Can You Plant a Cover Crop OVER the Grass? Check Out Our Experiment! (Winter Pasture for Cows!)

As the summer grasses die down, we need green grass, legumes and brassicas for our Dexter dairy cows to eat - so we've done an experiment. The results so far are very encouraging!

Today I'll take you through the pasture to share some experiments with growing winter grass. We planted ecotill radish, Austrian winter peas, winter rye, grain rye, oats and three types of clover, starting in one pasture. Then, when we started to see results there, we did the same in the larger pasture with some changes in the planting/dragging/mowing order. As a bonus, I take you on a tour through the crazy cow highway we cut through the woods to connect two pastures. You could plant a no-till cover crop in the garden this way, by oversowing right on top of your grass, just by hand-seeding. The results are intriguing. Also, we look at how we fed seeds to cows and let them do some sowing for us, as the seeds pass through into manure and are put right on the pasture where they're thriving. These ideas are inspired by Greg Judy, Gabe Brown and other pasture management experts. I've also learned from people planting deer plots, though that usually is done with discing. What if you couple plant a deer plot without even tilling the soil? As we learn to grow great pasture and take care of dairy cows, we'll take you along with us. Thanks for watching.

[davidthegood]

Howdy, folks. There is a persistent bot that shows up, imitating YouTubers. It will take my image and then leave weird comments like "You won!" and "connect with me on Telegram, " etc. Watch out, and report them as you see them. I'm not even on Telegram, so don't fall for it. Looks like YouTube is catching them faster, but it's been a persistent problem.

[leoscheibelhut]

Former dairy farmer here, your overseeding should work excellently in your climate. A couple of tips and caveats; first, next year seed it early or mid-fall even in a drought--the sown seed will wait for rain, second, add in some hairy vetch[ and inoculate it with vetch inoculant], third, be sure to wait until the winter forage is 5-10 inches tall before you begin grazing it, even if you have to feed hay to do it--it will save you money and hay in the long run, fourth, the daikon and turnips are great forage but WILL give the milk an off-flavor. To overcome the off-flavor in the milk the easiest thing is to remove them from the pasture an hour or two before milking or milk so early that you are waking the cows up before they graze. If you discover off-flavor already in the milk, there are a couple of things you can do to remove it. The first is to let the milk sit at room temp in an open container[the milk bucket is perfect] occasional stirring may or may not help--this allows the milk to "off-gas" the turnip or radish flavor just as it does in the cow's stomach. Cooling the milk, covering it or worse sealing it in jars or other containers will trap the off-flavors in the milk. Another thing to try is to add drops of real vanilla extract, it doesn't take much, to the milk until it tastes right or slightly vanilla-y. These techniques also work on most other off-flavors from things like wild onions and garlic. Leaving the milk out at room temp does reduce its shelf life, so use it up first. Cereal rye sometimes gives grass a "grassy" flavor but a thirty minute wait before milking will remove it. Good luck.

[xianvox]

You should consider breaking your pastures up into smaller parcels for rotational grazing. That way you can get the benefit of concentrated grazing and manure load for land regeneration, and give grass a chance to regrow from each browsing.

[kathleensanderson]

My mother and step-father have twenty acres in eastern Oregon. One of the first things he did was clear a walking path around the perimeter (it's all wooded, though not quite as brushy as your place). It's a nice way to start the mornings, hiking (or meandering) around the property, enjoying the fresh air, the morning sunshine, the birds singing.

[pattigsbh]

Yes, I'm overwhelmed at how genius you are😂 Your brilliance is amazing❤

[terissamurphy]

This is hilarious! I went to my local feed stores and seen deer plot seeds and was like 😱. This could help if my animal feed is low. I bought a few different grasses and brassicas to sow. Thank you God ! Thank you David for this video🤗🤗🥰

[monkeymommy]

LOL, really David, a cow patty chia pet!? That was my favorite part, especially with the "cha cha cha chia". Seriously, this was an interesting video.

[raydel]

I am one of the elite. Not proud of me but proud of my teacher --He kept my interest to the end. --Thank you, David --Ray Delbury Sussex County NJ IUSA

[kablevins]

Excellent content, as always, David. It is so nice to see you and your sweet family getting settled at your new homestead.

[JunkyardGardener]

Makes me happy to see you coming into a property with so much potential! Excited to see what will be coming from another GOOD garden! Great looking soil.Thanks for bringing us along for this one!

[RoadRunnerXL]

I’m new to LA (lower Alabama) and I’m really glad I found your channel. I’m coming from zone 5 and starting a new homestead. I appreciate your work. It will be tremendously helpful as I navigate this new climate. Thanks for the killer content!

[icugysz]

😀🌱🐢
Cow paddy ch ia pet. David you are a genius! I see the new trending kids toy for holiday season. I also see a song somewhere in there...somewhere in the poo. Kinda yucky...but brown is the new green. 🌱🌱🌱

[melanielinkous]

Love y'all's property! A Garden of Eden. ❤️

[pattigsbh]

Great to see how nice your land is working out for you and Rachel.

[missmary]

Thanks David. This helps me make a decision on putting in a cover crop now in Texas 8B. My purpose is grocery row garden prep, not animals yet, but I think that I still have time. 😊

[badneighbor]

Rancher buddy of mine uses alfalfa as his nitrogen fixer. His cows love it and the steaks are amazing.

[jamesellsworth]

Thanks for this David trying to do a food orchard in the high plains in Colorado we only get 14 in a year so the soil is getting better I've got the swales in and we have about 400% more growth than any of the property around us on that patch and that's in the places we didn't plant anything

[whitefeather]

When my husband and I bought our first little starter home the yard was in terrible condition. It was on a pretty steep incline so all of the soil had begun to drift down the hill and the grass was very sparse. We threw ryegrass on it and after doing that several winters the summer grass flourished and filled in all the bare space.

[SimpleEarthSelfReliance]

Dang David, this was on key for me at this point. I am in a very rough, arid area, but grasses between 2-3 seasons - steak and milk is just about what I want to be overwhelmed by. Except, I cannot irrigate and have to rely on rains only.
The one I am happy to add so far is also rye, but perrenial rye.
Good episode thank you.

[alaskansummertime]

I took your suggestion on the idea of just tossing old beans. I found lentils will grow on top of just about anything. I got about two hundred pounds since that video. I live near a food bank and no one wants the lentils so they leave them in the free pile which i grab and stockpile. So i've got cover crop for acres and a food stockpile too. And don't forget plantain. Plantain is the best. And good for mosquito bites.