Stockpiling cool-season grasses keeps forage out of the baler and cows in the pasture. But if you are planning to graze into the winter, now is time to start building grass reserves.

The Midwest isn't New Zealand. We don't have much opportunity for year-round grazing. But with planning and the right management, grazing stockpiled forage can shave several weeks and several tons of hay off winter feeding.

The basic idea for stockpiling grass (specifically cool-season grass like fescue) is to graze a pasture in spring and early summer and then let it rest beginning in August. The standing forage that grows during the pasture's recovery period is grazed in the fall and winter.

That's how Clint Dill approaches his Wright County, Mo., pasture.

"I'm trying to get to where I spend less time on the tractor and let the cows do the work," said Dill.

Dill's ranch is mostly rolling hills with some timber and bottoms along Whetstone Creek. Aside from some bottomland alfalfa for sale to horse owners and dairy producers, the fields on this farm are dedicated to grazing and hay.

Dill is working toward a more management-intensive grazing scheme, which, he said, is ideal for stockpiling fescue/legume pasture.

"In places that we'll stockpile, I'll look at it and put on around 50 lbs. of nitrogen after we've pulled the cattle out--about the first of August."

To make those fields free for stockpile, Dill moves cattle to ground that he cut for hay earlier in the year.

Rob Kallenbach, extension forage specialist for the University of Missouri, said that Dill is on target with his approach.

"We recommend 40 to 80 lbs. of nitrogen depending on the soil type. Basically, the greater the water-holding capacity of the soil, the more nitrogen that can be economically applied," said Kallenbach. "Also, the pH should be 5.5 or higher.

"Ideally, we would fertilize with P and K to achieve the following levels: 30 lbs./acre soil test P and 200 lbs./acre soil test K."

While Dill plans for a first-of-August pullout for cattle on stockpile pastures, exact timing probably depends on the season. Kallenbach recommends that pastures have 3 to 4 inches of growth by mid-August. The grass will continue to grow until cold-weather dormancy, then be fed as stockpile.

Legumes still fit
Dill overseeds pasture with red clover about every other year. He said that by fall, when it is time to graze stockpile, the legumes have gone through their lifecycle. Winter grazing won't much affect their persistence in the next year.

This summer, Dill's pastures are rich with clover and other hard-seed legumes. Alan Harp, sales representative for MFA Agri Services in Mountain Grove, Mo., said that's typical this year.

"We've had such a run of dry years, about three in a row, that a lot of hard-seeded legumes have been sitting and waiting for rain. I've heard more than one producer say they've got a couple year's worth of clover in this year's pasture," said Harp.

With such heavy legume content, growers may wonder about how much nitrogen benefit they are getting for their stockpile from fixation.

Kallenbach says that legumes do contribute to stockpile, but current research isn't precise on how much.

"We have a study on that right now at the [University of Missouri] Forage Systems Research Center," said Kallenbach. "So far, I would say that a 70 percent tall fescue/30 percent clover stand would be equal to adding 40 lbs./acre of nitrogen."

But Kallenbach adds a caveat for stockpiling in pastures with heavy legume content.

"Most legumes do not stockpile as well as grasses, especially tall fescue. If legumes are a part of the stand, I would recommend adding 50 lbs. per acre of nitrogen and using these pastures earlier [in the stockpile grazing] than pastures that are almost all grass."

Fellow Wright County stockpiler Arthur Ray is also benefiting from a lush stand of delayed-germination legumes this year. He's been particularly impressed with a jumbo-leaf ladino clover he overseeded into a pasture he uses for stockpiling.

"They said it was drought tolerant, and it did do a good job last year," he said.

In fact, Ray's 50-acre, fescue/ladino pasture carried 100 cow/calf pairs for about 30 days last winter.

"I turned them in Jan. 15. The pasture had a really heavy stand of ladino on about 10 acres of it. I didn't offer any supplements but salt and mineral. The only way I got away with that was the heavy clover growth and

the good fiber and energy that is locked up in stockpile fescue."

Figure the cost for 30 days of hay in a short hay market and that makes for significant savings.

To build stockpile, Ray rotates through a series of pastures and hayfields. After an initial hay crop, hayfields are allowed to grow until it is time to let stockpile stands rest. At that time, Ray moves cattle onto the hayfields to clean up regrowth as well as fence rows and other places missed by the mower.

Ray likes to graze these hayfields close enough there isn't any "duff" left when they break summer dormancy in September.

"Here in the Ozarks, we also call that fire prevention," said Ray, pointing out that in droughty times, fence rows and tall, dry regrowth can be a fire hazard.

Portion sizes
Both Dill and Ray are gearing up for management-intensive grazing systems. But neither has them in place yet. So they simply turn cattle into stockpile pastures to graze until the entire pasture is finished. Kallenbach said that for maximum efficiency of stockpiled forage, producers should provide a herd with a 2 to 3 day supply of pasture.

"A 1,200-pound beef cow would eat about 30 lbs. of good quality stockpile each day. Assuming 70 percent efficiency, that means each cow would need to be given access to 43 lbs. of stockpiled grass each day," said Kallenbach.

Weather dependent
Ask most cattle producers in the southern Missouri area about stockpiling grass and they'll pause for a moment while they remember the last time it worked. Between dry growing seasons and an onslaught of armyworms, the region has been short on grass for a few years. So it makes sense that neither Dill nor Ray is complacent about hay. Dill's policy is to put up enough hay to get his herd through the winter, regardless of planned stockpile. Same for Ray. But this year's plentiful rains show that weather can work the opposite way. Aside from buying off-farm stocker cattle to use this year's fast-growing grass, Ray said the rains will be good for stockpiling, too.

"This looks like a good year to stockpile. There's going to be so much hay it will be cheap. And there's only so much you can use yourself."