Sudan-sorghum renovates pasture

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Nathan Kling reminds farmers that 'It's not how much you spend; it's how much you put in your pocket.' He finds rotational grazing with sorghum-sudangrass helps with that goal.

LeeAnne Bulman/For Agri View

Jersey dry cow number 279 enjoys her sorghum-sudangrass. Dairy cows use the pasture first, followed by dry cows and heifers 30 days later.

LeeAnne Bulman/For Agri View

Steve Okonek, UW-Extension agent, demonstrates how much of sorghum-sudangrass should be left after grazing to avoid destroying the regrowth bud.

LeeAnne Bulman/For Agri View

Nathan Kling moves his herd every 24 hours using poly wire. He has 2.5 miles of above-ground water lines for the animals.

LeeAnne Bulman/For Agri View

A solar fencer keeps Nathan Kling's poly-wire electrified. To build lanes in his pastures he used a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service.

LeeAnne Bulman/For Agri View

There isn't much left after cows pass through a paddock of sorghum-sudangrass.

LeeAnne Bulman/For Agri View

Nathan Kling says tall fescue took over his pasture; cows don't care for fescue after spring's tender plants are gone -- although it makes good hay.

LeeAnne Bulman/For Agri View

A sorghum-sudangrass pasture is changed after Kling's herd passes through. He feeds an acre a day.

LeeAnne Bulman/For Agri View

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LeeAnne Bulman For Agri-View

TAYLOR, Wis. – Dissatisfaction with the performance of his pastures led Nathan Kling to use alternative methods to renovate for a more-productive and more-palatable crop for his organic dairy herd. He led in early September a Coulee Graziers pasture walk on his Jackson County farm to demonstrate his results.

LeeAnne Bulman writes about agriculture from her farm overlooking the beautiful Danuser Valley on Wisconsin’s west coast. When not writing she helps her husband on their small grain and beef farm.