-Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 13, 2002 184 Flexible Management (Continued from Page 1) for the Martins was that heif ers mature rapidly on the rye grass, freshening under 19 months of age and delivering good-sized calves. In fact, heifers should have limited access to the ryegrass they are in danger of get ting fat from it, Martin said. With the goal of reducing calf size for the earlier calv ings, Martin had used a Jersey bull on several heifers that calved this spring, and found the calves still pushing 90-pound birth weights. The heifers gave birth, however, without significant trouble and have joined the milking herd with gusto. This spring, the Martins grazed the herd into June, and also harvested three cuttings of ryegrass to fill the trench for winter feed. Intervals be tween cuttings are 18-20 days. During the spring growth flush, the herd can only keep up with grazing a portion of the 45 acres of ryegrass. In June, the Martins lightly till the ryegrass ground in preparation for com, which is planted densely at 45,000 plants to the acre. “It is my summertime grass,” Martin said of the Holstein/Jersey crossbred calves will go on pas ture at three months of age on the Martin farm. Myron Martin checks first-calf heifers that freshened this spring at less than 19 months of age after grazing annual ryegrass. com. He exploits the fact that com grows best during the drier months of summer when other types of grass decline. This is a way of maximizing the use of the land. The dense com stand reduces ear size, but Martin said it is primarily the forage he wants. He also noted, in spite of smaller ear sizes, the com produces more ears. “(The com) ends up with a whole lot more leaves,” he said. “The ear size is down, but you get twice as many ears.” While the com grows dur ing the hot summer months, the Martins tend to keep the cows in the freestall bam, switching back to a feeding program that consists mostly of TMR, rather than turning the cows out in the heat to pick through pastures that are less than lush. “We don’t like to make cows eat grass,” Martin said. “We like to see them want to eat it.” After chopping the com, the fields are seeded back into ryegrass in September. The herd can then graze intensive ly through the late fall. After last year’s droughty summer, a mid-November rain grew the ryegrass to 10-12 inches On a hot day on Myron Martin’s farm, heifers graze in the foreground as milk ing cows help themselves to TMR in the comfort of the freestall bam. tall, allowing the herd to graze past Christmas. At that point, young heifers were turned in and continued grazing into January, Martin said. After being dormant for several months, the ryegrass grows aggressively again in the spring, requiring attentive and flexible management to harvest the most feed value most efficiently. Martin said one mistake he made in the process of starting the grazing operation was in stalling permanent paddock fencing in the pastures. With much of grazing management depending on variable condi tions, the switch to easily moved temporary fencing has greatly increased the ability to give cows what they need on a day-to-day basis, he said. Other forages grown on the farm include Alice clover, per ennial ryegrass, orchardgrass, and alfalfa. These are also used for either grazing or chopping, depending on the time of year and conditions. The TMR mix includes Marshall ryegrass and/or al falfa, com silage, pressed brewer’s grain, fine ground com, cotton seed, and miner als. During non-grazing sea son, the mix also includes soy bean meal. Combining grazing with traditional TMR feeding is a balancing act that requires flexibility and an open mind, according to Martin. He attri- iim «i inu m m m 111 m>:i>< i n i; li 111 mim i)