When their Florida dairy partnership dissolved, it seemed like the right time for Al and Desiree Wehner to shed the stress of milking 1,100 cows, managing 28 full-time employees, double- and triple-cropping irrigated land and borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Fourteen years later, it's safe to say their smaller grazing dairy is a success. The 13,000-lb rolling herd average on 600 Jersey-cross cows milked twice a day is a far cry from the 21,000 lbs their Holsteins averaged on a three-times-a-day schedule. But their annual 15%-plus return on investment is anything but disappointing.

They aren't complaining about milking fewer cows and keeping just four full-time employees. Travel, including a trip to New Zealand, and the time they spend with their children and grandchildren, are huge pluses, too.

“Life has been fun,” Al states. “We have the lifestyle we were looking for.”

The Wehners' first move was to buy a 280-acre former row-crop farm near Quitman, GA, with a center-pivot irrigation system in place. Then they planted Tifton 9 bahiagrass, but 1993 was hot and dry and, despite irrigation, they didn't get a stand.

Next they tried millet for summer grazing, but establishing the annual was costly and time-consuming, so by 1996 they were ready to try a perennial. They settled on Tifton 85 bermudagrass and in two years had sprigged the hybrid on their entire 220 irrigated acres.

Clemson University forage specialist John Andrae says it was a good move.

“Tifton 85 is a bit higher quality than most bermudagrass varieties,” says Andrae. “It's more digestible and has more energy than most of the other perennials adapted to the area. It's also very, very productive.”

The Wehners make the most of the grass's quality and productivity by using intensive rotational grazing. They use temporary fencing to divide the irrigation circle into pie-shaped 15-acre paddocks. They further divide the paddocks into halves or fourths, if needed. Cows get fresh grazing every 12 hours, after milking.

By letting their cows graze just the leafy area of the grass, they keep the forage very high in quality. Last July, a forage analysis showed 23.7% crude protein and 70.9% TDN. Still, the cows are supplemented with grain in the parlor.

In 2004, the Wehners started interseeding Durana white clover. Andrae gives that choice another thumbs up. “Durana clover is a great white clover,” he says. “It competes very well with grasses, helps the quality of their forages and helps cut their nitrogen needs.”

The couple modified their grazing management to suit the clover.

“We used to graze our Tifton 85 when it was knee high,” says Al Wehner. “We'd graze it down to the middle of the shins.” But it shaded out the clover by July. Last year they started grazing the grass when it was around 10" tall, and grazed it down to 4-5".

“The clover will survive the whole year if it isn't shaded out,” he remarks.

He cautions, though, “On this farm the fertility is extremely high. Clover probably wouldn't work for everybody. I would definitely pull soil samples first to make sure the soil profile will support clover.”

The pastures provide winter grazing, thanks to interseeded rye and ryegrass.

The Wehners graze or mow the bermudagrass down to 4-5", then no-till drill 2 bu/acre of rye, 35-40 lbs/acre of ryegrass and 3-4 lbs/acre of clover. Planting is staggered so they don't have to take all the paddocks out of production at once, and so the annuals are ready to graze at different times. They start grazing them 30 days after planting, but some years can graze the bermuda-grass until around Dec. 1.

Irrigation is a safety net for the forages, plus the system keeps cows cool in hot weather. The Wehners installed a PVC pipe with a mist system on the irrigation rig and switch to it for daytime cow cooling, as needed. At night, they switch over to the watering system to water the forages in empty paddocks.

Dependable water means the grazing rotation can be kept going, even during dry times.

Keep Reading on next page>