Krusen Grass Farm Offers Fall Pasture Management Tips

By Sarah Watson, Livestock Editor
Thursday, October 25, 2007 11:22 AM CDT

After weeks of mild weather, over 20 producers braved gusty winds and rain for the last Southeast Wisconsin Grazing Network pasture walk of the season at Krusen Grass Farms last week in Elkhorn.

Altfrid and Sue Krusenbaum operate the grass-fed beef and organic dairy farm. They milk 130 cows, raise 50 replacements per year and 30 steers per year on their 340 acres. The beef are direct-marketed to consumers. For the first year steers are pastured at the Krusenbaum farm and finished at another farm during the second summer. Altfrid is also a grazing specialist through Michael Fields Agriculture Institute.

The farm consists of 220 acres of 47 grazable paddocks, 100 acres of hay and annual forage crops. The paddocks range in size from three to six acres with an average size of four acres.

Since the summer of 2000 the farm has faced a water deficit - 38 inches behind over the last six years.

"2005 hit the Southeast corner of the state pretty hard," Altfrid explained. There was 40 percent pasture winter kill and 80 percent winter kill in hay. The detrimental winter was followed by an extremely dry summer.

"This summer we started out very dry in the spring," he explained. In August the farm received 15 inches of rain.

"We saw a huge swing in forage production this year," Altfrid said. "Growth really slowed down in September."

So much so pasture supply may be undersized.

"We're probably a little short than we like to be at this time of the year," he said.

By the first of September each year - fall grazing management comes into play on the Krusenbaum farm. Higher residuals are left in the grazing paddocks to encourage fall root residual.

Poor fall harvest timing can negatively influence stored root food reserves and contribute to poor winter survival. Midwestern studies indicate alfalfa cut in mid-September incurs the greatest reduction in forage yield the following spring. Plants left uncut, harvested in early September or late October-early November exhibit little winter injury and yield well. As a general guideline, six weeks are needed for forages to regrow and store the necessary food reserves for winter survival prior to a hard freeze that kills the shoots and stops food root reserve accumulation.

Each spring, Altfrid frost seeds every year and will have each of his paddocks grazed down to 1-2 inches in the winter months. The extremely short residual allows greater seed to soil contact needed for germination. The existing stand needs to be weakened to allow the frost seeded species to reach the soil and to make the new seedlings more competitive in the spring.

"Rye grass will not survive if left tall," he said. "It actually survives better when grazed down."

Altfrid said that hard frosts usually occur in early to mid-October, but most of Wisconsin has not seen the hard frost yet. Moisture has been scarce up until the last week and a half.

"Hopefully with the moisture over the last three to four days we will have mild weather and grow grass," he said.

Fall is a good time to take soil samples and determine phosphorus, potassium, and pH levels. A soil test now better reflects the plant available potassium in the soil. Generally, grasses will perform well at a pH of 6.0 or above while legumes need a pH of 6.5 or more (alfalfa needs a pH of 6.7 to 7.0).

Altfrid reminds producers to check for micronutrients such as boron and sulfur because they have a large impact on legume quality.

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