Dairy family near Waukon hosts pasture walk
By Heather Thorstensen
hthorstensen@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 05/19/2010 3:36 PM
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WAUKON, Iowa— John Palmer led approximately 25 people out to his pasture near Waukon on a windy May 5. He stopped at an imaginary line.
He was leading the group on a pasture walk, part of a series hosted by Northeast Iowa Graziers and Great River Graziers. Many of the people who attended were other dairy farmers.
On one side of the group, the area had been pasture in 2008, then plowed and re-seeded in 2009. The other side was in corn in 2008 and seeded for pasture in 2009.
Palmer's goal was to switch the corn area into pasture and rejuvenate his pasture plants. He also wanted to see how well turning under the pasture and re-seeding it directly back into pasture would work. He was concerned about the alfalfa's toxicity and whether he would need to grow corn for a year before being able to re-establish his grazing ground.
Gypsum, boron and lime were applied in granules during the pasture's renovation, in case the soil was short in calcium and sulfur.
After comparing the plots, Palmer feels comfortable going from pasture directly back into pasture.
"I don't need a corn year as long as the alfalfa has mostly died out," he said.
This will give him more flexibility in the future. If he needs corn acres, he'll grow them. If he doesn't, he can transition straight to grazing ground.
Last year was the first time the Palmers re-seeded their pasture. John and his wife, Meghan, moved to their Prairie Star Farm in 2002 and originally seeded it in 2003.
Alfalfa, rye grass, meadow fescue and festulolium grow there now.
Previously, the pasture was seeded with orchardgrass, but John chose to replace that with ryegrass. Some of the orchardgrass survived plowing, but he's happy it's at least reduced.
"My feeling about orchardgrass is you love it or hate it," he said.
If his cows don't eat the orchardgrass right away, it rusts and they avoid eating it or anything around it.
The Palmers have been running their dairy operation since 2004. The farm is certified organic and they are members of Organic Valley.