Rye grass....

[matt_aggie04]

I am going to try and plant rye grass in attempt to not have to put out hay this winter for about 10-12 head of cows.  Does anyone want to take a stab on how many acres they would plant to support them with coastal pasture as well and rotating them in and out of it?  These are corriente mommas not some 1200lb momma cow too.  Also how many pounds per acre of seed/fert is a good rule of thumb?  I know this could be found by googling but I would like some real world numbers here and maybe someone else could benefit from the info as well.
Thanks,
Matt

[cward]

I would plant about 20 acres that would be plenty for thase cows mabe to much but plenty if you are going to rotate!!It would be great if you were able to put them inn the rye early morning and take them out at late evening! 20 to 30 pounds an acre! There are different kinds of Rye grass also need to find out which one work best in your area!! Fertilize is the key word for rye grass!!And yes it will help you save on hay!

[matt_aggie04]

I have about three pasture to rotate with totalling about 80 acres of good grass.  Do you think I will be able to get away without having to set any hay aside for them if I do this?  My rotations will come in about 4-5 day incriments.

[cward]

on those type of cows yes!!  Do they have calves on them!! I would not plant one of the pasture I would only plant 2 if that was you plan!! Leave the one plain!!Reason for it when you winter changes to spring the rye will knock the spring grass back the just die!!Leave the one pasture so that the spring grass will come up in it and hold the cows until the summer grass can push through the dead rye!!

[matt_aggie04]

I am prolly going to only plant the patch in one of the three pastures.  It is area that is already just dirt from being an oats patch the past 5 years or so.  In the spring it will all be put into coastal so this is just an attempt to do someting with the bare dirt and not have to keep back any hay.

[cward]

Yes it should hold them!! The rye will not get real good until around december!! It would not hurt to mix alitte winter wheat with the rye!! But with that few of cows on the place then you should be ok with out any hay!! But remeber Corrite and long horn cows to me seem to be the worse about pushing fence's when hungery!! The costal fields should hold good until november!!Then they will break hard!! But there should be enough to hold until december!! Now this is all in my area!!

[kevin]

Id put 25 lbs of seed per acre. 
150-200 lbs of fertilzer per acre.  If its sandy 20-10-10 or 24-11-11.
If its blackland use a 27-10-6.

 Marshall is a good rye its real cold tolerant, but it doesn't matter much down there.
Gulf Rye is probably gonna be your cheaper route.

[matt_aggie04]

I can get Gulf Rye for $18.50/50lbs so I can plant 15 acres for about $140 but the fert is going to be another story!  Getting a price on that now.....looks like about 3000# will get me taken care of.

[kevin]

A 24-11-11 here is $378 a ton.

[martin c.]

 Matt, Another thing to consider is to not clip the pastures you don't plant to late. Let the native grass in those pastures get a little height to it. The first good freeze it will die, then you can put out some molasses tubs, molasses blocks, are liquid feed. That will encourage the cattle to eat the dead grass just like hay, which would mean not putting out hay all the time. I used to be a dealer for Pro-Lix liquid feed. The people I sold to had good results, and I've used it before myself.

[matt_aggie04]

Now here is the real kicker, after you go spend $750 dollars on planting rye grass are farther along than just buying 15-20 rolls of hay hahaha.  How would that compare time wise.  How long would 15 rolls last compared to the rye grass.  I know I am prolly getting annoying at this point but this is about the only way I know to find out.

[jdt]

i shouldnt even post because everything is different here than there , but 750 would go a loong way on hay . if it were here i would excpect 10 cows to make it on 8 acres each with little or no help .  especially them brushpoppers 

[aladatrot]

How much hay for 5 to 7 of those same corriente cows on a lot? How many bags of cubes or sweet feed would you count on per week for those cows?

Cheers
M