Going ‘whole hog’ on pasture management

Managing grass takes intention, says Jason DeBruin, who operates Black Oak Angus near Leighton, Iowa.

“It’s in the details. It’s in the timing,” DeBruin says, “and there has to be profit on the back end, in the beef cow, to continue investing in that grass.”

Black Oak Angus is a family farm in south-central Iowa with a commercial Angus cross cow-calf herd, corn and soybeans, and a hog finishing business. The farm got its start in the 1970s when Jason’s father, Bruce, became friends with Dr. Stewart Kanis, a medical doctor in Pella, Iowa. Kanis purchased land locally and asked Bruce to manage it after he graduated from college.

“That’s when they put together this pasture that’s really our home pasture,” Jason says. “Because of the close connection they had, Dr. Kanis asked my dad to manage the farm. My dad ended up succeeding his friend and taking ownership. They had a good transition plan, so that’s how it got started.”

Jason joined his father on the farm after earning an agronomy degree from Iowa State University, where both men are alumni. After several years of farming part time while working as an agronomist at Key Cooperative, Jason now manages Black Oak Angus full time.

“We don’t work on Sundays, but on some Sunday mornings before church, we check the cattle and pastures,” Jason says. “While we’re driving along, we see different things. Dad’s looking at a calf or cow, and I’m looking for weeds and looking at the grass. I manage the forages, and he checks the animals.”

Using cattle to manage the grass

“Pastures require a different kind of management than row crops, because you have to use the cattle to manage the grass,” Jason says. “That’s key. Even different paddocks have different management practices.”

At Black Oak Angus, the DeBruins have introduced legumes, including alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil and clover, for grazing on certain paddocks.

In other pastures, Jason applies UltiGraz^℠ Pasture Weed & Feed,  a combination of urea treated with DuraCor^® herbicide, in late March or early April.

“For the paddocks that have just a stand of grass, and most of mine are that way, it’s great,” Jason says, “We can spread UltiGraz over a large area and crawl around hillsides quite a bit easier than using liquid spray with a boom.”

It takes strong teamwork to manage approximately 440 acres of grass in one connected parcel. That’s unique in this part of Iowa, Jason says, to have all the land connected. The land is divided into 13 paddocks of about 34 acres each and requires ongoing maintenance and fence upkeep.

“We’ve taken decades to fence it,” Jason explains. “Ten of those paddocks have a rural water supply, and it’s taken real effort to install those over the years. That water supply is key. We’re right along the Skunk River and we have four creeks, but they go dry quickly in the summer. And to utilize the grass, we have to have water.”

Rotational grazing in the paddocks also is a lot of work, Jason says, but they dive in headfirst to set up the pastures to produce as much grass as possible.

“Farmers have to use more observational data than numerical data sometimes,” Jason shares. “You have to trust what’s obvious and make inferences on what is right. There are times when something is visually appealing but not beneficial. I believe in this case, though, how can having more grass not be good?”

More grass is, in fact, good for grazing cattle. For every pound of weeds controlled on pastureland, producers can get 1 to 1.5 pounds or more of usable forage back. Including a herbicide with fertilizer helps ensure the fertilizer goes to growing grass, not weeds.

“Too often — cattlemen, ranchers, folks who are trying to raise a little bit of grass for grazing — we have an idea and we’re hesitant to implement it fully,” he says. “We want to do a partial rate or we want to do half of our acres. And, in some cases, it’s OK to test the waters. But in the case of UltiGraz, we went whole hog on it where we don’t have legumes.”

Combining fertilizer and weed control

To encourage grass growth, Jason works with his local retailer, Kevin Franje at Key Cooperative, to spread dry fertilizer and herbicide together in one pass with UltiGraz Pasture Weed & Feed. Certified retailers and custom applicators offering UltiGraz undergo extensive training to deliver consistent results with the treated fertilizer. Producers with their own equipment can apply the product themselves, as long as the equipment is exclusively used for pastures. In Jason’s case, Franje keeps the fertilizer cart full so he can spread it himself.

“Treating urea with DuraCor herbicide via UltiGraz manages a broad range of species in the way it works as a residual,” Jason says. “DuraCor about does it all. If I’m spot-spraying, I like to mix DuraCor with Remedy Ultra. What I can tell with the triclopyr in Remedy Ultra is that it’s rapidly translocated to the root of woody plants — it says it right on the label. That’s what takes care of the mulberry trees in the fencerow.”

Remedy^® Ultra herbicide simplifies brush control with flexible treatment methods and tank-mix combinations to help stop encroaching brush. Along with mulberry and honeylocust trees in the timber pastures, weeds such as chicory, common ragweed, Canada thistle and multiflora rose pose the greatest threat to grass production on other areas of the farm. DuraCor^® herbicide provides extended control of 140-plus weeds, including residual control of those that germinate later.

“To check pastures and not see weeds is invaluable,” Jason says. “Honestly, I’m more excited about the weed control that DuraCor provides than even the fertilizer piece.”

More pounds of beef per acre

Jason noted that there are numerous benefits of fertilizer than just giving cattle more grass to eat. It also boosts forage cover through the heat of summer, supports a stronger root system for challenging weather conditions like drought and can provide quicker regrowth on paddocks that have been grazed.

UltiGraz brings together fertilizer and weed control for increased forage production and the potential to raise more pounds of beef per acre. What it comes down to, Jason says, is more weight gain on the cows and calves.

“Without weeds, the cattle are eating more-desirable grass,” he adds. “They’re going to wean more pounds per acre. We can stock more cattle, and they come off the pastures heavier.”

Check out RangeAndPasture.com/UltiGraz for more information about UltiGraz Pasture Weed & Feed and the convenience it offers.

Under normal field conditions, DuraCor^® is nonvolatile. DuraCor has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with DuraCor and to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. DuraCor is not registered for sale or use in all states. Consult the label for full details. UltiGraz^℠ with fertilizer is available for use with specific herbicides in the states of AL, AR, CO, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, KS, KY, LA, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NV, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV and WY. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. State restrictions on the sale and use of Remedy^® and Remedy Ultra apply. Consult the label before purchase or use for full details. Always read and follow label directions.