Converting expiring CRP to pasture/hay?

Just curious if any of you have done this in the past, and if you had any tips, or resources that you could point me to?

My CRP contract is done Sept. 30th 2019. Some of my ground I will rent out to be farmed, but I would also like to keep some grassland back for pasture/hay so that I can expand my small cow herd.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Corey

Your local soil conservation should help.

Bobcat77, check your PM's

Ya, i'm sure they will. I just have always liked to get opinions from this forum if possible. More of a real life boots on the ground answer.

I'll be watching for the PM Chris.

Corey

Consider CSP through NRCS - used to be a nice incentive to keep CRP ground as pasture and not break it out.

Not sure why it's taking so long for a PM to go through. I'll try sending again now

OK, try now

I see its there Chris, ill go look at it thank you!

I was in a bit of a hurry before, what I was eluding to is that there are sometimes programs in place to help you get started and such. They also, at least here, will rent you a no-till drill for seeding. And they can also help with choosing the right mixes for your area.

Oh that is fine M. Magis, I appreciate your help. I plan on going to talk to the lady at some point, i've just been trying to do some research beforehand. I am strictly a hobby farmer my town job pays the bills, but I would like to manage my farm so that hopefully the calves I sell will make the farm payment and insurance payment.Right now I have 5 Cows with calves at their side, and 2 heifers that hopefully will have calves next spring with the 5 cows.

I was mainly looking for peoples thoughts on improving the CRP i'm keeping for pasture and hay ground. Right now its a good stand of Big Blue stem, Little Blue stem, and some various other grasses that I haven't identified the names of yet. I have read some articles about frost seeding red clover into existing stands of grass. But I haven't really found much else.

My thoughts get kind of discombobulated between my brain and my fingers when I'm typing and sometimes I struggle to type what i'm thinking. So bear with me.

Thanks!!

next spring why wouldn't you just burn and fertilize it?

Oct. 1 open the gate and let the cows in, supplement with some protein.

What kind of grass is it?

This fall when it comes out I will probably have most of it baled for hay, we are coming off 2 bad hay years because of drought, and hay is still pretty short around here. What I don't have baled I plan on letting the cows into for fall pasture, suplimented with protein tubs.

The 40 acres south of my house is mostly brome, with some blue stem mixed in. the two patches to the north are predominately Big Blue stem, and Little Blue stem.

Danny, I was originally looking for ways to improve the forage/hay value of the grass. CRP becomes pretty one dimensional after the first few years, the Blue Stem crowds out most other plants. I have always heard/read that having a diverse mix of plants in the pasture makes it much better for hay/grazing.

I would let the bluestem take over...anything else I can think to broadcast needs fertilizer at some point. Might think about investing in fence to section it off for patch grazing? Just a thought

Fertilizer yes but really probably needs lime

I agree with Snowpa on the lime. It's good stuff and most people don't use enough on a regular basis. Bobcat77 , what is the lay of the land? Is it steep or more level?

Spread some manure if you can find it close by.

What I am going to keep for hay/pasture north of my house is good bottom ground, flat. The patch I am going to keep west of the house is terraced but not too steep.

I plan on taking soil samples, and seeing what I need to add as far as lime etc...

Do any of you have any experience frost seeding red clover into pastures/hay ground?

friend of mine puts clover seed in when he supplement feeds. has clumps of clover all over his pastures.

What is your CRP comprised of? If you have a good stand of warm season grasses - like big blue, little blue, indian, switch etc I would definitely keep it as is. You already mentioned you have a predominately brome field - cool season. For cattle nutrition and management - you have what most folks really desire - good forage capability for year long grazing to be supplemented with winter hay or stockpiled forage. Frost seeding works and I use it almost every other year down here in all our fescue ground. It will help all grasses by adding in legumes and add protein to grass feed. That said - I would balance out what you have - utilize cool season introduced legumes like red clover, alfalfa on your brome fields and utilize more native warm season legume such as partridge pea, purple prairie clover and other native forbs in your warm season fields. Around here - we have the summer slump and lose weight on cattle in most fescue pastures. That is where you need the warm season grass as they are growing good and best in forage value. Rotate your cows off the brome and put on warm season around mid-late June when brome quality goes down. You will get several months on the warm season and then can go back to the cool season in September or later. Both hay varieties of warm and brome make excellent hay as well when cut at proper timing. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask. I enjoyed designing grazing systems in North Dakota and Iowa and am currently working on some down in Missouri. I only recently was blessed to have some of my own land to manage but loved to see when landowners started more intentionally managing their land to meet goals. It sounds like you have a good potential!

Ttt.

As stated above what species are present at this time. If you have a good sod and good ground cover with good forage species I would not dig that up. Another thought are you going to hay it or graze it?

Different species will respond differently to a couple hay cuttings versus rotational grazing, but most likely those present will respond and grow well. If you hay it then fertilizing will be needed to maintain yields.
If you decide to change the mixture there are options without tearing things up. No till drilling deciduous or legume pasture mixes many times do better going into a sod than trying to the no till with grass based mixtures.

If your contract is over in September one thing you could do is cut the fields and round bale and sell for mulch or use for bedding etc. That will get the fields warming and growing faster next spring.

Bryce