with my 8-foot bushhog, and sharp blades. The math plays out in my head, 4 acres x $50/ac = $200. $90/ac x 1.5hrs. = $135 for a positive return of $16/acre for doing the practice that Mr. Turner discussed. Is it enough benefit to use Mr. Turner’s idea? You’ll have to judge based on your own considerations.
Adding intrigue to this pruning narrative is “not” mowing certain paddocks for fledging grassland birds and contributing habitat for prey and predator species. This planned prairie that grows over 5 feet tall conceals all kinds of critters, adds plant, root and insect diversity, provides a native seedbank and adds a lot of biology and carbon to fields that need that kind of impact or recovery after a wintering area.
For farmers or ranchers like myself who are dealing with knapweed and multi-flora Rose control within an organic context, a mower can also be a tool to keep the invasive nuisance in check with planned defoliation when limited in using large and small ruminates for grazing impact.
The pruning/mowing/clipping practice has some merit to consider, especially as outside inputs become more expensive or even scarce. It’s just one tool in a vast toolbox of possibilities for this short-term excess pasture issue many graziers are experiencing here in the east.
However, the ultimate pasture scenario is to have every blade harvested by an appreciating grazing animal to be truly sustainable. Don’t beat yourself up if you have a few too many seedheads. Finding the triple bottom line balance is always a moving target. Invest in knowledge and observation, you won’t be sorry.
And to the simple-minded narrative? "I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it." - Edith Sitwell.
