Early Pasture Best Management Practices

Pasture management should really be called `grass farming'. Think of your pasture grasses as your crop and the animals as your method of harvesting. Matching the amount of grass with the amount eaten by the animals will reduce waste and prevent the need to make hay, which raises the cost of the feed and can lower quality.

Key points to remember are:

Keep grasses in a vegetative state

Consider the bottom 2 to 3 inches of the plant as an `energy bank' which should be left for plant use, not animal feed. Overgrazing causes bare spots and encourages weeds, erosion, and runoff of nutrients into nearby streams and wetlands. The following tips will help you achieve high production of grass while also protecting the environment.

Mow and Drag

Mowing the pasture simply cuts all of the plants to the same height. This prevents plants from getting too stiff and tough and from overshadowing each other. Dragging can be done with several devices such as chain link fence or an old bed spring. You drag this around the pasture to break up manure clods and spread them evenly throughout an area, making nutrients available on a more even basis.

Take Half - Leave Half

This is a good rule of thumb to ensure that the plant has enough reserves left after grazing to permit rapid regrowth. Example: if the grass is six inches tall, graze down to 3 inches, then move animals. Vigorous plants can compete better with weeds. Leave at least 2 to 3 inches of grass growth.

Art for "Grazing Effect"

Cross Fencing and Rotational Grazing

Healthy pastures don't just happen. You need to control how long animals are allowed to graze a certain area. Left on their own, they will graze their favorite grasses over and over again, allowing less desirable species to thrive and go to seed.

Soil Testing

Test soils on poorer pastures or on pastures that you plan to reseed to determine if your pH is out of balance or if you are short on any nutrients. Test every few years for other areas.

Reseeding

If you do reseed pastures, consider soil types and how you will be using the pastures and select appropriate seed. Choose an early maturing variety for a pasture that you can move animals onto in early spring. For a pasture that is too wet in spring, select a later maturing variety. This will help balance plant growth, animal needs, and soil conditions.

Compaction

Soil that is compacted restricts root growth and prevents water from moving through the soil to roots.

Best Advice

Keep animals off pastures in wet winter months. If soil is already compacted, aerate the area in the spring or early summer when grasses are actively growing and fill in rapidly.

Print this file