Setting Up A Pasture System

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Setting Up A Pasture System

• Terry E. Poole
• Extension Agent
• Frederick, MD

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Pastures Are Valuable

• They can be established almost anywhere.
• They are environmentally friendly.
• They are low-input and sustainable, considered to
  be a best management practice (BMP).
• They improve profitability as most pasture
  species are perennials which provide payback over
  a long period while animals enjoy a nutritious
  feed.

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• We all want to have lush, green pastures.

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Planning A Pasture SystemConsiderations

• Fixed Resources - acreage, soil type, soil
  conditions
• Semi-fixed Resources - water supply, existing
  fences, grass base
• Changeable Resources - forage type, temporary
  fences, animal numbers
• Seasonal Usage - land and forage enterprises

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Planning A Pasture SystemSources of Info and Help

• Resources
• soil survey map
• soil capability assessment
• aerial farm map
• walking the farm
• Assistance
• Extension Service
• N.R.C.S
• F.S.A.
• Farming Supply Companies

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Basic Types of Pastures

• Continuous
• - animals are allowed to graze in the pasture
  for extended periods of time
• - animals often do well in this system since
  they are allowed to choose the plants they eat
• - plants are often overgrazed and undergrazed in
  this system

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Continuous Grazing
In continuous grazing systems, animals are free
to roam all over the entire pasture and
selectively graze.
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Basic Types of Pastures

• Rotational
• - animals are allowed to graze for only a
  limited period of time and animals are moved when
  existing forage has been removed
• - intensive rotational grazing systems subdivide
  pastures into paddocks and use high stocking
  rates where animals are forced to eat all forages
• - this system is most efficient

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Rotational Grazing
In rotational grazing systems, the pasture is
usually divided into smaller paddocks where
higher stocking rates of animals are grazed for a
limited period of time.
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• Intensive grazing is being used successfully on
  small farms in this region to improve farm
  profitability.

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Intensive Rotational Grazing
Intensive rotational grazing systems take
rotational grazing one step farther. The
paddocks have even higher stocking rates and more
attention is paid to the grazing period in the
paddocks.
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Basic Types of Pastures

• Deferred Grazing
• - forage is allowed to accumulate in a pasture
  for grazing at a later date
• - stockpiled tall fescue is an example
• Strip Grazing
• - high stocking rate of animals are put into a
  pasture for a limited period
• - usually involves a specially planted crop
  typically an annual species i.e. rape, turnips,
  or summer grasses

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Strip Grazing
Strip grazing is accomplished in much the same
fashion as intensive rotational grazing. A high
animal stocking rate is used in a paddock in the
forage to be strip grazed. After a limited time
period for grazing, the animals are moved to
another section of the pasture.
previously grazed paddock
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Leader - Follower Grazing
In leader-follower grazing systems, animals
with higher nutritional requirements, such as
fresh dairy cows are allowed to be the first
animals to graze in a pasture. They are only
allowed to graze for a very brief period of time
before they are moved to another pasture and
animals with lower nutritional animals are moved
into the pasture to finish eating the remaining
forage in the pasture. The most nutritious
portion of the forage plants in the pasture is in
the succulent top portions of the plants. The
lower down the plant the animal grazes, the
animal will consume increasingly lower
nutritional value forage material.
Heifers
Cows
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Leader - Follower Grazing
The leader-follower grazing system can be used
for more than two nutritional groups of animals.
Heifers
Cows
Dry cows
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Creep Grazing
Creep grazing involves the process of weaning
calves/lambs on pasture. Special fences or gates
are used which allow the smaller animals to pass
through to the fresh, clean pasture. The
adults remain on the other side of the fence.
When the younger animals are finished grazing, or
need mama again, they simply pass back through
the fence to her. The fresh and tender
pasture is a good creep feed for weaning young
ruminant animals.
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Forward Creep Grazing
Creep grazing can be also done in the
Leader-Follower grazing system with the young
animals grazing ahead of the older animals.
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Co-grazing
Grazing, or multi-species grazing involves the
grazing of more than one species of animal. For
example, co-grazing may involve pasturing sheep
and beef animals together, or horses and sheep.
Experience has shown that co-grazing can more
efficiently utilize pasture, because of the
difference in grazing habits of most animals.
For example, goats prefer browse, bovines and
horses prefer taller forage plants, sheep shorter
forage plants, and poultry, very short forage
plants.
Were subbing for beef cattle.
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Sample Farm
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Setting Up A Pasture SystemRecommendations

• Develop a 5 year farm/business plan - you need
  to plan ahead plan for when fields need
  to be renovated you need
  contingency plans
• Use existing resources whenever possible (fences,
  water, forage crops)
• Establish crops according to your plan
• Existing pastures can be renovated later if
  needed now for grazing

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Setting Up A Pasture SystemRecommendations

• Put your money into good perimeter fence. -
  this will help to keep predators out and your
  animals in.
• Map out farm, give each field own identity
• Soil test fields individually - each has its
  own personality, so treat it accordingly
• Develop a practical watering system - common
  problem for many - there are many factors to
  consider (costs, environmental, system)

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Setting Up A Pasture SystemRecommendations

• Create a sacrificial area - this will protect
  your pastures
• Estimate the carrying capacity of your pastures
  - impacts on the number of animals and
  paddocks (rotational)
• Calculate number of paddocks needed and
  days/paddock (rotational)
• Temporary fence works well to form paddocks

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Sacrificial Area
You cows sure make a mess!

• This is a part of your pasture system that, just
  as it sounds, is permitted to become trashed.
• What is important here is that the trashing is
  confined to one small area where the mess can be
  controlled.
• Animals are kept in here during periods (i.e.
  wet) when it is not fit to put animals in the
  pasture.

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Paddocks

• In a rotational grazing system pastures are
  divided up into smaller units within the pasture
  these smaller units are called paddocks.
• In some smaller operations, permanent fencing is
  used to divide up the pasture.
• Temporary electric fence is a low cost, effective
  method of creating paddocks.

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Determining Paddock Size

• One of the keys to a successful rotational
  grazing system is to have the correct size
  paddock in relation to the number of livestock
  and the amount of forage in the pasture.
• The stocking rate should be high enough that the
  animals will eat all of the forage in less than 3
  days before being moved to a new paddock.

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Determining Paddock Size

• A rotational grazing system should have a minimum
  of 10 paddocks.
• This number of paddocks is necessary because the
  plants in the paddocks require more time to
  recover during the summer when re-growth is
  slower.
• The summer recovery period can be as much as 30
  days or more.

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Determining Paddock Size

• Formula for determining paddock size
• Animal Size cow will eat 3 to 3.5 body
  weight
• ewe will eat 3.5 to 4 body weight
• Quantity of Forage forage height (in.) x 200
  lb /A lb /A forage

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Determining Paddock Size

• Example Grazing Dry Cows
• 1200 lb (cow) x .03 36 lb / day
• 10 in. grass pasture x 200 lb 2,000 lb
  /A forage
• 2, 000 lb x .5 (leave half) 1, 000 lb
  available
• 1, 000 lb / 36 27 cow days
• Plan to rotate every 3 days.
• 27/ 3 9 cows per 1 acre of paddock

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• Calculating paddock sizes on paper is only a
  place to start.
• Ultimately your experience in the field will
  provide you with more accurate paddock sizes.

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Setting Up A Pasture System

• Part II
• Forage Species Selection

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Forage Species SelectionConsiderations

• Hay, grazing, or both?
• Permanent, or temporary pasture?
• Soil type and conditions?
• Livestock species?
• Length of grazing season?
• Establishment (equip. or site) options?
• Management style and abilities?
• Financial situation?
• Pasture system?

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Spreading Out the Grazing Season

• This is one of the more important aspects of
  developing a pasture system.
• This directly impacts on profitability since you
  have to supply stored feed to animals when they
  are not grazing.
• Putting animals out to pasture early in the
  spring and keeping them out on pasture late into
  the fall are important to those keeping animals
  year around.

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Spreading Out the Grazing Season

• Use early and later maturing varieties of
  forages - there can be as much as 2 wks
  difference in maturity dates
• Use different forage species - there are some
  differences in maturity dates between species
• Management practices affect green-up - heavy
  grazing delays re-growth - late winter
  fertilizer application promotes early spring
  green-up

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Spreading Out the Grazing Season

• Use extended grazing strategies - forage is
  allowed to accumulate for grazing at a
  later date when the primary pastures are grazed
  out
• tall fescue and orchardgrass can be
  stockpiled for fall grazing. T.F. can go far
  into most winters
• birdsfoot trefoil can be stockpiled for early
  summer grazing

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Spreading Out the Grazing Season

• Use crop residues
• corn fodder - the leftover material
  following the combine - there are
  dried leaves, stalks, and loose ear corn
  laying around - this is good grazing for dry
  cows - this helps to reduce volunteer corn in
  the following crop
• there are other crop residues to graze

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Spreading Out the Grazing Season

• Annual forage species that can extend the grazing
  season
• Brassicas - rape, turnips, kale -
  extends spring and fall grazing
• Annual grasses - wheat, barley, rye,
  oats, sorghum, sudangrass, sudex, millet,
  ryegrass
• Annual legumes - crimson clover,
  soybeans, vetch

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Spreading Out the Grazing Season
Note how the down production periods of the
standard pasture grasses, kentucky bluegrass and
orchardgrass can be compensated for by using an
alternative pasture crop such as sudex. A graph
such as this is important to pasture planning.
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Spreading Out the Grazing Season
Note how using an alternative crop such as
crownvetch can compensate for the down production
periods of the standard pasture legumes.
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Spreading Out the Grazing Season
Compare the ups of these alternative crops with
the downs of the traditional forage crops during
the year. This comparison can help producers to
find an alternative crop that can help to meet
the forage needs of animals during periods of
insufficient pasture.
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Developing A Pasture System

• The Pros and Cons of Pasture
• Forage Species in Our Region

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Smoothe Bromegrass

• perennial
• sod-forming - spreads through rhizomes
  (roots)
• palatable - animals willingly eat it
• hay or pasture
• slow to establish
• large seed - this can cause seeding problems

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Kentucky Bluegrass

• perennial
• sod-forming - spreads through rhizomes
  (roots)
• palatable - animals really like it
• native grass
• brief productive period - early spring and
  mid fall
• needs good fertility, soil conditions

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Orchardgrass

• perennial
• palatable
• predominant hay pasture grass - mixes well
  with most legumes
• has a long growing period - greens up
  early in spring and can be stockpiled for fall
• easy to establish
• matures too rapidly in the spring

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Pearl Millet

• summer annual grass
• history of low palatability - there are some
  improved varieties
• can suppress milk production
• very productive
• hay and pasture
• does not produce Prussic Acid

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Perennial Ryegrass

• perennial
• palatable - animals really like it
• pasture use mostly - some hay when mixed with
  alfalfa
• brief productive period - early spring, not
  heat tolerant
• germinates very quickly - great for getting
  quick coverage

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Annual Ryegrass

• annual
• palatable - a favorite of animals
• germinates quickly
• easy to establish, faster than perennial ryegrass
• good temporary cool season pasture - became
  popular during drought
• new varieties available
• some was harvested last year

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Reed Canarygrass

• perennial
• sod-forming - spreads through rhizomes
  (roots)
• history of being not palatable - improved
  varieties are better
• hay and pasture
• loves wet soils
• slow to establish

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Sorghum

• summer annual grass
• very productive
• easy to establish
• forage and grain (milo) varieties - even within
  the forage varieties they are separated into
  pasture and hay/haylage varieties
• used for all forms of forage
• produces Prussic Acid (HCN) - produces this
  under stress

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Sudangrass

• summer annual grass
• very productive
• hay and pasture
• not widely used
• not as palatable as sorghum
• produces Prussic Acid (HCN) - produces under
  stress

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Sudex

• summer annual grass
• sorghum x sudangrass
• very productive
• widely used - the preferred summer annual
• used for all forms of forage
• palatable
• produces Prussic Acid (HCN) - worse than its
  parents

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Tall Fescue

• perennial grass
• low palatability - except after it has been
  frosted
• hay and pasture
• drought tolerant
• wide range of adaptation - easy to establish
• endophyte fungus problems - there are Fungus
  Free varieties

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Timothy

• perennial grass
• palatable
• hay - does not tolerate grazing - seed
  is added to some prepackage pasture mixes
  because it is cheap
• not competitive
• productive in moderately wet and low fertility
  soils
• best seeded in the fall

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Small Grains

• winter annual grasses - wheat, barley, rye
• spring oats
• palatable
• easy to establish
• pasture and silage
• provides flexibility to the system - provides
  adaptability in soils, establishment, and
  management

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Field Corn

• summer annual
• very productive
• silage, green-chop - there are some pasture
  hybrids - if you do graze standing corn,
  gradually introduce the animals to it or they
  will go off feed
• grazing stalks after harvest works well

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Alfalfa

• perennial legume
• most productive legume
• high in protein, very palatable
• expensive to establish
• hay and haylage
• some pasture varieties - mostly varieties
  that fall over - still requires careful
  management

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Birdsfoot Trefoil

• perennial legume
• very palatable
• maintains quality when mature - can be summer
  stockpiled
• no bloat problems
• very slow to establish
• disease problems
• some varieties are better for pasture

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Common Dutch White Clover

• perennial legume
• native species - typically shows up in
  overgrazed pastures
• very aggressive (spreads)
• low in productivity
• shades out in tall grass
• causes bloat
• very palatable

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Crimson Clover

• winter annual legume
• easy to establish - often can just be
  over-seeded into a field in the late summer
• pasture - mostly used for cover crop
• disease problem
• very attractive when in bloom

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Crown Vetch

• perennial legume
• hay or pasture - mostly used in conservation
  plantings
• sensitive to over-harvesting/grazing
• no bloat problems
• palatable
• slow to establish
• spreads by surface rooting

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Hairy Vetch

• winter annual legume
• very productive
• very aggressive - will smother other plants
  in the field
• easy to establish with late summer seeding
• hay, haylage, pasture (can get rank)
• can become a weed problem

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Ladino Clover

• perennial legume
• tall white clover
• spreads by runners - for this reason, low
  seeding rate
• very palatable
• worst legume for bloat problems
• hay or pasture (as part of sward)
• needs good soil fertility and drainage

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Lespedeza
Korean

• perennial and annual varieties - annual
  varieties act as perennials (re-seed
  themselves)
• tolerates very poor, infertile soil
• hot weather crop
• Sericea matures rapidly, can be stemmy, low in
  protein, and is not tolerant of overgrazing
• Korean is good pasture between late spring and
  fall (killed by frost)

Sericea
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Red Clover

• perennial legume (short-lived)
• most aggressive legume
• easy to establish - seed can be over-seeded
  where it will germinate quickly with good
  seedling vigor
• wide range of adaptation
• hay and pasture
• horse owners object to the hairs on the leaves
  and stems

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Soybeans

• summer annual legume
• hay and haylage
• generally grown with sorghum, or sudex
• will require grain drill or planter to establish
• productive
• produces nutritious feed and is palatable if
  harvested at correct stage

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Brassicas

• Annual - spring planting lasts until hot
  weather - fall planting lasts until hard
  freeze
• rape, kale, turnips
• pasture
• palatable

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THE END