Question about Oregon patures vs Texas pastures

[tmfinley]

I am visiting Bandon, Oregon.  It is on the coast.  I have noticed they water their cow pastures.  I have never noticed anyone watering pastures in Texas and we have a much hotter environment with less rain.  Anyone have any insight?

Tiffany

[ellie]

Not sure it that's the case now, but even Oregon coast can have dry weather.  Bandon...big cheese area, Holsteins, no doubt.  Better grass, better milk and lots of rivers around there so irrigation might be a lot easier than in TX.

[tmfinley]

That is a good point Ellie.  I'm not sure where the water was coming from.  It very likely was coming from the river or a creek just a little ways off. 

[Jo~*]

Hum, I live less than an hour from Bandon down 101. The large Dairy that my daughter leases her cows from for 4H irragates their pastures with water from the Smith River. Never gave it any thought. I just know the grass is always green and plentiful and they are an organic dairy.
JoAnn

[Laverne]

I know where I'm at the soil has been structured for absorbing a lot of rain so when dry weather hits it drys out fast and gets HARD. Could Bandon have sandier soil being near the coast making for even less moisture retention? Maybe they want the pasture to be more productive because of animal load. I know that my little acre area when I had the 1200 lb horse and a 350 lb mini horse could support them 100%, spring, summer and part of fall, with grass if it was irrigated which is what I did. In spring I had to mow it also, no way could they keep up. Running the well pump to irrigate cost around 30.00 a month.

[Feral Nature]

There is one nut out on my county road that puts a sprinkler out in his pasture.  People look as they drive by and call him a crazy water waster. 

[tmfinley]

That is amazing Diane! 

[Feral Nature]

Tiffany, our well only holds a small amount of water and we run it dry almost every day just filling the goats' water containers.  We have to be so careful planning out when we water the animals, doing dishes, doing laundry and taking our showers.  We cannot freely use water.  We are worried again because our 4 ponds are dry and we have horses and donkeys to water.  Where will it come from?  So we are selling some goats and all but one or two donkeys.  We just don't have water....and then to see sprinklers!!!  If the guy has a well at a different level than ours, well, he is wasting someone else's water, if he has a well at our level, he is wasting OUR water!

[Sharpgoat]

Year's ago we had a cow dairy on 969 near Weberville they watered there pastures from the Colorado river.
Fran

[Vicki McGaugh Tx Nubians]

Is there a site that can help someone learn how to improve their pastures?  I do not want to cut hay on mine, just let the girls graze, mow it to put out rye....so when do I imporve or seed the actual pasture if the rye is on it until early summer?  Are the pastures that are hayed greener because they are fertilized or greener because they are mowed so many times in the year?  All I know is my grass pastures, which I never wanted because I want the girls walking out to the woods to really eat, are getting less and less grass and more and more weed in them yearly.  Of course the feed store guys who lime pastures and fertilize them say that is the problem...but they want my money   So....anyone know the truth?  Vicki

[ellie]

Vicki, just googled improving pastures...you'll find lots of help there!

[buckrun]

Vicki - if you want to email Don some photos of the things that are taking over he can id them for you and tell you if they are annuals or perennials which will make a difference in how you try to get rid of them.  When you seed you need to talk to an extension agent but research blends of grasses so that when one fails or does poorly in a season there will be others to take up the slack.  One accepted method of reducing inedible weeds is to mow frequently until the grasses are ready to seed and then stop so they can reproduce but the weeds cannot because grasses flower from the center and can always put up a flower stalk whereas most weedy herbs have to grow branches and flower at the tips which takes longer.  Adding white clover to your grass will fix nitrogen in the soil for the grasses to use and the goats will only nibble on it.  Can you find someone local to you that has good looking mixed grass pastures and ask their list of grasses?

[Vicki McGaugh Tx Nubians]

You would think so Lee wouldn't you   So many of the old men I knew from when we first got started are dead, or they don't really take care of their places like I thought and pay the feed stores to come out and fertilize and lime and overseed.  I don't really have enough pasture for all that, so was hoping to find some info on doing it myself.  I mean I seed my rye sitting on the upside hood of a truck that my husband drags me and the grandboys or kids who ever is tricked into help, as the throw or wheel seeds out with a hand spreader....very high tech   Vicki

[buckrun]

We use one of those little push seeders- and we have a chest pack too-it's a bag with a crank spreader under the bag..  They are so great for places it is not level and hard to push the one with the tub and wheels.  We have mixes of open and wooded so the chest seeder actually is more practical- not that expensive but you do have to go back to refill a lot unless you can get a kid to push a wheelbarrow around with seed for you.
We ran out of kids long ago.
http://www.gemplers.com/product/G42700/Earthway-Hand-Crank-Seeder-Spreader
Ours is many years old and no troubles.  The push one has needed repair because the fertilizer is so caustic but we only put seed in the chest pack.

[adillenal]

If you drive by my house when my septic system sprinklers are running, you would think I water my pasture too.  We have an aerobic system which does not have field lines.  It irrigates and right now you can tell exactly where it sprinkles.  Grass is drying up around here except for my irrigation circles.
And I water my does lot when the grass starts to die so they can still have some green grass for awhile.  I believe in the water cycle and I am not on a well.
DH planted rye grass and winter wheat for my girls last year and he used one of those crank seed spreader things.  Worked well for a small area and the girls loved the rye and wheat.

[Vicki McGaugh Tx Nubians]

LaNell what is the wheat called?  Did he just mix it with the rye?  Vicki

[Rose]

One of our LARGE cattle operation neighbors in Texas had huge water cannons, and he watered his pastures and used rotational grazing.  There is adequate ground water in that part of Texas.  (Coastal Plain)

[buckrun]

Yes but have you priced a well recently? 
WHEW.....rich man's stuff.  Or debtors stuff.

[Vicki McGaugh Tx Nubians]

I hauled water for a year in the back of my pickup, 50 gallon plastic drums filled up are the local family store, syponed it into the holding tanks of the travel trailer we lived in while we built the house.  We had enough saved for our septic and well, when my Dad visited and put both in for us!  It was the best gift...OK my first buck from Easy Stream was my best gift you could want...it was like Christmas seeing water come out of the well, and real lights when we combined out saved money and put in the electrical!  Vicki

[adillenal]

LaNell what is the wheat called?  Did he just mix it with tHE RYE?]

DH bought the winter wheat seed here locally and mixed it with the rye so it all came up together. Since we had so much rain this spring, the mix  stayed green for longer than we expected.  I can't remember if he bought the seed in Giddings or Bryan.  I will ask him .