PinPoint

Cost Effective Grazing

Issue - On average, cows in the U.S. graze for only seven months a year, necessitating five months of additional feed. This results in reduced profitability.

Resolution - The Pinpoint system extends the grazing period to 300 days or more annually, subsequently reducing the cost of feed.

Hay is costing me 3 cents a pound to produce and I have to haul it to the cattle. Brassicas are costing me less than a cent to plant, and the cattle harvest it. I can't afford not to plant it!

Dustin Cross, Columbia County, Arkansas

Lower Your Feed Costs

Feed that animals graze directly is typically always cheaper than preserved forage (such as hay, silage, baleage which are harvested and fed later). Moreover, grazing livestock recycle nutrients back to the pasture instead of accumulating them in areas where preserved forages are distributed. With the help of Pinpoint products, coupled with other management modifications, growers can diminish their hay-feeding season, irrespective of their location.

As part of an enhanced management strategy, Pinpoint products can aid in maximizing the use of grazed forages and minimize reliance on additional feed, fuel, and other resources.

Incorporating clovers into every upgraded pasture management plan is essential. The biological nitrogen fixation they facilitate not only cuts down fertilizer costs but also augments the crude protein content and enhances feed quality. Various species are available to cater to specific requirements.

 

Pinpoint Products Fill Forage Gaps: Save up to $48.60 Per Cow!

Regardless of whether you're using cool season or warm season perennial grass as a base, forage doesn't grow evenly all year round. Livestock producers are tasked with managing both feed demand and supply, irrespective of the type of livestock or the degree of grazing management. The most effective grazers pay meticulous attention to both aspects, minimizing periods of feed shortage or excess.

It is often observed in production records that winter feed costs constitute the largest expense, and maintaining low winter feeding costs is crucial for a profitable operation.

The Pinpoint range of products can offer a solution for timely forage needs. Even under optimal pasture and livestock management, there will still be periods of feed shortage. Base forages possess unique growth curves that cannot cater to the feed demand of grazing animals during every season. Managers can prepare for seasonal forage shortages, and Pinpoint products can help bridge these gaps.

Extending your grazing season can be achieved through the following steps

Establish and manage highly productive, modern fescue pastures with products like BarOptima +E34.

Apply management practices to produce narrow calving periods that are best aligned to your environment.

Learn to manage stockpile fescue: Stockpiled fescue is fall growth that is allowed to accumulate for grazing later in the fall and winter. (This purposeful stockpiling of forage for grazing at a later time is a new concept for many livestock producers, but extending the grazing season by using stockpiled fescue in late autumn and during the winter months has repeatedly been shown to be an effective way to maintain livestock profitability.)

Utilize Pinpoint products to fill gaps:

• Plant Moxie teff grass (for hay) or Mojo crabgrass (for pasture) in late spring for summer production. (ready for first cutting or grazing 6 weeks after planting)

Plant Barkant turnip (for single grazing) or T-Raptor hybrid brassica and Barsica rape (for multiple grazing) in late summer for late fall and early winter grazing (ready 6 to 8 weeks after planting).

 

Forage Delivery System

Over a wide region of the US, cows average only seven months of grazing a year. Put another way, the average cattleman, from Mississippi to Wisconsin, utilizes supplemental feeds five months out of the year despite the differences in climate and grass bases. Pinpoint products will allow producers to reduce their dependency on store feed by increasing their grazing season.

 

Filling Your Forage Gaps 

Transition Zone

The transition zone is where the summers are too hot and humid for most cool season grasses, and winters too cold for warm season grasses. BarOptima +E34® is the safe, sustainable and profitable grass base choice.

Warm season grasses such as Moxie teff or Mojo crabgrass can be sown in late spring to prepare for the summer cool season grass growth shortfall. High energy forage such as Barsica rape or T-Raptor hybrid can also be sown to fill the gaps from summer slump in cool season grass growth.

Barkant turnips can be sown in late summer to fill the forage gap when cool season grasses shut down due to low temperatures in late fall. Barkant turnips produce a large tankard bulb; 75% of it is below ground and stores well for late fall and winter grazing. T-Raptor hybrid rape forms a smaller bulb for winter but provides multiple grazing from the above ground foliage earlier in the fall.

Green Spirit Italian ryegrass can be sown in the spring for high yields of high quality forage during the cool growing season.

 

Cool Season

The cool season region relies on cool season grasses as its base. Growers should establish the best-adapted improved varieties of soft leaf fescue (STF-43); winter hardy perennial ryegrass (BG-24T) or late maturing orchardgrass (HLR). Pinpoint products deliver additional forage during the summer, fall or early winter shortages.

Cool season grass growth can slow down under high summer temperatures and lead to forage shortages. Warm season grasses such as Moxie teff or Mojo crabgrass can be sown in late spring to prepare for these shortfalls. High energy forage such as Barsica rape or T-Raptor hybrid rape can also be sown to fill the gaps from summer slump in cool season grasses.

Barkant turnips can be sown in late summer to fill the forage gap when cool season grasses shut down due to low temperatures in early winter. Barkant turnips produce a large tankard bulb; 75% of it is below ground and stores well for late fall and winter grazing. T-Raptor hybrid rape forms a smaller bulb for winter but provides multiple grazing from the above ground foliage in late fall.

Green Spirit ryegrass can be sown in the spring.

 

Warm Season

The warm season region  is where warm season perennial grasses such as bermudagrass or bahiagrass are persistent, productive and adapted to a wide range of conditions. Management plans must account for most of the annual yield occurring during late spring and summer, with little growth occurring during early spring and fall. Pinpoint products will allow producers to reduce their dependency on store feed by increasing the grazing season. 

Maximus is an early maturing Tetraploid annual ryegrass for regions where bermudagrass greens up earlier in the spring. It does not compete with the bermudagrass growing period. It is highly winter active for regions where grazing all winter is needed. Maximus can be overseeded in late fall into Grit bermudagrass pastures. 

In regions where bermudagrass takes longer to green up into early summer, Jumbo or Green Spirit ryegrass can be overseeded into bermudagrass pastures. Green Spirit will provide the longest winter grazing season and the highest quality feed. 

Barkant turnips can be sown in late summer or early fall to provide forage for the transition period between bermudagrass to annual ryegrass in late fall to early winter. Leafy brassica forages such as Barsica and T-Raptor can be sown in mixtures with Maximus annual ryegrass into disked bermudagrass sods.