Between perennial pasture, interseeded corn and small grains, Mark and Dawn Madison of Adrian, Minnesota, make sure they have enough grazing options for their cattle. The Madisons are currently running 75 cows on a 25 acre oat field they’ve divided into three paddocks. Their oats were underseeded with red clover but due to pressure from grasshoppers, they drilled a diverse mix after oat harvest. “We wait until the grasses are roughly 12-inches and the brassicas are 6-inches tall before we start grazing,“ Dawn says. This year it was roughly six weeks between cover crop seeding and grazing.
Timing is everything: Mark and Dawn keep careful watch on their grazing herds and anticipate only leaving the cattle in each paddock for one or two days. “We’d like to get a second round of grazing yet this year so we want to leave at least half the biomass in the field,” they note. Grazing their summer cover crops, even if for a short period, allows their perennial pastures a rest, which they are especially grateful for during this dry season.
Mix specifics: The Madisons like to have at least six species included in all their cover crop mixes. “Medium red clover is one of my favorites because it’s proven itself to be consistent,” Dawn says. Other standbys are RTR (radish, turnips, rapeseed), flax and rye.
“Grazing cover crops is a little bit science, a little bit visual cues and a lot of guesswork,” Mark adds. “When in doubt, listen to your cows!”
