Ryegrass Grazing

This week we ran out of stockpiled fescue pastures for our cows, we hauled home the 192 fall & spring cows and 80 fall calves that were still enjoying the grazing on rented pastures. The cold weather is freezing the ground on our ryegrass pastures so we are turning 150 cows and their calves out onto pasture today.  Here’s a pic of them out grazing. The ryegrass may turn yellow this week if it gets a little colder than they are now predicting. But the cows should eat most of the grass before it gets yellow. We’ve found out that cows will eat yellow freeze burned fescue fine but ryegrass withers away after extreme cold and the cows won’t touch it.  The plant survives and regrows when it warms up.  We will keep the cows out on pasture next week while it stays froze and the fall born calves will continue to creep under a high fence to enjoy the ryegrass (they are so light they don’t muck up the ground).  These cows are going to make it until Feb 20 with hardly any stored feed.  Then we will start going back out onto fescue pasture in late March.