Can You Plant a Cover Crop OVER the Grass? Check Out Our Experiment! (Winter Pasture for Cows!)
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- As the summer grasses die down, we need green grass, legumes and brassicas for our Dexter dairy cows to eat - so we've done an experiment. The results so far are very encouraging!
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Today I'll take you through the pasture to share some experiments with growing winter grass. We planted ecotill radish, Austrian winter peas, winter rye, grain rye, oats and three types of clover, starting in one pasture. Then, when we started to see results there, we did the same in the larger pasture with some changes in the planting/dragging/mowing order. As a bonus, I take you on a tour through the crazy cow highway we cut through the woods to connect two pastures. You could plant a no-till cover crop in the garden this way, by oversowing right on top of your grass, just by hand-seeding. The results are intriguing. Also, we look at how we fed seeds to cows and let them do some sowing for us, as the seeds pass through into manure and are put right on the pasture where they're thriving. These ideas are inspired by Greg Judy, Gabe Brown and other pasture management experts. I've also learned from people planting deer plots, though that usually is done with discing. What if you couple plant a deer plot without even tilling the soil? As we learn to grow great pasture and take care of dairy cows, we'll take you along with us. Thanks for watching.
![Sandy Backyard to Productive Eden in JUST 9 MONTHS [David The Good June Garden Tour 2021!]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wHq1Uag1Jk0/mqdefault.jpg)
Howdy, folks. There is a persistent bot that shows up, imitating CZcamsrs. It will take my image and then leave weird comments like "You won!" and "connect with me on Telegram," etc. Watch out, and report them as you see them. I'm not even on Telegram, so don't fall for it. Looks like CZcams is catching them faster, but it's been a persistent problem.
I've seen this on multiple other channels, too, and report them when I spot them.
Just reported one
Yes. I got a response from “you” saying to text the number above for some life-changing investment information.... I hope CZcams fixes it for you soon! 🙁
@@takeitslowhomestead5218
The one I got said to text for advise 😑
Spontaneous intelligence combustion. BOOM!
Former dairy farmer here, your overseeding should work excellently in your climate. A couple of tips and caveats; first, next year seed it early or mid-fall even in a drought--the sown seed will wait for rain, second, add in some hairy vetch[ and inoculate it with vetch inoculant], third, be sure to wait until the winter forage is 5-10 inches tall before you begin grazing it, even if you have to feed hay to do it--it will save you money and hay in the long run, fourth, the daikon and turnips are great forage but WILL give the milk an off-flavor. To overcome the off-flavor in the milk the easiest thing is to remove them from the pasture an hour or two before milking or milk so early that you are waking the cows up before they graze. If you discover off-flavor already in the milk, there are a couple of things you can do to remove it. The first is to let the milk sit at room temp in an open container[the milk bucket is perfect] occasional stirring may or may not help--this allows the milk to "off-gas" the turnip or radish flavor just as it does in the cow's stomach. Cooling the milk, covering it or worse sealing it in jars or other containers will trap the off-flavors in the milk. Another thing to try is to add drops of real vanilla extract, it doesn't take much, to the milk until it tastes right or slightly vanilla-y. These techniques also work on most other off-flavors from things like wild onions and garlic. Leaving the milk out at room temp does reduce its shelf life, so use it up first. Cereal rye sometimes gives grass a "grassy" flavor but a thirty minute wait before milking will remove it. Good luck.
Waiting before milking can reduce off flavors in cow's milk. That's so practically informative, thank you.
@@chancevicino3270 Happy to help. Good luck.
thank you!1
You should consider breaking your pastures up into smaller parcels for rotational grazing. That way you can get the benefit of concentrated grazing and manure load for land regeneration, and give grass a chance to regrow from each browsing.
$$$$
It also allows you to plant trees in the ungrazed portions to keep them safer until they're big enough to withstand the cows
My mother and step-father have twenty acres in eastern Oregon. One of the first things he did was clear a walking path around the perimeter (it's all wooded, though not quite as brushy as your place). It's a nice way to start the mornings, hiking (or meandering) around the property, enjoying the fresh air, the morning sunshine, the birds singing.
My apocalypse brother and I did that and a bunch of other yardwork while traveling around the south/Midwest over the past two years for older friends we'd meet for room and board. We spent a month to three at each place. Met some beautiful people, made some beautiful things. The semi-sweet old ladies love their paths haha.
Yes, I'm overwhelmed at how genius you are😂 Your brilliance is amazing❤
I enjoy his “f it let’s try it’ mentality.
That's about how I do everything, Todd!
Yep, the "why not" and can do positive attitude are encouraging to watch. I always smile when watching your videos 😁
Heck, I even told Rach I wanted to marry her two months after we re-met each other.
Always appreciate your sense of humor and the way you make videos! You were a huge inspiration to us when we got started and still one of my favorite places on CZcams to watch and learn!
- Dale
Thank you.
This is hilarious! I went to my local feed stores and seen deer plot seeds and was like 😱. This could help if my animal feed is low. I bought a few different grasses and brassicas to sow. Thank you God ! Thank you David for this video🤗🤗🥰
LOL, really David, a cow patty chia pet!? That was my favorite part, especially with the "cha cha cha chia". Seriously, this was an interesting video.
😀🌱🐢
Cow paddy ch ia pet. David you are a genius! I see the new trending kids toy for holiday season. I also see a song somewhere in there...somewhere in the poo. Kinda yucky...but brown is the new green. 🌱🌱🌱
Hilarious... I can almost see a song, not quite!! But then, again, I have absolutely no musical talent, so I bow to your vision!!
Thanks for this David trying to do a food orchard in the high plains in Colorado we only get 14 in a year so the soil is getting better I've got the swales in and we have about 400% more growth than any of the property around us on that patch and that's in the places we didn't plant anything
That is awesome, James. You used your brain!
That’s awesome
Ooh, me too. We're in Ramah Hills; it's definitely high desert. We truck wood chips out from Springs. 😅
I took your suggestion on the idea of just tossing old beans. I found lentils will grow on top of just about anything. I got about two hundred pounds since that video. I live near a food bank and no one wants the lentils so they leave them in the free pile which i grab and stockpile. So i've got cover crop for acres and a food stockpile too. And don't forget plantain. Plantain is the best. And good for mosquito bites.
Man, that's a score - nice save.
I am one of the elite. Not proud of me but proud of my teacher --He kept my interest to the end. --Thank you, David --Ray Delbury Sussex County NJ IUSA
excellent comment!!
Loving where this channel is going
When my husband and I bought our first little starter home the yard was in terrible condition. It was on a pretty steep incline so all of the soil had begun to drift down the hill and the grass was very sparse. We threw ryegrass on it and after doing that several winters the summer grass flourished and filled in all the bare space.
Rancher buddy of mine uses alfalfa as his nitrogen fixer. His cows love it and the steaks are amazing.
Alfalfa is excellent for cows, though it doesn't grow well here.
@@davidthegood It can't ever be easy, can it
Just sheer original thoughts in their most pure form. You’re the modern day Plato, Socrates, Pythagoras perhaps…? I feel smarter just watching this video. Bravo!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😋🤣😂
lol
Makes me happy to see you coming into a property with so much potential! Excited to see what will be coming from another GOOD garden! Great looking soil.Thanks for bringing us along for this one!
I’m new to LA (lower Alabama) and I’m really glad I found your channel. I’m coming from zone 5 and starting a new homestead. I appreciate your work. It will be tremendously helpful as I navigate this new climate. Thanks for the killer content!
is he also from south alabama?
Welcome!
I am from Florida, gardened a lot in North Florida, very similar to Alabama. Now living in Lower Alabama.
I’m next door in MS and transplanted from Philly PA zone 7! 9 years ago and I am still learning lol
@moniquegebeline4350 I am from Maine, gardening in zone 4. I've been in FL and lower Alabama for 23 years, still learning! I was gardening in Maine for 25 + years! Lots of retraining my gardening brain. I am getting better every year. DTG has been huge help. Wish I had found him sooner.
Seeing the plant growth from the cow patties reminds me of something I read in Gary Nahban's book regarding the spread of mesquite trees up through the Sonoran desert. It seems that the giant sloths and mastodons that lived in America at the time would eat the pods and spread the seeds through their poop, which not only served as a fertilizer, but also protected the seeds from insect attacks. Wherever the pod eaters went, there the mesquite trees would flourish. So interesting to see that phenomenon in operation! Have a blessed day.
Bison hooves and poop were the reason for the fertile grass plains in the US snd they made a watershed of what would become the bread basket of US.
Prior to Spanish settlement South Texas was pretty much a grassland according to expeditions and mission diaries.
It was cattle, not giant sloths that brought mesquite up from Mexico. Lol.
Then cattle drives post Civil War spread mesquite even farther north. No mastodon needed.
@@willbass2869 but they were there
Excellent content, as always, David. It is so nice to see you and your sweet family getting settled at your new homestead.
I am blessed beyond belief to be here.
@@davidthegood Yes. It blesses us to see it too. Your grandchildren will watch these, in your lifetime, and after. Thank you for sharing them with us too, my brother.
Thanks David. This helps me make a decision on putting in a cover crop now in Texas 8B. My purpose is grocery row garden prep, not animals yet, but I think that I still have time. 😊
For the cow pastures, look into buckwheat, lentils, and fencing off areas to grow high-protein heirloom corn for the cattle (keep the stalks for them too). Then you'll need Metcalf Mill's corn crib designs (I thought I could save more corn by building shocks but I'll need better protection from the deer and friends, probably modify a couple of shipping totes). Greg Judy would want you to fence off that pond to better control cows from sauntering into the water.
Wish I could watch.
Our signal sucks rocks.
😆 I’ll catch the replay.
Great to see how nice your land is working out for you and Rachel.
Dang David, this was on key for me at this point. I am in a very rough, arid area, but grasses between 2-3 seasons - steak and milk is just about what I want to be overwhelmed by. Except, I cannot irrigate and have to rely on rains only.
The one I am happy to add so far is also rye, but perrenial rye.
Good episode thank you.
Those ducks on your cabbages are actually Canadian Geese. Which I believe were a protected species when I was a child in Wisconsin. So be careful there!!! One day that trio may become a collector's item... there is definitely power in numbers at resale value!! Unless they are plastic... just saying!!
Every golf course in Arizona says yeah, summer Bermuda and winter perennial rye. We've done this for decades. The other plants though, make this a truly interesting experiment. Although here, it has to be put down in September, as overnight temps below 50 usually suppress germination...
Cheers to the Elite!!! Lol... and thank you for pursuing CZcams and making the awesome content. My goal is as close to off grid as possible and you sir, are an Elite inspiration... keep it up brother!
Love y'all's property! A Garden of Eden. ❤️
You'll be amazed at how many different grasses, legumes and weeds cows eat. You'll have to section out fenced areas to move cows so they don't demolish everything. Think old ways of farming in Australia. Let sections totally grow and seed so a seed bank builds up.
We don't have cattle but do this on the lawn. Trying to get dandelion and clover growing. Hopefully you guys get rain to germinate all that seed.
Back in the mid 70’s we used to hunt mushrooms in cow patties. I didn’t like them but I think my friends made some kind of tea with grape cool aid. I heard that they put something in cow feed that prevented them growing.
I like your cow path. Reminds me of a video a guy made showing how to create hedge rows. If it was going to be permanent maybe an idea. I was a cattle rancher for a while. It became too much to maintain the miles of fencing, keep it all mowed, work the cows, and maintain a job that covered a 6 state area. Flying helped a lot but then I would come home and have to buzz the cows off the runway. Tricky business trying to land whilst dodging cows. Mostly just growing trees now. They mostly stay put and don’t require much attention. Just don’t mow and in a few years there is a forest that will at least pay the property taxes when thinned every 7 to 10 years.
Oh gee. Looks like I am rambling again.
Thank you David for all I have learned from you. My grocery rows are nothing like yours, but they are coming along. That making a living thing still gets in the way a lot. I should retire I guess but I figure I better keep getting while the getting is good. My customers keep piling it on so I just keep charging more and more.
Well there I go again.
Have a Blessed day.
When I had rabbits, I'd rake up grass and clover I mowed after it dried. I'd stuff as much as I could into plastic totes and store in the shed to feed during the winter.
Then I red about small scale silage and did that with the grass clippings and corn stalks.
At first my cows balked, as did my rabbits. Chickens took to it immediately.
After a while every time the cows saw the wheelbarrow with a tote bin or five gallon buckets, they would come running. I couldn't make enough for all the cows, especially it being only me doing it. But it was a good experiment. I could have certainly made the majority of rabbits feed and some chicken feed if I had to.
I also was intrigued with tree hay. I never did do a lot with it... making silage took up my time 😂
Just beautiful. I'm so happy for you all.
Those small blower/vacs, like the makita... you can attach a plastic bottle of the right dimensions to the air intake, poke multiple pin holes in the upper section of the bottle to let air pass through. Then you can fill the bottle with seeds and blow the seeds out. Ones with a variable speed trigger and settings can be good as full speed will broadcast the seeds pretty quickly. Use this contraption to fire things like sawdust, havent done it with seeds but it will work. When I get the chance I will take a photo of what I am talking about. Maybe a large blower vac would work as well, I mean 100lt of seeds is a lot!
Love your thinking im lucky here I've got at least 4 or 5 different varieties of grass on my pasture with clover dandelions chickweed and some others and my pasture stays green all year round and i get frost here as well.
That is amazing!! Awesome property thanks for sharing
David, that is such a GREAT PIECE OF LAND❤ I can imagine that euphoric energy you guys get just walking it! Congratulations on the find. You have a great opportunity for growth and family teaching ( and us❤) Elite, watching Elite
That property is most certainly an answer to prayer, many of them, and it shows!
I fed my chickens a lot of Moringa--hope to again soon! I wonder if you could with cows?
Hunted my best friend's uncle's prooerty in between Saladin's & Brian's last year....
He raises Angus calves on 1K hilly acres and calls himself a "Grass Farmer." Good people.
I know my goats eat the moringa.
Check out Colin seis' work in Australia. He's been doing exactly what you're doing with growing warm and cool season plants on the same pasture in alternate seasons. He has some great presentations on CZcams discussing his methods he calls "pasture-cropping". It's a very productive system and could help lots of people looking for similar results.
My thoughts exactly. ✅
Always enjoy your story and your company. God bless you and your family.
Thanks, Pam.
Thanks Mr. Good. I've watched a bunch of your videos and I think this one is the best one yet. Absolutely brilliant!
In fact, I watched it all the way through with my high IQ and all... lol.
You're the best - keep doing what you do.
Thanks for being here.
Hope to see you in Fort McCoy in October 2023.
Thank you. You too.
Love your videos! Always learn something.
I was actually walking in my garden this afternoon and was wondering is this would work. Thanks for the info.
oh my goodness, just what I never knew what I needed: cow-patty chia pet
Great idea David and very helpful and interesting .
You can feed some browse also, by cutting branches from forage trees during all your free time. Or use child labor.
Oh yes - I plan to do some pollarding.
Incredible to think that seeds could survive multiple stomachs and chewings.
I know! It surprised me how many were germinating.
It's a wasteful practice thinking you can get an even stand of clover or rye by feeding seed and waiting for germination from manure piles. Also financially a deadend. Clover seed & innoculant is crazy EXPENSIVE
Animals avoid manure piles for a LONG time even if lush growth. They know parasites are in manure.
Maybe a few months later they'll graze an old pile. They can smell the manure.
You're better off dragging/discing and then evenly sowing seed and rolling.
We have technology to improve our lives (riding mowers!!!). No need resorting to old practices if something better, faster, cheaper is available
Growing grass for milk and steak sounds like a good reason to me. Have you considered rotating your cropland with fallow land for cattle? That is the old way of doing things.
It's just over seeding for winter stock. People have been doing it for literally hundreds of years. I put out winter rye in the fall.
I remember many hours spent on my old tractor while dragging hunks of cyclone fencing with bricks wired to it. A make-do solution to breaking up manure and helping keep the seeds from being poached by birds. I love how ruminants let some seeds pass through, even facilitating some seeds to sprout more vigorously.
I do the same thing in some of my food plots due to access. I have had some really good results too. Awesome video.
love the chia pet pattie and the cow highway, what a brilliant mind you have.... ; ) thank you for saying all of this out loud!!!
Thanks💛 Vasco form Sardinia, Italy
That was awesome. The Omnivore's Dilemma has a cow farmer section. He says being a cow farmer is really about being a grass farmer 🤩
I knew I'd be an Elite at some point and today is the day! The walk to the other pasture was a riot - Had to watch that over again whilst NOT drinking
MILK with cookies, lol. The video-ing itself was excellent - no strange angles and not even a giggle or 2 - I'd'a failed at it. I'd suggest suggesting to NOT feed seed that is treated in any way to anyone's animals (some might not think to not), using measuring cups to dole out the seed into mixing buckets, closing off the mower outlet to keep all that is mowed/mixed by the mower from selectively (differing seed weights?) blowing some of it from one area into another (may cause more 'rowing' in the end result, but 'Hey') and I dunno but the slowest engine/mower rate and the tires probably do well to compress the seeds into the soil better...or at least closer.
NO expert am I and the video was excellent! 🎃🪴👍✌☘ PS1---I'm a huge Dutch White Clover Fan, lol (*_*) !
PS2---Use your genius to make the mower...a spreader, but in front of it!😃
Howdy David!
Howdy.
I’ll have to do this for my chickens, it’s my first winter as a suburban chicken rancher and while my grass doesn’t completely die it does struggle from the dry winters here in Cape Coral
@text9302 look everybody! DTG is big enough to have spam bots!
When you sow a mix of seeds, even if everything is evenly distributed, you will get uneven sprouting patterns. This is due to the differences in soil nutrition levels, it's moisture level, and slight variations in temperature.
Nice videography! Thanks for helping me learn to garden outside the box. Love the way you simplify and challenge the "right way" to grow. Looking forward to seeing your pretty pasture in a few weeks. ~ Lisa
P.S. I've got a cat named Trouble. He is aptly named. I imagine your calf is, too.
Pereinnal rye , is exspensiive but great for winter forage... I use oats for my goats, royal empress,kudzu for summer🎉
manure pile chia pet !!! I love it ! I love your humor, David....such a breath of fresh air in a sad world. Thank you😘
Why is it a sad world to you?
Another great video! Thanks for sharing!!
Glad to know I've reached elite status DTG. Thank you.
Chia Patties!? Brilliant!
I am overwhelmed by how great you are!
That's hilarious
Fun way to learn, watching & listening to you & Rachel; thanks for sharing! I’m in Alberta, Canada, so our climate is different but the concepts should work here. I’m an urban gardener, trying a food forest in my front yard…3 RD year of planting more perennials in. Last year I did a good little crop of potatoes in between fruit trees & perennials. Now trying to keep the deer out; they even trimmed my potato plants!
Good luck! The deer are really trouble.
Great video. I have been working on so many strategies to serve our many needs as well and your approaches have been so beneficial.
No cows here, but we do have goats. So they love clearing browse as well as grasses. Improving grass & pasture is always in my mind.
I have used rotational grazing & poultry to help diversity & seed out pasture lands. I don't get good return by feeding whole grains to our goats. They are susceptible to bloat that way too, so poultry do the dirty work here.
When you use this approach, infustructure is always a challenge, especially if you don't have square, flat, cleared lands (which I do not have... at all).
So many books to read, thanks for the plugs. And thanks again for another great video.
You and your family have a beautiful place. I know you guys are very proud of your homestead. I’m a pretty close neighbor in Gulf Shores. Hope to meet you sometime.
Thank you, Roger
I wanna cow pie chea pet!!!! It’s not fair!!!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I love it that’s some critical thinking, David has taken the “is.. is that corn??” To a whole other level
Great video showing your ingenuity David!!! (It has been said "Necessity is the mother invention)
I would love to buy some bamboo seeds from you David.
Thanks - bamboo very rarely makes seed. You might look for a local bamboo nursery. Generally they are propagated via roots and dividing young shoots.
@@davidthegood oh, I didn't know that. See, I learn something new every time i watch one of your videos.
I bought some bamboo seeds once.... from China (didn't know at the time where they were coming from), no wonder they didn't germinate. I've tried to find some locally, even online, none that I could find. BUT, to be honest, I was looking for seeds. Will try finding some roots or shoots... honestly I don't even know if it would grow here in Ohio, but am willing to try it in the hoophouse. Thanks for your reply. 🌱🌱🌱
Friend, if you want to really boost your pasture production. And i mean big boost. Put lime on your pasture every year if possible. Dont worry about ph. 500 pounds of lime per acre per year. The manure is very acidic and tyes up the fertilizer. Most use lime to break it out to the plants. Your pasture will explode with growth. Big time game changer. Also make smaller areas to graze.
Thank you. I added about a ton an acre this fall. I experimented with small-scale mob grazing on previous land but need to try it again. Hard to figure out the watering.
all right you got sweet DExters!!!
lupinus angustifolius has edible cow fodder, cool flowers, and seeds that can be eaten by people.
What if you put some dried cow pats through the wood chipper, then mixed seeds with the powdered manure, and put THAT in the blower?
Or just blow the manure over after in a second pass.
As you can see, your investigations have got me a bit excited. Sorry for the multiple comments haha.
Yes! Love the innovation and experiments.
I don't know who does the editing and picks the music but it is excellent. You can even see sadness in the cows eyes as the seed walks away.
Thank you
I keep hearing the cha cha chia commercial 🎵in my head
Going to be great for deer
Photosynthesis isn't driven by temperature it's driven by how much *DAYLIGHT* ."Cool season" grasses better able to use diffuse winter light.
Look up C3 versus C4 grasses
Thankyou for your awsome info im still pretty green on all this plants not so much but cattle yes. All I have is two neutid miniture goats. Lol
I always watch to the end. I love your cow trail! So, Rachel needs a proper milking barn that is more sanitary and cement than falling down spider city… and you need a seed spreader. And the cows would probably appreciate some hay. Let’s put this out in the universe and get it done ✔️ Time for all those end of the year tax deductions😉 😉 get it right back. The pool and pond water did not go unnoticed… I get my water from an artesian well at the fairgrounds. Makes awesome coffee! You remind me of my dad with the red clover, it was his favorite. My favorite is rye. 👍🏻
Yes - one piece at a time.
Homemade drag with a couple truck wheels and some chainlink fence.
My pawpaw used a tailgate from a Toyota lol
Good stuff, will try
Great video. This is alot about soil building. Amazed at the cow poo and rye seed.
I thought that was crazy! It's amazing.
I do this in East Texas, zone 8b/9a, not on a pasture scale but on my 1/2 acre lot, I don't like how muddy things get during winter, also when I had rabbits I ran them in tractors.
You're Family and Friends on here now xxx
You need a grain drill to sow winter cover crop. Only thing they are big. Like 10 - 14 feet wide. N you need a tractor bigger than a mower. May it be worth making friends with some nearby farmers who has the equipment even if you have tor pay $ or barter wiith a couple gallons of milk each week.
Good morning, in zone 8a. We also use icicle radish, it will get big. Good ferment. How about calling them Self tilling! Your home is lovely.
Only we "elites with a high IQ" can appreciate the inherent value and beauty of a rye chia patty pet.
Such a beautiful property. My neighbor put back keeps cows.
It's so nice to see you progressing with your farm it's looking great and your principles are sound.
Thank you, Tom.
I enjoy your comedy but you are correct grass is fascinating if you understand it's life cycle
I do something very similar for my chickens I call it the chicken salad bar
I tried something like this last fall with just cereal rye and a mower. I had very limited success.
A drag harrow would have helped, I'm sure.
I tried again with several types of cover crop seeds this last spring with also very limited success. I'm getting a stick welder for Christmas which I intend to use to build a short-tined broadfork and a wheel hoe and give it another shot.
I'm envious of your land. We've only got one acre, surrounded by my neighbor's property, with very few trees in sight.
Better late than never!
Ha ha...I am proud if myself. I love your wild thinking brain. Good stuff.
yo! much love Dave! keep up the science!
Cow patty chia pet! I love it 😆
Yayyyy.I am an "elite"... great idea!!love giant yellow bamboo!!