4 minute read
Howle's Hints: October
BY JOHN HOWLE
Another way to look at it is with the expression, “There is no free lunch.” If you want success from the things you’ve put your hands to, there will be a lot of hard work, and it can be messy. It’s a lot of trouble to clean the manure from the barn and fill the trough with feed, but the hard work pays off in food, security and happiness. Only the lazy and shortsighted would do away with the ox.
Get Smarter With Your Solar Fencing
Solar-powered electric fencing has revolutionized the world of intensive grazing. Being able to subdivide paddocks can extend your grazing and allow you to run more cattle on less land. Gallagher has led the way for many years with solar-powered fencing systems.
The SmartFence Portable Fence System is a completely self-contained and portable fence system that combines the posts, reels and polywire in one fourwire system. Once you secure the end post in the ground and anchor it with the guideline, simply roll four wires out at the same time as you step in each post as you go. This allows you to create a quick portable corral or roadside grazing area. Set an energizer on a T-post and hook the hot wire to the polywire and attach the green, ground clip to a metal step-in post for a ground. Turn the energizer on and let the livestock in for grazing.
This is the setup SmartFence with the energizer placed on a T-post. Simply connect the red (hot) wire to the turbowire and connect the green (ground) to a metal step-in post for a ground. The unit comes with guide wires for anchoring corners or bends in the fence.
The SmartFence is lightweight and portable.
The four-line system uses polywire lines with conductive filaments for a fence 328 feet in length and 36.5 inches high. The lower wire can also be adjusted to allow for higher forage to keep from grounding out or reducing the charge. You can attach it to a permanent fence, another SmartFence system or simply set up a standalone corral. It’s easy to carry and store. All you need is a solar-powered energizer to create the charge.
I recently used the SmartFence System to fence out an area along the side of the road that was growing white clover and Dallisgrass. Having four strands of charged wire gives you more safety and confidence when allowing cattle to clean up grass in along the rural road right of ways. When the animals have grazed the area down, rolling the fence back up is quick and easy. It took me approximately seven minutes to take down and roll up the entire fence.
The SmartFence allows quick setup for grazing anywhere.
It took no more than seven minutes to detach and roll up the entire fence.
Other uses for the system are excluding hay bales or subdividing pastures for more efficient grazing. Traveling horse owners can use the horse trailer as one wall and roll out a paddock for grazing in an open field in minutes. Visit your local Co-op to order a Gallagher SmartFence system. To find out more about this innovative grazing product, you can also visit www. gallagher.com, and check out more products offered by Gallagher animal management systems.
Fall Food Plots
Now that October is here, it’s not too late to get a couple of food plots planted on your property to draw and hold deer, turkeys and other wildlife. One of the best things to include in your food plot is clover. Clover has nodules on the root system that fix nitrogen, and this nitrogen is made available to the companion grasses in an organic, ready-to-uptake form.
Two of the best varieties of clover to plant in Alabama, in my opinion, are white and red clover. White clover such as Durana is quick to establish, and a stand can last eight to 10 years if managed properly. Red clover is often referred to as cow clover because of its ability to withstand grazing and create plentiful regrowth. Both varieties are quite palatable to deer. If you don’t believe me, simply taste different varieties of clover. White and red clover have an almost sweet taste like fresh baby spinach. Clovers such as crimson clover are often found in the median of the interstate and have a characteristic crimson-colored bloom. When you taste crimson clover, however, it has quite a bitter taste compared with the previous two.
Now that you have your clover choice, what else can be planted with and grow in companion with clover this time of year? Some of the best options are oats, winter wheat and rye. If planted now and you get plenty of rain, these food plot choices should give some solid late-season growth growing well into late winter and early spring. One of the things I like best about oats planted in rich soil is the high profile growth of the plants. Oats grow high enough to provide travel corridors for deer apprehensive about entering food plots that grow low to the ground. Finally, plant some winter greens such as kale, rape and turnip greens. Even if you don’t harvest a deer, you can still enjoy winter greens yourself with some pepper sauce and cornbread during the cold days around the corner.
This October, don’t fret if your livestock are making a mess in your troughs and barns. It is simply a byproduct of productivity.
This Durana white clover fixes nitrogen and provides lush grazing for all wildlife.
