In order to lengthen the amount of time his cattle can be on grass in the winter (and shorten hay feeding time and amount), Richard is experimenting with double-cropping Bates variety rye into his Eastern Gamma Grass field.

First, he grazed the gamma the end of August, taking them off September 1.


The gamma was about 17 inches high after grazing. The cows did a fairly accurate job of mowing it.

Then, on September 10, Richard seeded the rye to about 70 pounds/acre using a John Deere Drill.


And, while he was seeding, I was busy cutting thistle out of the field.

Between seeding and October 7, we got NO rain whatsoever. The rye seed lay on the ground just waiting. When it started raining October 7, the seed germinated and started growing! We took these photos October 24.