Of course you are all ignoring the fact that some land cannot be
plowed at all cost effectively.
I'd like to see what people who do not have an option for any annual
crops or plowed land of any sort are doing to handle the increasing
cost of winter hay.
That's where this started. Tall fescue is a definite choice for
allowing later grazing as it stands up better in winter. But you have
to teach the animals to eat it. Our own experience is that once
taught the adults teach the young and we now get use out of a
formerly wasted forage.
What other weeds/junk forages etc. are options for gazing in high
snow areas and hard winters that are permanent, i.e. do not require
plowing and re-seeding except once every 15-20 years or so?
This past winter we had weeks that never got above freezing with snow
of 3 ft or more on the ground and fairly high winds. Nothing can
easily graze through that so stored forages are a necessity. But more
moderate winters could allow us to graze much longer in the fall. We
probably can't start much sooner than we already do in spring, our
mud and pasture pugging, even with small sheep, is a potential
problem.
--
Eugenie (Oogie) McGuire - oogiem@desertweyr.com
Desert Weyr - CMK Arabian Horses, Black Welsh Mountain Sheep and Pilgrim Geese
http://www.desertweyr.com/
Paonia, CO USA
