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Post by Allenw on Nov 7, 2019 8:47:45 GMT -6
How long after Johnson Grass and other Sorghum crops has froze is it safe to put cattle on it?
I was thinking a couple of weeks to make sure it was completely dead and not sending new suckers up.
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Post by okie on Nov 7, 2019 16:34:31 GMT -6
I don't have a direct answer for you but I do know an intensive rotational grazer here that plants Johnson grass on purpose that says in thirty five years of turning cattle in on it he's never had a problem. He doesn't fertilize at all so that's a variable that you'd want to take into consideration as that would certainly affect re-growth.
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Post by texasbred on Nov 7, 2019 18:56:25 GMT -6
Allen I don't have any Johnson Grass but I did find this:
University of Georgia Extension offers the following suggestions for farmers to help their cattle avoid prussic acid poisoning:
Remove cattle from fields containing johnsongrass until the first hard frost and when the grass is dry. The toxin usually dissipates within 48 hours.
Do not allow cattle to graze for two weeks after a non-killing frost.
Do not allow cattle to graze at night when frost is likely.
Allow hay to cure properly to remove the danger of prussic acid poisoning from hay containing johnsongrass.
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Post by greybeard on Nov 7, 2019 19:56:04 GMT -6
Allen I don't have any Johnson Grass but I did find this: University of Georgia Extension offers the following suggestions for farmers to help their cattle avoid prussic acid poisoning: Remove cattle from fields containing johnsongrass until the first hard frost and when the grass is dry. The toxin usually dissipates within 48 hours.
Do not allow cattle to graze for two weeks after a non-killing frost. Do not allow cattle to graze at night when frost is likely. Allow hay to cure properly to remove the danger of prussic acid poisoning from hay containing johnsongrass. Are they saying the toxin is gone after 48 hrs but give it 2 weeks just to be sure...or are they speaking of 2 different events..a killing frost vs a non-killing frost? Isn't it the re-growth that causes the problems? |
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Post by tcranch on Nov 8, 2019 7:26:19 GMT -6
Johnson grass terrifies me and we have quite a bit. Cows love it but I shut off the pastures with it before the first frost. Probably too extreme but after 10 years I'm still not sure when it's completely safe.
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Post by fence on Nov 8, 2019 11:32:33 GMT -6
I don't worry to much over a killing freeze, a light frost is the dangerous situation. If you can pull them until the grass dries usually 3-7 days, just like hay if you will. We just had similar situation. One place I couldn't get them off Johnson grass without moving to a different property. We got a real good freeze two nights straight. I didn't lose any sleep.
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Post by Allenw on Nov 18, 2019 10:46:35 GMT -6
I have a stray cow in that one feed patch since earlier this summer, I seen she was still there and doing fine.
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Post by chuckie on Nov 30, 2019 8:59:26 GMT -6
When I did rotational grazing, I realized that I still had Johnson grass in the lower part of my pasture. After grazing it for so long, I thought that the roots had depleted their food source. Wrong!! Much of my pasture is clover, and that by far is the forage that they eat first. But also, the newly sprouted Johnson grass is another favorite. There is a touch of fescue, Crab grass and Bermuda. The cows seem to eat the Clover first as well as the Johnson grass, then the Crab, fescue and Bermuda in that order. Often the Bermuda gets taller, as they like it the least. With the amount of Johnson grass that I have, I have never had any trouble from it. I have been grazing this particular pasture for 11 years.
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