Productive Pastures in Virginia's High Country
Graybeal Farms grazes its beef herd on prime pastures 10 months a year.

(Left to right) Alan Graybeal, Laura Bullard and David Jessee team up to improve pastures at Graybeal Farms.

When Alan Graybeal shows up at one of the controlled grazing pastures he runs his beef herd on, the cattle head his way quickly and are as calm and docile as pets.

The Virginian explains the bovine welcome: "These cattle know that when I'm here they might be heading into a new pasture. They love to rotate to the fresh, tall grass. When they see me they know something positive happens."

Over the past three years something positive has happened on the 230 acres of scenic Pulaski County pasture that Graybeal leases from landowner Laura Bullard.

"This land has been in our family since 1808," says Bullard of what she considers to be her family's heritage.

Grazing cattle makes the most sense for the open, rolling land on the 500-acre farm. But it took the cattleman/landowner teamwork of Graybeal and Bullard to release the potential of old pastures that hadn't been managed for top production.

"We market grass in this region of the country," says Southern States agronomist David Jessee.

Bill Thompson and Jeremy Harris, employees of the co-op's store in Christiansburg, also provide the team with needed expertise.

When Graybeal came to Bullard about putting some of his 400-cow herd on her land, the pastures needed upgrading.

"Fertilization levels were way down," he explains. With advice from Southern States, Graybeal conducted soil tests and also adopted an improved weed and fertilization program.

"I make sure that all these pastures are soil-tested every two years," says Graybeal. To get the grass production to levels that now sustain 11/2 cow/calf pairs per acre, he and Bullard had the Southern States store in Christiansburg apply the needed fertilization.

Part of the fertilization program includes late summer applications to boost grass production. "We stockpile grass in the fall so that it is possible for us to get to January without feeding hay," Graybeal says. In good years, the farm only has to feed hay in February and March.

For late summer fertilization, Southern States applies ammonium sulfate.

"The product works best for these summer applications because it is not volatile in the heat," notes Jessee. "It also provides sulfur, which boosts mineral content of the forage for improved plant and animal nutrition."

"Hay is an expensive proposition, so our fertilization program from Southern States is crucial to keeping those costs down for us," Graybeal explains.

The stockpiled grass on his fescue and clover pastures fertilized with ammonium sulfate is high-quality and is packed with nutrients.

With Southern States at the helm, Graybeal and Bullard feel confident they will continue to enjoy their successes.