Forage Focus: Getting more from your pasture

Pasture growth is not evenly distributed across the growing season. This is because most of our pastures are composed of cool season grasses and roughly sixty percent of the total dry matter yield is produced before the end of June. May is typically the month that grass growth "explodes" and pasture based livestock owners struggle to manage the growth. Unfortunately, along with this rapid growth the grass plant is also shifting from vegetative growth to reproductive growth, resulting in the development of a seed head. The nutritional quality of the plant declines as it shifts to reproductive growth and becomes more mature. If high quality forage is desired then seed head development must be prevented.

There are only a couple of ways that I know of to prevent seed head development in an attempt to get more quality grazing from pastures. One is to increase the number of animals during the spring growth flush so that grass growth does not outpace consumption. For this to work the livestock owner must then have a plan to either decrease those animal numbers when grass growth slows down by the end of June, or add additional pasture land at that point, or provide supplemental feed to make up the pasture deficit. A modified version of increasing animal numbers is to only use a portion of the available pasture for grazing and set aside the rest for a cutting of hay. This set aside acreage can be returned to the pasture grazing cycle after a cutting of hay has been removed. The other option is to mechanically mow off seed heads and keep the plant in vegetative growth.

In general, getting more from your pasture requires that management be put into the system. There are two things that can be done that will have a quick impact on pasture productivity; creating pasture divisions and providing access to water in each pasture division. Creating pasture divisions allows the livestock owner to apply management skills and make decisions about where livestock graze, when they graze and for what length of time they graze. Pasture divisions allows the livestock manager some control over grazing height, plant selection and plant rest or recovery periods. The more pasture divisions you have, the more control that can be exercised over these factors. Access to water is critical to managing pasture rotations and livestock performance. I have seen some good pasture management intentions waylaid by lack of access to water.

Getting more useful production from your pasture is possible, but it does not just happen. It requires planning, more fence, access to water, and management skills. For more information about pasture management contact County OSU Extension office.

EDITOR's NOTE: For even more detail on pasture layout, paddock design, and water placement, see this 40 minute presentation from the April 2012 Ohio Grazing School held near Westerville: http://go.osu.edu/MIG8

Source: Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator Wayne County, Crossroads EERA