New Jersey grazing group visits River Bend Farm

12.15.2006

Peapack — A small but innovative group of New Jersey graziers met on a cool November morning at River Bend Farm in Somerset County.  Their mission was not only to tour a scenic beef farm, but to also walk away with ideas to better manage their own operations.
A group of about 20 stand surrounded by Corne Vogelaar’s fall calf crop of registered Black Angus calves. Vogelaar is the manager if this 240-plus acre pasture-based operation, averaging approximately 60 cow/calf pairs.
His breeding program focuses on main three areas: maternal traits, rapid growth, and carcass quality.  The majority of the young stock is sold off the farm as breeding stock, through consignment sales or directly from the farm through private treaty.  Several of the bulls are sent to go through the PA Bull Testing Program yearly.
This herd can be found on pasture all year, with little supplementation of stored feeds. Vogelaar’s pastures are comprised of commonly found cool season grasses including orchardgrass, tall fescue and clovers. Vogelaar manages his forages as intensely as his genetics, which is after all the root of his production. Prior to the visit, Vogelaar had borrowed a no-till drill from the New Jersey Fish & Wildlife to inter-seed clover in an effort to reduce the need for purchased nitrogen fertilizers.
Working with NRCS, a pasture that is predominantly tall fescue was tested for endophyte levels. The forage was found to be high in endophyte, which is a fungus that lives within the plant. It cannot be detected any other way other than in a lab. This endophyte makes the fescue very strong and persistent, but can have negative effects on reproduction and gains. These negative effects can be minimized with good management. The first recommendation is to harvest or graze while the plant is still young and vegetative, usually before the plant reaches boot stage. And as long as the infected tall fescue is intermixed into other forages, the endophyte’s effect will be diluted.
This tour is coordinated and sponsored by the Garden State Grazing Coalition and New Jersey NRCS.