I'm not complaining BUT ..........

[carragheendexters]

........who would ever think that you would have to be worried about bloat this late in Autumn.

We have had the best Autumn break, good rain and the weather is still warm. Our pasture is leaping out of the ground, especially the sub clover. We have had the odd cow bloat since Easter, and we have had the cows on bloat treatment in their water, have strip grazed them only a few hours each day on the pasture in the afternoon, and give them a belly full of oaten hay before they go on the pasture.

We are certainly set up for grazing through the winter. The way we manage the pasture and budget what we have, it will last right through till late July/early August, when the pasture will start growing again through spring. I just love this time of year, everything is so green and beautiful, just so different to our hot, dry and dusty summers.

Here are some photos of what it is looking like now.

There is just too much clover, the grasses can't keep up with its growth. The summer grasses won't grow as the days are too short and too cool, and the winter grasses are yet to get much growth, still too early in the season. We probably should bale it but the dews are so heavy and the fog isn't lifting till mid morning so the hay would never cure, and it's hard to find anyone around here who will make wrapped silage.

So the down side is, we just have to struggle with the bloat  while the upside is the cows are getting so fat and sassy, even the ones feeding young calves. 

[ladena]

The green is lovely but where's the pic of the fat and sassy cows?

[legendrockranch]

Well in all honesty I doubt that we will ever see anything as nice as your pastures or even a quarter as nice. Congratulations on a job well done.

Barb

[ssrdex]

I don't know Louise, I think I hear some complaining in there....
That is a lot of green!! I know the cattle are enjoying it while it lasts & I hope you do too. There really is always something to worry about, isn't there? No matter the weather...
& I'm with ladena, I like pics of fat cows

[carragheendexters]

Ok, Ok, I am complaining a little LOL. As my DH always says "You are never happy"
I would just like the winter grasses to get a go on to balance out the clover, now that would make me happy.
I took some photos on the weekend, which I will post when I get a chance.

The cows have to make the most of the good seasons when we have them, summer is always "just around the corner".

[carragheendexters]

Here are some photos of the cows making the most of their strip of pasture for the day, they all have young calves on them at the moment. Once they have finished grazing this paddock, we will then next move on to the lucerne (alfalfa) paddock.

[carragheendexters]

These are the fat cows that are still yet to calve. They have been banished from the creek flat paddocks and are on the hill paddock which makes them exercise a bit more and the feed in this paddock is not so good. They are all carrying too much weight before they calve, all we can do is control them from putting on any more. it would not be good for them to lose weight at this stage of pregnancy, too great a risk.

This is Scarlet

This one is Topaz, she is downright obese

This is Estelle

and Genevieve

[carragheendexters]

Yes Genebo, we could spray with 2,4 D, and we did consider spraying out the clover, but decided it isn't something that we would do.

The benefits of killing the clover and reducing the risk of bloat is far out-weighted by the negatives. Our problem is not really one of too much clover but of not enough grasses. This is a seasonal problem, we are one week off winter, the summer grasses are long gone and the winter ones have yet to get  ago on. If we were to kill the clover it would allow  winter weeds to germinate and become a problem in our pasture. We prefer to control weeds by being outcompeted with pasture species, better than spraying with chemicals.

The 2,4 D would also wipe out the trefoil and plantain, not something that we would want to do as they are highly desirable pasture plants.

The clover would only come back, this is sub (subterranean) clover and it is well known for its persistence and high feed value , that is why it is a highly desirable pasture plant in our part of the world. In spring it makes outstanding hay, another of its attributes.

It would not make sense to kill a high feed value plant in our part of the world, when who knows when the next lot of rain will come, if it comes at all, and the next drought may just be round the corner, you may not have any pasture at all within a few months. Over here we make the most of everything that grows for as long as we can. The long, hot dry summer is just a few months away, and then there will be no clover at all.

The interesting thing is that we haven't yet had  a cow bloat on this paddock with all of this lush clover. We strip graze under very controlled conditions. All of the bloats that we get are when the cows are on their night paddock (sacrifice paddock) which is very short pasture and not in great condition (as it is a sacrifice paddock), it has short new perennial ryegrass and very short clover, and these are the culprits for our cases of bloat, exacerbated by the heavy dews that we are getting and the heavy fogs.

[ladena]

Beautiful cows and love the udders.
LaDena

[ssrdex]

Thanks for sharing the pics, Louise. I miss the green here already, so dry & dusty again. Your cattle are lovely!

[Fran]

Beautiful cattle and pastures! We also have a lot of clover in our pastures and, thankfully, have had no problems.

[carragheendexters]

Thanks guys.
LaDena, we are trying to improve on our udder constructions, and with good production. Just wish some of them had longer teats for hand milking, some have shorter rear teats, which comes from one of our bulls.

You know Joel, I think that is the worst of summer too. It's the dust, the way it gets into everything and everywhere. Ours is red dust. I give up on the house work, the furniture ends up covered in it. You guys haven't had rain (in areas of US) for some time have you? I was listening to a report the other day on the radio about the drought over there, and how your cattle prices are skyrocketing. Many of your farmers are running out of water, but those who have water and sufficient feed/hay/grain are laughing at the prices they are getting.

Its great Fran that you have plenty of clover without problems. Clover is great to have, such great feed value, and free nitrogen fertilising for your soil, good for the grasses too.

[lakeportfarms]

Very nice Louise, I love your fat cows! And I agree, you just have to do the best you can to manage the possibility of bloat. Strip grazing has certainly paid dividends in the condition of your herd.