# Forage management help!



## AKeeler95 (Nov 23, 2009)

Hey everyone I'm new to this foraging thing and as a class project I have to come up with a 3 year forage management plan for 5 horses of varying weights and I have 20 acres and $20,000 to do this. I also have to have 5 acres set aside for hay production. So far what I've come up with is planting a mix of big bluestem, indiangrass and eastern gamagrass for my warm season grasses in mid April. I'm going to allow my horses to mob graze from January through mid April prior to the seeding... I'll rotate my horses every few weeks so nothing gets eaten down passed 4 inches. In mid September I'll plant tall fescue and timothy.
I'm pretty stuck on what to do. Does this sound ok so far? If not what would you do to improve it.
Thanks for any help!


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Am I following you $20,000 to seed 20 acres?

Where are you located?

Most common mistake on horse pastures are grazing before they are established and the hooves kicking out the young plants.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

What area are you located in? Those warm season grasses I think would grow much later in the season then what I think you are planning regrardless of location? So I am reading that you are going to have 15 acres for pasture and 5 acres for hay? Is some of the $20,000 set up for fencing of some sort? Give us some numbers that you have best guessed for fixed and variable costs. Horses are alot harder to rotationally graze then cattle so inorder to get a maximum use of the pasture you will need to be diligent about moving them and controlling grazing space with cross fences, most economically poywire.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Don't know where you are located but I doubt that you will be grazing any warm season grasses in April. Big and little bluestem take a long time to establish and the seed costs are very expensive. A lot of what you do depends on your location and weather. I planted 320 acres of native grasses 6 years ago including little and big bluestem and couldn't put my cattle on it for 2 years. And then it was on a limited basis. Since we had a lot of cool and wet weather for the last 2 years, it has really come on strong. I think you would probably need to pick some other type of grasses to use instead of the native. I have 300 acres of pasture in ND that has a lot of bluegrass in it that I can put my cattle on early and graze the heck out of it. It was on the farm when I bought it so I don't know about the planting. Hope this gives you some insight into your choices from my past experiences. Mike


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## BCFENCE (Jul 26, 2008)

I dont mean to be smart but you need to drill some fescue, rotate your grazing and take your other 19 thousand dollars and buy what hay you will need, Thats just the truth, You would be alot better off.
THOMAS


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## jpritchett (Sep 22, 2009)

AKeeler95 said:


> Hey everyone I'm new to this foraging thing and as a class project I have to come up with a 3 year forage management plan for 5 horses of varying weights and I have 20 acres and $20,000 to do this. I also have to have 5 acres set aside for hay production. So far what I've come up with is planting a mix of big bluestem, indiangrass and eastern gamagrass for my warm season grasses in mid April. I'm going to allow my horses to mob graze from January through mid April prior to the seeding... I'll rotate my horses every few weeks so nothing gets eaten down passed 4 inches. In mid September I'll plant tall fescue and timothy.
> I'm pretty stuck on what to do. Does this sound ok so far? If not what would you do to improve it.
> Thanks for any help!


I did the same kind of project in my Forage, Pasture and Grassland class in college. Do you know what kind of range area you are in? Choosing the right grass you use determines on soil and climate. If your wanting to graze earliler in the year you should use a C3 grass other than a C4. C3 grasses will grow when its cooler and regrow in the fall after the summer heat.

So basically you have 15 acres to graze and 5 acres to produce hay. Your gonna want to choose a crop that you can get the maximux potential on. With 5 acres I'd plant alfalfa with orchard grass you can get 3-4 cuttings of it and they both work well together. You can sell your extra feed that you wont need.


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