Let Cows Gather Own Feed, Says Gaston Farmer, 1949

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Charlotte Observer on June 9, 1949.

The farmers of Gaston County boast of their wonderful new pastures. They also boast of the grazing crops they had all last winter.

A good example is a five-acre field seeded by M.B. Jenkins of Gastonia, Route 1. He fertilized the tract with 500 pounds per acre of a 4-10-6 at seeding time last September. He planted two bushels of oats, two bushels of barley, 40 pounds of Italian ryegrass, and 12 pounds crimson clover seed per acre. That was a heavy seeding and a right good fertilization, but the grazing was something to talk about.

Mr. Jenkins kept 25 cows on the five acres during the winter. This spring, after it has been fairly well grazed down, he top-dressed the field with 150 pounds of nitrate of soda and a good coating of manure. This brought it back as good spring grazing, which lasted until the cows were ready to go on the permanent pasture of Ladino clover and fescue. The only way to make money with dairy cows, Mr. Jenkins says, is to let them gather their own feed and to have plenty of it for them.