HOLLAND, Iowa – Fred and Vicki Abels will be hosting a pasture walk on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at their Grundy County farm near Holland.

During the past few years, the Abels have made some sweeping changes to their operation, including turning crop ground into pasture, and going from 20 spring-calving cows to 65 fall-calving cows. Abels’ pasture, divided into six paddocks, includes sections of reed canarygrass, birdsfoot trefoil and kura clover, as well as a combination of perennial rye, red clover and white clover. 

In addition, 17 acres of field borders are planted to vernal alfalfa and endophyte-free fescue. “The cows normally harvest the third cutting on these acres,” says Fred Abels.  Another 20 acres of creeping alfalfa, winter-hardy alfalfa, smooth bromegrass and fescue are cut once and then grazed two more times by the cowherd.

In addition to the changes and improvement in forage acres, Abels has installed two creek accesses using hog slats. To reduce bare patches created in high-traffic areas, Abels has installed rock quarry byproducts called scalpings in the lanes from one paddock to another.

The field day highlights include a tour of pasture acres as well as a video entitled “Winter Grazing of Standing Corn,” featuring Abels’ cowherd and compiled by Daryl Strohbehn, professor, animal science, Iowa State University (ISU). ISU Extension staff will be on hand at the field day, including Pat Derdzinski, Butler County extension education director,  to answer questions regarding kura clover and its use in a corn-soybean rotation. 

The Abels farm is two miles west of Holland on County Road D-35, one mile south on J Avenue, east side of the road. The address is 20902 J Avenue. The field day runs from 2:30 to 6 p.m., and includes a meal from the Grundy County Cattlemen’s Association. For more information, call NRCS at (319) 824-3634, extension #3. The field day is sponsored in part by ISU Extension.

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