If you feel like you didn’t have enough time to prepare pastures this spring, you’re not alone. Many producers feel that once the grass starts growing, they don’t get to stop for a breath until June.
The good news is, producers still have time to make positive changes this year. Forage management is a year-round practice, and producers can do plenty of things now in early summer to improve forage performance and, in turn, cattle performance.
Forage Quality and Quantity
What looks like a beautiful, lush early summer pasture might really be too lush to provide quality nutrition. New growth forage lacks fiber. It’s high in protein, which is great for putting weight on calves, but the lack of fiber reduces the animal’s ability to absorb nutrients.
“In a perfect world, you would have a few paddocks that you didn’t graze hard in the fall where you left 6 inches or more of grass over winter,” says Greg Brann, a livestock producer and grazing consultant from Adolphus, Ky. “In that case, you’d have some older grass with higher fiber that can slow down the rate of passage of the fresh, new grass through the animal and allow them to absorb more nutrients.”
If last fall you weren’t able to plan to create a mix of mature and fresh grass, now is the time to make plans to do so for next year. It’s also a good time to observe the overall quantity and quality of forage in your pastures.
Observe cattle grazing patterns to monitor forage quantity. Selective grazing indicates enough forage is available that cattle can pick and choose their favorites. If cattle continue to graze during the heat of the day rather than in the morning or evening, it’s an indication that they are not getting enough forage to meet their needs.
Watch their manure to observe the forage quality, which is defined by the mix of protein and fiber. Runny manure is not desirable, nor is manure that stacks, Brann says. Manure the consistency of pumpkin pie filling indicates adequate fiber for cattle nutrition.
Looking Ahead to June
It’s early yet, but as the season progresses, Brann typically gets a lot of questions about mowing. Mowing is a useful practice to manage weeds and improve pasture quality, but it costs money, especially when fuel prices are high.
An alternative to mowing is high-density grazing by holding 40,000 lb. or more of livestock in one paddock. This tactic knocks down grass to shade out weeds, similarly to how mowing would. And it has the added benefit of fertilizing the soil with manure.
“A common practice is to control vegetation when weeds make up 20% or more of the forage mix in a pasture,” Brann says. “When I mow, I prefer to do so after grazing and not mow more than 20% of the total pasture acreage at one time.”
Brann can make quick adjustments to stocking density to meet the nutritional needs of the cattle and the growing speed of the forage because he uses virtual fencing, a tool that allows producers to manage where cattle graze without the use of physical fences.
Brann creates paddock boundaries using an app on his phone or a platform on his computer. His livestock wear GPS-enabled collars that deliver audio cues to encourage them to return to the herd if they approach the boundaries.
If an animal continues to the boundary, the collar delivers a mild electrical pulse to reinforce the audio cue. After a seven- to 10-day controlled training period, the majority of cattle respond to the audio cues and never need the pulse.
Beyond Containment
Virtual fencing does more than contain cattle. It gives producers time back in their day because they don’t have to move or repair physical fences. It also gives them data they can use to refine their pasture management plans.
For example, reviewing cattle grazing patterns in the virtual fence app or platform can help identify areas of a pasture that are being over- or under-grazed so producers can determine the cause and how to address it.
Virtual fencing gives producers something that’s hard to come by in a busy season: the option to use their time differently. Producers can choose to stop and take a breath, refine their grazing strategies or work on another aspect of their business.
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