Farm Tidbits - Bale Grazing and Winter Forage

We did some preparations for winter this week. We rent a farm that was previously poorly managed with lots of erosion and conventional tillage on hillsides.  5 years ago we converted the farm to grass & clover. This year we aren’t grazing it all summer. So Wednesday we baled the fields, moved the bales to the side of the field and planted forage sorghum directly into the grass stubble.

Next week we will move the bales back onto the fields.  The forage sorghum should grow 7 feet tall by late Fall. In December we will bring cows to the farm that have been summer grazing elsewhere. The cows will be given 2-3 acres at a time that will have both the wilted forage sorghum and the bales of hay. We are hoping this will provide enough feed for the cows to graze all winter. We are trying bale grazing on 2 other farms as well this winter. The goal being to keep the cattle grazing year round.