Grazing after Nitrogen

restive

Once I apply nitrogen how long should i wait before letting cattle graze it?

whelan1

some people spread nitrogen with the cattle on the field, dont think it matters......urea would be different me thinks

restive

How is urea different?

Farmer Pudsey

Idealy if you spread nitrogen you should not graze until the nitrogen goes out of the grass which is used up at the rate of 2 units in new reseeded ground and less than that in old pasture. you do not want cattle eating the nitrogen in the grass before it gets to work.

If cattle eat the grass straight await they will tend to scour the grass after all they are eating money.

If you spread 20 units 10-15 days depening on type of pasture idealy however we do not live in an ideal world

bob charles

The N has to go into the roots for it to be taking up by the plant. Cattle would never consume enough N either as AN or Urea to make any potential danger. For years on end we have being spreading all types of fert with the animals in the fields. even going to high levels of N for first cut silage.

bbam

I asked this question in the spring and someone mentioned there was risk of mouth sores from grazing ground with fertiliser still on it.

whelan1

restive wrote: »

How is urea different?

apparently it could scour them .. i assume you are not going out with loads/acre

Farmer Pudsey

bob charles wrote: »

The N has to go into the roots for it to be taking up by the plant. Cattle would never consume enough N either as AN or Urea to make any potential danger. For years on end we have being spreading all types of fert with the animals in the fields. even going to high levels of N for first cut silage.

If you spread nitrogen the roots will take in nitrogen and send it up to the leaf. We all try to have minimun nitrogen in silage so it is the same in grazed grass for the reasons it is a waste of money cattle will tend to be loose with it when I stated scour as above I did not mean it would sicken cattle but rather that it reduces thrive and I also stated in an ideal world

Personally I try not to graze land that has nitrogen spread in it recently as it is a waste of money if cattle eat high nitrogen grass

restive

whelan1 wrote: »

apparently it could scour them .. i assume you are not going out with loads/acre

No. just enough to encourage regrowth after i wrap silage this evening. The recent weather has caught me out as my summer fields are now under water, so i have had to free up some up land by cutting silage. It was due to be cut anyway but now I have to "encourage" regrowth as quickly as possible.

Thanks for the replies.

axel7

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

bob charles wrote: »

If you spread nitrogen the roots will take in nitrogen and send it up to the leaf. We all try to have minimun nitrogen in silage so it is the same in grazed grass for the reasons it is a waste of money cattle will tend to be loose with it when I stated scour as above I did not mean it would sicken cattle but rather that it reduces thrive and I also stated in an ideal world

Personally I try not to graze land that has nitrogen spread in it recently as it is a waste of money if cattle eat high nitrogen grass

I thought nitrogen had to be used up on silage ground for ensiling purposes only ? I could be mistaken. Also, in that case would it be a waste of money grazing swards high in clover since it's very high in nitrogen

bob charles

axel7 wrote: »

I thought nitrogen had to be used up on silage ground for ensiling purposes only ? I could be mistaken. Also, in that case would it be a waste of money grazing swards high in clover since it's very high in nitrogen

:rolleyes: , of course, its down to fermentation reasons that the N has to be at certain levels in the sward before cutting. why do we also include Urea (CP of 246%) in the TMR.

Farmer Pudsey

axel7 wrote: »

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

I thought nitrogen had to be used up on silage ground for ensiling purposes only ? I could be mistaken. Also, in that case would it be a waste of money grazing swards high in clover since it's very high in nitrogen

High rates of nitrates in silage will cause digestive upsets in cattle as will high rates of nitrates in grass. You would not allow cattle unlimited access to a clover sward without access to hay or straw to make up a large part of the diet.

bob charles wrote: »

:rolleyes: , of course, its down to fermentation reasons that the N has to be at certain levels in the sward before cutting. why do we also include Urea (CP of 246%) in the TMR.

It is only used in limited quanties to balance a ration also the form of nitrogen in plants is in a nitrate/nitrite form which is different to urea

Here is an article I came accross about same
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/livestoc/v839w.htm

oldsmokey

Worth pointing out that ina journal article lately they were at pains to say that high N grass is not good from a conception point of view..keep yer bulling stock away!

RobinBanks

oldsmokey wrote: »

Worth pointing out that ina journal article lately they were at pains to say that high N grass is not good from a conception point of view..keep yer bulling stock away!

I am interested in this point. Is this proven? I am considering letting cows out that are just bulled this last week or two. Is their a risk of embyro loss due to flush grass from N application?

ganmo

RobinBanks wrote: »

I am interested in this point. Is this proven? I am considering letting cows out that are just bulled this last week or two. Is their a risk of embyro loss due to flush grass from N application?

The thinking is high protein intake = increased blood urea
http://gainfeeds.com/ruminant/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Feed-Technical-Message-Week-12-Milk-Urea-Nitrogen.pdf

memorystick

I've cattle out and no manure spread. Is it ok to spread 20-0-15 with cattle in field?

Muckit

memorystick wrote: »

I've cattle out and no manure spread. Is it ok to spread 20-0-15 with cattle in field?

Blow the horn and wave the hands as u pass them and work away!

Keepgrowing

memorystick wrote: »

I've cattle out and no manure spread. Is it ok to spread 20-0-15 with cattle in field?

Yes, I've just spread 18/6/12 in tonight's paddock while cows are in milking.

I says

Muckit wrote: »

Blow the horn and wave the hands as u pass them and work away!

I only do that while I’m topping