Johnson reflects on dairy research at Morris
By Carol Stender
cstender@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 07/29/2010 9:45 AM
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MORRIS, Minn. —The Stevens County fairgrounds in Morris were buzzing last week with more than 600 people from across the state. The fairgrounds were the 2010 Minnesota State Cattlemen's summer tour headquarters.
The West Central Cattlemen's Association hosted the event, which included stops at four area cattle farms and ranches; a large dairy with 80-stall rotary parlor; two ag businesses; and the West Central Research and Outreach Center.
Although WCROC researcher Dennis Johnson's work focuses on dairy, his efforts to renovate pasture for the center's grazing herd struck a chord with cow/calf producers.
Johnson has been with the WCROC since 1968 and has seen the center's dairy herd go from grazing to being indoors.
A building, constructed in 1973, housed the animals from infancy to adulthood. The building and conventional herd research focused on production methods most producers used.
That focus changed slightly in the 1990s. He traveled to New Zealand and Australia to see different dairy operations and was surprised that their grazing operations including intense rotational systems.
The center split its research emphasis to include the conventional herd and a grazing herd. The grazing herd is also organic, he said.
Johnson and WCROC staff renovated the pastures. They studied varying mixes including birdsfoot trefoil, clovers, quackgrass, brome and blue grass. They added alfalfa in the pasture mix. Some are concerned about alfalfa and possible bloat, he said. It's something to definitely consider when developing the grass mix.
The clover-birdsfoot trefoil mix was the favorite of many at WCROC, Johnson said.
Their pasture mixes did well for seven years before the pastures needed renovation.
He's noticed how the cows first go for the grasses and next, the legumes, he said. Cows are moved to new paddocks twice a week.
Through their use of intense grazing and pasture mixes, they've extended the grazing season from 145 days to 200 days, he said.
"I think the key to profitability in dairy is to manage the pasture," he said. "The cows are the harvesting system."