Pinpoint: 300+ Days Of Grazing

Pinpoint, Barenbrug’s Forage Delivery System, is the cost-effective solution for seasonal feed supply challenges. The Pinpoint family of products work together as a system. This system helps increase profitability by lowering feed cost and reducing stress on the operation. Pinpoint products help producers achieve the goal of grazing for 300+ days out of the year.

Cost Effective Grazing

Problem — Cows in the U.S. average only 7 months of grazing per year, requiring 5 months of supplemental feed, leading to decreased profitability.

 

Solution — The Pinpoint system increases grazing to 300 days or more per year, lowering feed costs.

 

 

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
C o l u m b i a C o u n t y , A r k a n s a s

Lower Your Feed Costs

Feed grazed directly by animals will typically always be less expensive than conserved forage (hay, silage, baleage that is harvested and fed later). In addition, grazing animals recycle nutrients onto the pasture instead of concentrating them in areas where conserved forages are fed. Pinpoint products, along with other management changes, will allow growers to reduce their hay-feeding season regardless of where they’re located.

 

Pinpoint products, as part of an improved management plan, can help you optimize the utilization of grazed forages and reduce dependency on supplemental feed, fuel, and other inputs.

 

Clovers should be part of every improved pasture management plan. The biological nitrogen fixation they support reduces fertilizer cost, increases the crude protein content and improves feed quality. There are a number of species available to fit specific needs.

Pinpoint Products Fill Forage Gaps

No matter which cool season or warm season perennial grass base is used, forage does not grow uniformly throughout the year. Livestock producers have to manage feed demand and feed supply, no matter what class of livestock or level of grazing management. The best grazers pay very close attention to both, minimizing periods of feed deficit or surplus.

 

Production records regularly indicate that winter feed costs are the single largest expense, and keeping winter feeding costs low is key to a profitable operation.

 

The Pinpoint family of products can provide a solution for timely forage needs. Even with ideal pasture and livestock management, periods of feed deficit still exist. Base forages have distinct growth curves that cannot meet the feed demand of grazing animals during every season of the year. Managers can plan for seasonal forage deficits. Pinpoint products can help fill these deficits.

 

 

 

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.

 

Pinpoint forage products for cool season, transition and warm season

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 Region

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 Region

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 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. 

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