Management of Perrenial Pastures in the Summer
By Joshua Baker, Marketing Manager/Southern Region
Coordinator, Kings AgriSeeds, Inc
Added August 18, 2015. In the transition zone, the hot, dry summer months are a critical time to ensure that appropriate pasture management is utilized. Although it seems to happen too fast, in a short while many areas will begin to leave spring behind and move into summer. As air and soil temperatures increase, and rainfall becomes sparse, our cool season perennials recover from grazing much more slowly. The severity of the summer as well as the degree of rainfall will determine how quickly the stands recover. While the summer may be cool and moist (not likely), we should still approach the warm season prepared for slower pasture regrowth and summer dormancy.
Do Not Overgraze. No matter how slow the regrowth, a key to maintaining a productive stand is to not overgraze. This means respecting a residual height of 4 inches and not re-grazing until a height of at least 8-10 inches is reached. Pastures that maintain at least 4 inches of residual height have cooler soil temperatures and higher moisture holding capacity. This means that they will recover faster and make better use of limited summer rainfalls, leading to quicker regrowth than a pasture that is overgrazed -‘grass grows grass’.
Develop a Sacrifice Area. If acreage is limited and a summer stockpile of perennial grasses is not available, develop a sacrifice area in which to feed stored forage. Feeding stored forage and allowing the grass to regrow to the appropriate grazing height (8-10 inches) will foster a much more productive stand this year and beyond. A more productive stand means a longer grazing season and decreased utilization of stored forage. It is critical to move animals off of the pastures while feeding stored forage. If left on pastures, animals will continue to overgraze despite deriving their nutritional needs from the stored forage being fed. In addition, animals grazing short forage exert more energy to reach their goal intake (2.5-3% on a dry matter basis of their body weight), thus reducing body condition or requiring higher intake.
Grow a Summer Annual Forage. Producing a summer annual forage is a great way to ensure that the quality of the forage intake is high enough to maintain high producing livestock. Whether it’s stockers, spring calving heifers or even mature cows, the transition from lush perennial forage to stored forage in the summer can be difficult, depending on the quality of the stored forage. In addition, as stated earlier, continuing to graze your perennial stand at a time when the plants are already stressed by weather conditions decreases its overall productivity. Growing high quality summer forage is a great way to ensure that cattle continue to gain/produce without a transition slump, and to preserve high production in your pastures. In addition, if enough acreage is designated for summer production, it can also be a great way to conserve perennial forages for winter stockpiling. With a seed cost of approximately $50-60/acre and a production potential of 4-5 tons of DM/acre (Dry hay is 11% moisture), growing summer forages can be a very lucrative venture; especially in moisture-stressed conditions.
The Overall Message: Balance per acre productivity with cow numbers. While you may feed large amounts of purchased forage, the one resource you have control over is your land base. Increasing its year-round productivity by maximizing growth each season may not mean you avoid feeding stored forage, but that you reduce your need for it, thus increasing the profit potential of the acres you manage.
Joshua Baker, Marketing Manager/Southern Region Coordinator for Kings AgriSeeds, Inc. can be reached by phone: cell (717) 682-6134, office (717) 687-6224, or by email:
joshbaker@kingsagriseeds.com
Posted: to Organic Production on Tue, Aug 18, 2015
Updated: Tue, Aug 18, 2015
