- march 3, 2020- part 3: pasture improvement and the …...march 12: managing pig-poultry rotational...

Part 3: Pasture Improvement

and the Grazier’s Toolbox

- MARCH 3, 2020-

- PRESENTED BY -

Sarah Flack

- HOSTED BY -

Introductions

Larissa McKenna

Humane Farming Program Director

Email: [email protected]

Website: foodanimalconcernstrust.org/farmer

Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) is a

national nonprofit organization that

advocates for the safe and humane

production of meat, milk, and eggs.

FACT’s services for livestock and poultry farmers include:

- Fund-a-Farmer Grants

- Conference scholarships

- Free webinars

- Humane Farming Mentorship Program

Sarah Flack

Our Presenter

"The material in

this presentation

is copyrighted

and not for use

without the

express written

permission of

the author.”

Copyright Sarah Flack

Pasture Management

Part 1 February 4th: Grazing from the plant perspective

Part 2 February 18th: Grazing from the livestock perspective

Part 3 March 3rd: Pasture improvement

and the grazier’s toolbox

Articles, free webinars and videos available

Sarahflackconsulting.com


How do we create

Diversity, Digestibility,

Quality, Productivity & Palatability

over a Longer Grazing Season?


Graziers Tool Box


• Observation skills

• Variable regrowth periods

• Post grazing residual

• Pre grazing height

• Stocking rate

• Stocking density

• Trampling

• Fallowing

• Clipping

• Tillage, aeration, seeding, fertilizing…

• Humility

Observation Tools:

What is the animal telling us?

Rumen Fill

Body Cond.

Rate of gain

Reproduction

Manure scoring

MUNs

Milk Production

Heat stress?

BehaviorCopyright Sarah Flack

Pasture & Soil

WHAT IS YOUR FARM TELLING YOU

ABOUT YOUR GRAZING

MANAGEMENT?

What is improving?

What is not improving?

What is getting worse?

Monitor to

catch

problems

EARLY

Everything seemed fine til we got 17 inches of rain… or til it didn’t rain for 8 weeks!


AN IMPROVING PASTURE WILL HAVE

• Closer plant spacing/ higher plant density

• Less bare soil visible

• More rapid plant growth

• Plants growing over a longer growing period

• High soil biological activity - manure decomposes more rapidly

• More plant species - high diversity

• More Perennial plant species

• Good soil structure and fertility

“The management of

the pasture is even of

more importance than

the selection of the

seed and the

preparation of the

land.”-1898 Robert H. Elliot


Improving & maintaining pasture

quality & productivity

Re-seeding

Soil improvement

Good Grazing Management

Grazing Guidelines

• Variable regrowth periods & plant

height & stage of maturity

• Short periods of occupation to

create different stocking density &

residuals & prevent re-grazing of

recovering plants

Understanding Over Grazing• Over grazing occurs when

livestock graze a plant

while it is still growing from

carbohydrate reserves,

rather than from active

photosynthesis

• Over grazing commonly

occurs when animals stay

in a paddock for too long, or

are returned to a paddock

too soon.Copyright Sarah Flack

Untoward Acceleration

A Common Rotational Grazing Mistake

This term, used by Andre Voisin in his book Grass

Productivity, describes what happens when

paddocks are not rested long enough between

each grazing. This creates a situation where each

grazing of the paddock provides less forage and

the re-growth period gets shorter throughout the

grazing season until most of the plants are

overgrazed and there is little or no feed left.


Common Over Grazing

Situations

•Taking down interior fences when pasture

growth slows in the fall to let livestock

“clean up” the pastures.

• Leaving animals in a pasture for too

many days in a row.

• Having a fixed grazing rotation

•Clipping after regrowth has started.

Short plants that never grow

tall no matter how long you let

them grow?

Low plant density &

Weeds!

But this is also overgrazing…

Protect the:

Crown

Growing Points

And plant energy

reserves


Don’t let

livestock graze

too short!

Adding more

paddocks or

grazing cells =

more control over

period of

occupation &

regrowth period &

stocking density

& trampling &

residualCopyright Sarah Flack

Is it a pasture or a heavy use area?

Do they have access in winter?

When is feeding hay out on pasture in

winter damaging the soil and when is it

a helpful way to build soil fertility?


Soil Test


Saturated wet

soils?

Biological

activity


Graziers tools: Stock Density:

Trampling, manure distribution

Stocking Density

= the number of

animals or pounds

of animals per acre

in the individual

paddock at a

specific time

Stocking Rate

= the total number

of animals on the

whole acreage –

may include both

cropland for winter

feed and pasture


WHICH STOCKING DENSITY?


White, S.L., Sheffield, R.E., Washburn, S.P., King, L.D., and Green, J.T. Jr. Spatial and time

distribution of dairy cattle manure in an intensive pasture system. J. Environ. Quality. 2001; 30:

2180–2187



Higher

stocking

densities

create more

trampling

impact, and

more

thorough

defoliation

and more

efficient

forage

utilization

BUT

May not be

ideal for

some animal

groups!

• 50 Jerseys moved to

a new 4 acre

paddock every 3

days is 12,500

lbs/acre.

• If they are moved

once a day into a

fresh 1 ¼ acre

paddock is 40,000

lbs/acre

• If you moved them

twice a day to a

paddock that is .63

acres there are

80,000 lbs/acreCopyright Sarah Flack

How often do I have TIME to move them? And what technology can I use to have

higher stock density with less labor?


Figure credit: White, Harlan E. and Dale D. Wolf. 2009. Controlled Grazing of Virginia’s Pastures. Virginia Cooperative

Extension, Virginia Tech, and Virginia State University.

How much forage is available per acre to support high

density grazing? Is it digestible enough to meet livestock

needs? What stock density works best for the livestock

group? What density is best for your pasture

improvement goal?


Practice calculating your

stocking density• 82 cows getting 2 acres per day. They

average 1250 lbs each.

• What is the S.D. if they get one paddock

per day (2 acres?)

• What is the S.D. if they get a fresh

paddock after each milking?


Practice calculating your

stocking density• 82 cows getting 2 acres per day. They

average 1250 lbs each.

• What is the S.D. if they get one paddock

per day (2 acres?)

– 82 x 1250 lbs = 102500 lbs/2 acres

– = 51250 lbs/acre

• What is the S.D. if they get a fresh

paddock after each milking?

– 102,500 lbs/acreCopyright Sarah Flack

Trampling – useful tool OR

damaging your pastures?


This was grazed the last time with a higher

stocking density on the left.

Lower density on right.



Post Grazing Residual

& when to clip?all

Leaving litter & residual is good

insurance in a drought year!


Clipping, Mowing, Pruning?


• Should I clip?

• When is it worth the time and money?

• Is the goal to increase DMI or improve

pasture or both?

• Immediately after grazing (don’t let it start

to regrow!)

• How short is too short?


Some plants don’t tolerate severe

trampling or too frequent trampling


Bunch, sod forming & elongating grasses

decisions on pre grazing height, length of

regrowth period and how much residual to

leave will change plant species composition


Letting grasses

get too tall too

frequently can

shade out shorter

sod forming

pasture plants and

lower overall plant

density


Plants grow

differently at

different times of the

year.

So use different

stocking densities at

different times of the

year, and leave a

different amount of

residual to meet

your pasture

improvement goal.Copyright Sarah Flack

Spring vs summer vs fall

Re-seeding? Choose the Right

Plant Species!


Trample seeding


Cow pie seeding


Reseeding


How to maximize Pasture DMI?

Higher density of plants with vegetative

leaf areaShort periods of occupation.

Long enough regrowth time to allow ideal pre grazing

height.

How to improve pastures?Short period of occupation.

Long enough regrowth time to allow plants to fully

recover.Copyright Sarah Flack


Articles available at:

[email protected]

http://www.sarahflackconsulting.com/

Upcoming webinars March 12: Managing Pig-Poultry Rotational Grazing

March 18: Livestock Compass Profit Management Tool

March 25: Trees for Livestock Food and Medicine

Grants, Scholarships, Mentorship & More!

Scholarship applications accepted on an on-going basis

Customized handouts on pastured-raised food available

upon request

Sign up for emails @ foodanimalconcernstrust.org/farmer/

Join us on social media

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https://foodanimalconcernstrust.org/webinars/

- march 3, 2020- part 3: pasture improvement and the …...march 12: managing pig-poultry rotational...

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