Subject: Pasture FAQ [6.2]
Supersedes: <pasture_824102101@mlfarm.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 1996 04:15:14 GMT
Summary: Frequently Asked Questions (and answers) on establishing,
. maintaining, and utilizing livestock pastures, for small
. producers and hobby farms.

Version: 6.2 <http://www.connix.com/~mlfarm/rural/pasture.html>

                                 Pasture FAQ
                                 -----------

                            1996 Ronald Florence

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Contents

  1. Why Pasture
  2. How Much Pasture
  3. Making Pastures
  4. Upgrading Pastures
  5. What To Seed
  6. Maintaining Pastures
  7. Pasture Fences
  8. Rotation Grazing
  9. Seasonal Rotation
 10. Weeds
 11. Disadvantages
 12. Unimproved Pasture
 13. Credits
 14. Copyright & Permissions

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Subject: Why Pasture

Why pasture?

On many high-productivity farms today, the answer might be `nostalgia' or
`to clean up odd corners that the tractors can't reach.' Some large,
mechanized farms get along with no pasture at all. Dairy cows are fed
silage, hay, and grain; market lambs and beef cattle are fattened in
feedlots; horses get by on stall feeding. In the interest of efficiency and
maximum gains, pasture is sometimes limited to dry cows or rams after
breeding.

The economics of high-productivity mechanized farms don't necessarily apply
to smaller farms, and especially hobby operations, where pasture can provide
excellent low-cost feed, savings in hay and manure handling, a healthier
environment than the barnyard or feedlot, extra-clean wool or grass-fed lamb
or beef for specialty markets, long-term benefits to the land, and the
pleasures of watching foals or lambs gambol on a grass field.

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Subject: How Much Pasture

How much pasture do I need?

Pasture needs depend on whether the pastures are primary or supplementary
feed, local rainfall, forage quality, the availability of alternate pastures
for rotation, the level of fertilizer and other nutrients applied to the
pastures, the time and equipment available for pasture maintenance such as
clipping or taking a cutting of hay, and the length of the grazing season.

The common rule of thumb is that one acre of permanent pasture can support
one animal unit (one cow or horse, six sheep or goats) through the grazing
season. Pasture productivity can vary widely from that guideline. Lush
improved pastures can provide grazing for 10-12 ewes with their lambs per
acre. Stocking rates for aggressive rotation, with substantial rests for the
pastures after each grazing cycle, can reach 6 cows or 36 sheep per acre on
improved pastures. At the other end of the scale, a cow or horse would have
trouble supporting itself on five or even ten acres of dry Western native
grassland, and one sheep per acre is the rule on some Australian sheep
stations.

Too much pasture can be as big a problem as too little, unless you can take
a cutting of hay when the forage gets ahead of the animals, or use a mower
to clip weeds and over-ripe grass to provide fresh grazing. See the Haying
FAQ for information on haying practices and equipment.

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Subject: Making Pastures

How do I convert woodland, or an overgrown field, to a productive pasture?

The methods depend on whether you have more money or more time. Instant
pastures are expensive. If you're willing to spend a few years on the
project, it can be done with minimal investment.

Start with a survey of the trees. There may be some trees you want to leave
on an overgrown orchard, field, or woodlot, like old apple trees or ancient
`wolf' trees on the edges of a field. Most animals enjoy fallen fruit (watch
out for drunk sheep if the apples lie too long), and all animals need shade.
You may be able to sell mature trees to a logger; otherwise, take advantage
of the firewood. If you have access to a chipper, the slash can be chipped
for garden mulch and as path coverings. Alternatives for the slash are
burning (you'll probably need a permit), or piling in an out-of-the-way area
as a wildlife refuge. It will eventually rot down.

The quick way to a pasture is to hire a bulldozer with a grubber blade, or a
backhoe, to clear the stumps and stones. A grubber blade looks like a huge
rake, and will clear out stumps and large stones without scraping away the
topsoil. A good backhoe operator can also pull stumps and stones without
disrupting too much of the topsoil. Some backhoe operators find it easier to
pull stumps when the trees are left standing, by using leverage high up on
the trunk. It may be wise to ask before you bring out the chainsaw. If you
hire a bulldozer without a grubber blade, make sure the operator scrapes the
topsoil aside before pulling stones and stumps, and regrades the topsoil
afterwards.

If you have more patience than money, saw stumps parallel to the ground -- a
sharp stump can wreak havoc with tractor tires or the feet of livestock --
and where possible, cut the stumps low enough to clear a mower, so you can
clip the pasture even before the stumps rot. You may want to hire a backhoe
or dozer to pull a few large stones, or learn to live with them. Lambs love
a big stone or two for games.

You can cut brush low to the ground with a chainsaw, a saw-blade on a
heavy-duty weed-whacker, a heavy-duty brush hog, or a hydroax (a super
heavy-duty brush-hog mounted on an excavator). Be careful with light-duty
brush hogs on heavy brush or a stony field, or saw-blades on lawn-trimmers.
You may be able to scrape away some brush with a bucket-loader on a tractor,
though most tractor loaders don't take kindly to being treated as a
bulldozer. You may have to mow some brush repeatedly to eliminate the
growth.

Sometimes, it is easiest to use animals to clear the brush. Goats are
specialists, often preferring brush to grass and clover. Sheep love poison
ivy and bittersweet. The real masters of brush clearing are pigs, who will
eat roots and all if they are put out without nose rings. The trick to
getting animals to clear brush and weeds is to confine them to a relatively
small area with a tether or temporary fences. If they have an entire pasture
to roam, animals seek out tasty new grass, clover or buds. When they are
confined to a small area, they eat everything in sight, including brush and
weeds. Watch out for poisonous plants when `mob stocking' a pasture: animals
that are pressed may ingest plants that they would avoid under normal
grazing conditions.

Once you have the trees and brush cleared, it's time to upgrade the pasture.

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Subject: Upgrading Pastures

How do I improve the quality of my pasture from the present mix of native
grasses and weeds?

The first step is a soil test. In many areas of the country, pasture land
has a pH too low to support the better forage grasses and legumes. The soil
test -- make sure you specify the target forage when you turn in the sample
 -- will tell you how much lime to add. If you cannot disc in the lime when
it is applied, applications of more than two tons/acre may need to be split
over a period of a year or so. You can spread lime yourself with a dump
spreader (they're often available at auctions or used implement dealers), or
a fertilizer spreader on a tractor, but it may be easier and cheaper to have
a local blending plant spread it by truck. Spreading lime with a fertilizer
spreader is a dusty job; if the lime isn't washed off carefully, the metal
parts of the spreader will end up looking like swiss cheese.

For low-input passive improvement, you can introduce clovers and other
desirable forage species by feeding mature hay on the pastures. The animals
will trample the seeds into the ground as they feed, and distribute seeds in
their manure. You can also change the balance between native clovers and
grasses, or the mix of grasses in a pasture, by tilting the fertilization
formula and timing of fertilizer application, or by modifying the pH. Adding
nitrogen-rich fertilizer, and early fertilizer application, favors grasses;
heavier applications of potash and phosphate and later application favors
the clovers. Higher pH from applied lime generally favors native clover and
other legumes. Timing your grazing and mowing can also improve the pasture.
Grazing heavily early, when grasses come up before the legumes, will favor
the legumes. Grazing heavily or mowing when jointed grasses like bromegrass
have their growing point close to the ground will retard their growth.
Alternately, if grasses are allowed to reach boot stage, when seed heads
have formed inside the stems, cutting or grazing encourages rapid regrowth.

For more aggressive improvement, once you have the pH up where you want it
 -- usually close to neutral for alfalfa or clovers, a little lower for
grasses -- you have a choice of reseeding from clean tillage or
over-seeding. For lush mono-culture grass pastures, or for planting legumes
like birdsfoot trefoil or alfalfa that don't compete well, clean tillage may
be the only possibility. You may need to plow under the old turf; you will
certainly need extensive discing. It's hard dusty work, and the animals will
have no use of the pasture until the new seeding is well-established. In
some cases you may have better results if you plant an interim crop before a
final discing and seeding with the desired grass or legumes. Buckwheat that
you can harrow in as green manure works well to choke out weeds, or you can
plant dwarf Essex rape, turnips, oats or rye, and let your animals graze
down the temporary pasture before a final seeding. Keep your animals off the
newly seeded pasture until it is well established.

Many native grass pastures can be renovated without plowing and harrowing to
clean tillage. Soil test results will tell you what fertilizer to apply for
the new seeding. You can then over-seed with a no-till seeder (some
agricultural extension offices rent or loan them), after killing the
existing sod with Roundup or another herbicide, or grazing the sod down
aggressively with mob stocking of sheep or pigs. If you don't have access to
a no-till seeder, a few passes with a disc or a field cultivator will
incorporate the fertilizer and lime, and disturb from 50% to 100% of the
existing grasses. If your soil has some clay content and shows frost cracks
in late winter, you may not need to disc if you `frost seed' in late winter,
after the snow is off but while the ground is still frozen. The same
technique could be used in California to seed into the soil cracks at the
end of a dry summer. Broadcast the new seed at a heavy rate and either roll,
harrow lightly, or drag with branches or a wooden drag to set the seed. A
temporary mob stocking with sheep will also set seed.

If you are seeding legumes to upgrade a pasture, when grass growth begins,
and as soon as the soil is dry enough to avoid tracking, graze the newly
seeded fields with enough animals to keep the grass short. This will open
the field to provide light to the new legume seedings. If you cannot graze
down the early grass with animals, you may have to mow it to allow light
down to the legumes. Keep the animals on the pasture until you see them
starting to eat the newly seeded legumes. Then pull the animals off and let
the legumes grow undisturbed for 6-8 weeks for clovers, 8-12 weeks for
alfalfa. At this stage, don't worry about the weeds; it's more important to
get the new seedings established. When the legumes are vigorous, you can
begin a regular grazing program.

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Subject: What To Seed

What should I seed in pastures?

Mono-culture grass pastures are sometimes used on picture-book horse farms,
and mono-culture legumes are sometimes used for aggressively rotated
paddocks or where a cutting of high quality hay is taken off the pasture in
the spring. In general, the most productive and lowest maintenance improved
pastures for ruminants are mixed legumes and grass. The advantage of mixing
legumes and grass on a pasture is that the clover and grass grow at
different times of year, providing good feed through the seasons. And once
inoculated clover or other legumes are established, they will generate
nitrogen that will in turn fertilize the grass -- saving the expense of
added nitrogen fertilizer.

There is also some recent interest in the use of herbs in pasture mixes.
Animals love the herbs, and some have beneficial medicinal properties.
Chicory and lotus are favorites in New Zealand. Rosemary and garlic in the
pastures would give you pre-seasoned lamb; it takes anywhere from a few
weeks to a few months for flavors to begin to affect the meat (pine is
quick, apple is slow). Be careful with herbs if you're using or selling the
milk from your animals: Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd is a good
example of the perils of garlic in a pasture for dairy cattle. Most herbs
cannot tolerate heavy grazing.

Typical legumes for pasture seeding are red, ladino, alsike, or white
clover; birdsfoot trefoil; and alfalfa. The latter two are tough to
establish except in clean tillage. For renovation seeding, a combination of
ladino and red clover works well in many areas. Red clover can handle
shading by grasses better than most other clovers; ladino clover has small
seeds that do well in partially tilled soils. Some tests have indicated that
red clover can retard ovulation in ewes, so it may not be a good choice for
a pasture used for flushing sheep before breeding. Red clover is also
susceptible to a mold that causes photosensitivity and slobbering in
equines. Ladino clover grows too low to cut for hay, so it may not be a good
choice on a pasture where you're planning to take an occasional cutting of
hay. Alsike clover grows well on poorer soils, but is not recommended for
equines. White clover tolerates close grazing and trampling well. Make sure
you inoculate legume seeds before seeding if they are not pre-inoculated.

Predominantly legume pastures present the potential danger of bloating in
ruminants, and laminitis and/or founder in equines. Bloat can generally be
avoided if you condition animals to lush legumes gradually. Let them eat
their fill of dry hay in the morning before they go onto an alfalfa or
clover pasture, and limit their grazing the first few days.

Among the grasses, orchardgrass, bromegrass, timothy, bluegrass, tall
fescue, bermudagrass, and perennial ryegrass are all popular in pastures.
Unless you've cleared to clean tillage, chances are your pasture will be a
mixture of grasses. Some farms structure their grazing to provide a rotation
between cool-season grasses (bluegrass, bromegrass), which do best in the
spring and fall, and warm-season grasses like bermudagrass or sudangrass.
There are many favorite combinations: bluegrass and white clover, perennial
ryegrass and ladino clover, orchard grass and red/alsike clover. Local usage
may suggest a combination for your area. If you are reconditioning several
fields, you may get higher overall productivity by using different
combinations in different fields, to take advantage of the different
maturity dates of the various grasses.

There is some recent research on cultivars of permanent grasses designed to
grow in early spring, mid summer and late autumn, and varieties which
withstand continuous grazing. Local seed catalogues are the best source of
cultivars for your area; most large farm supplies like Agway and many of the
seed companies have pasture seed catalogues. You may also be able to find
recommendations for your locale on the Forage Information System. The
alternative for extending grazing seasons is annuals.

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Subject: Maintaining Pastures

What do I need to do to maintain my pastures?

To maintain their productivity, pastures need adequate nutrition, clipping
or controlled grazing to eliminate weeds and over-ripe grass, and protection
from overgrazing.

Fertilizers and added manure provide the nutrition. Trust your soil tests,
but as a guideline, legume or mixed legume-grass pastures generally need
30-60 lbs of phosphate (P2O5) and 90-120 lbs of potash (K20) per acre once a
year, with the lower rates for pastures where you spread manure or have
fertile soils. Alfalfa and clover pastures, and grazing animals, may profit
from small amounts of boron (~9 lbs/acre); because the amounts are small,
the boron should be carefully mixed into the fertilizer before spreading.
Good legume-grass pastures need no additional nitrogen (N). Straight grass
pastures need 80-120 lbs of N per acre annually in split applications
(usually a first application in early spring in the east, late fall in
California, and a second application sometime after first cutting of hay in
your area), with 40-90 lbs of P2O5 and 60-100 lbs. of K2O per acre annually.
If you spread manure on the pasture, application rates as low as 40-60 lbs
N, 20-30 lbs. P2O5, and 30-40 lbs K2O are probably sufficient. Taller
grasses, like orchardgrass and reed canarygrass, generally need the higher
rates.

If you don't have access to a blending plant, or don't have the equipment to
use bulk fertilizer, you may have to select from available bagged
fertilizer, or mix two or more blends of bagged fertilizer to get the
formulation you need. A good starting point for legume or mixed legume/grass
pasture is 300-600 lbs/acre of 0-10-40 or 0-15-30. A starting point for
grass pastures is a split application of 400-600 lbs/acre of 15-8-12.

Applied manure, in addition to the animal droppings, is good for a pasture.
Ten tons per acre of cow manure (two-thirds that amount of sheep manure),
well-flailed and spread after grazing has stopped (late fall in the east),
is ideal. Chicken manure application should be no more than 3-4 tons per
acre. If you don't have a manure spreader, you may be able to borrow one, or
hire a neighbor to custom spread your manure. If you have problems with
parasite worms in your livestock, it may help to compost the manure
thoroughly before applying it.

Unless you are using a very aggressive rotation scheme on small paddocks,
you will probably need to clip your pastures at least once per year to
control weeds. Twice is better -- once around the time of first cutting of
hay to eliminate ungrazed old growth, and a second mowing late in the
growing season to get the weeds. Pastures with tall-growing grasses like
orchardgrass or reed canarygrass may need three clippings per year. Clipping
after every rotation can do wonders to eliminate nasty weeds like thistles.
Timing is all-important when you are mowing to eliminate weeds. Mow too
late, and your brush hog will actually distribute the weed seeds.

A sickle bar mower set at 3 inches will do an excellent job of clipping a
pasture. See the Haying FAQ for information on adjusting a sickle bar mower.
A brush hog will also do a good job if the blades are sharp; on a stony
pasture, the brush hog will function as a missile launcher, so be careful.
Flail mowers do a good job on stony pastures. If your pastures are free of
stumps and stones, you can use a heavy-duty finishing mower or lawn mower.
For smaller pastures, a walk-behind sickle-bar or DR-style mower will do a
fine job of clipping. The best time to mow is just after a heavy grazing
cycle. Some mowers may scatter the manure, or you can use a spike harrow or
drag to break up and distribute clumps of manure. An alternative or
supplement to mowing is a wether goat or two in with your other animals, if
you've got the fences and secure enough gates to hold a goat.

Grazing too early or late in the growing season takes a toll on a pasture.
When a pasture is grazed too early, the young shoots are quickly nibbled
off, plant root systems are destroyed, and weeds move in. Animals then churn
the wet sod searching for palatable plants, turning the pasture into a
muddy, eroding feedlot. Grazing too late strips the growth that forage
grasses and legumes need to build up root systems during the winter or
dormant season. Fields reserved for succession grazing on annuals can extend
the grazing season.

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Subject: Pasture Fences

What is the best fence for pastures?

Fences have two purposes: keeping animals in and keeping predators out. The
wood fences of fancy horse farms or New England stone walls may succeed at
the former, unless you're trying to keep a bull away from cows in season, or
unweaned lambs away from their mothers. To keep predators out, you will
probably need woven wire, high-tension, or electric fences. Stopping a
mother coyote who is trying to feed her kit may require 48-inch woven wire
with additional strands of barbed wire at ground level and above the woven
wire, or 6-7 strands of high-tension electric fencing.

Cattle and horses that are trained well to electric fences can be fenced in
with a single wire. Many horse farms prefer to use a highly visible wire or
one of the wide braided conductors. Smaller animals and animals with heavy
coats need multi-wire fences to contain them, and pigs need carefully-placed
ground level wires -- barbed or electric -- to keep them from digging their
way out.

Woven wire fences are relatively simple to install. Depending on local
supplies and aesthetic needs, you can use metal T-posts, pressure-treated
commercial posts, or homemade posts of a resistant wood like cedar or
locust. T-posts or sharpened wooden posts can be started with a pry bar and
driven in with a post pounder. Corner posts should be stout, dug deep and
may need braces. Use a fence-stretcher or a tractor to tension the fence
before you staple it to the posts, and leave the staples loose on
intermediate posts to allow the fence some play. A convenient tool for
fence-stretching is a pair of 2 x 6 boards, longer than the height of the
fence, drilled for 3 to 5 strong bolts. Sandwich the end of the fence
between the two boards and tighten the bolts to hold the fence, then hitch a
chain from the tractor or fence stretcher to the sandwich-boards to stretch
the fence evenly.

High-tension fences work best for long runs on level land, where they
require few intermediate posts. Because of the tension in the wires, the
corner posts need to be well dug and braced; old telephone poles can be cut
up to make good corner posts. In some cases high tension fences do not need
to be electrified, but to look good and perform well, they require careful
installation and no stinting on tensioners and other hardware.

For temporary fencing, portable electric fences using `polywire' or
electrified netting are quick to set up and move. The various reel devices
are useful if you plan to move the fence often. Gallagher sells hardwood
posts that require no insulators, at least in relatively dry climates, which
are convenient as end and corner posts for temporary electric fences. Welded
hog or cattle panels can also be used for temporary holding pens.

Premier Fence Systems (800.282.6631, fax 319.653.6304), Gallagher (usa
210.494.5211, nz 07 838 9800) and Kencove (800.245.6902, fax 412.459.9148)
distribute catalogs with excellent ideas for electric and high-tension
fencing, including electric scare fences that can be used as an adjunct to
stone walls or older woven or wooden fences. Reliable electric fences
require adequate charger strength, good grounds, and some thought to
gateways, streams, and abrupt changes in terrain.

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Subject: Rotation Grazing

What is rotation grazing and how do I do it?

Some pasture forages, such as alfalfa or timothy, require a period of rest
after a period of heavy grazing. Many other forage species also respond well
to alternating cycles of grazing and rest. Most grazing animals, when they
are confined to a limited area, will eat everything in sight, including
weeds and coarse forage, instead of nibbling only the tender shoots that
grew the night before. Rotation grazing takes advantage of these patterns of
forage growth and animal habits to increase pasture productivity.

Rotation patterns can vary from super-aggressive `forward paddock grazing'
which may move the animals daily, to a casual rotation between two pastures
every three or four weeks. Two weeks is generally the minimum rest for a
pasture; three or four weeks is better. Some farms rotate different
livestock onto pastures in sequence, taking advantage of the different
grazing habits of cattle and sheep. After the cattle eat the coarse growth,
sheep are brought in to eat the fine grasses and clovers the cattle missed.

Livestock can be rotated between separate pastures, or between paddocks
carved out of pasture areas with stone walls, cross-fencing, or portable
electric fencing. Portable fencing is versatile, but requires more work to
move and set up than the advertisements in the catalogs and magazines
suggest. The alternative of permanently divided paddocks can be inconvenient
for mowing, fertilizing, or taking an occasional cutting of hay. Whatever
the rotation pattern, you will need shade, water, and mineral feeders in
each paddock or pasture area; if you don't use portable fencing, you will
need gates or bar-ways between the paddocks or pastures. Some farms save
water piping and labor by arranging their paddocks around central islands
with waterers and mineral/salt feeders; by opening and closing two gates, or
moving a hog or cattle panel, they can rotate the stock to a new paddock.

Strip grazing (sometimes called the Voisin system) uses one or two electric
fences, moved as often as daily, to allow the livestock to graze fresh
forage. On some operations, the lambs or calves are allowed to graze a
paddock or strip first; when they move on to fresher grass and clover, the
ewes or cows are brought in to clean up the old paddock.

A few cautions: some forages, like bermudagrass and tall fescue, show little
or no response to rotational grazing. And recent research suggests that
rotation does not help with parasite control unless the animals are wormed
frequently enough to keep the parasite populations low. The typical rotation
periods of 2-6 weeks are not long enough for the parasitic organisms in the
idle pasture to die, and the longer ungrazed growth of an idle pasture may
actually shelter parasites from sunlight. A field generally will not be
parasite-free unless the animals have been off it for a full year. In many
situations, overall production (weight gains, milk production) from
rotational grazing do not exceed production from continuous grazing of the
same amount of land. Excessive pressure on forage, when animals are forced
to consume all of the forage, can actually lead to significant drops in
production.

But, if your pastures are predominantly alfalfa or timothy, or if animal
management needs such as predator control make it advisable to confine the
flock or herd to smaller pastures, or if you are using animals to aid in the
improvement of pasture by forcing them to graze areas hard, rotation grazing
can do wonders for your pastures.

Before rotation onto a clean pasture is an optimum time to worm your
animals. Even if you don't have a planned rotation scheme, when you see
animals moving about restlessly in search of forage, it may mean the pasture
is temporarily exhausted and needs a rest. If you don't have an alternate
pasture, it may be time to confine the stock to a feedlot until the pasture
recovers, or at least to take pressure off the pasture by feeding
supplementary hay or silage.

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Subject: Seasonal Rotation

What about seasonal rotation, with alternate forages?

You can extend the grazing season, and gain maximum production (milk from
cows, growth in lambs) by rotating stock to different forage depending on
the season. On permanent pastures, you could rotate between grasses that
grow better in the spring and fall (bluegrass, bromegrass) and mid-summer
grasses (bermudagrass). You can also rest pastures by turning animals into
hayfields to clean up the aftermath. Some old-time dairy farmers developed
sophisticated grazing programs to take advantage of the growth patterns of a
variety of forage, and may be a good source of advice. One caution:
ruminants and equines may develop scours when they are moved abruptly from
one forage variety to another; it is generally a temporary condition and
disappears when the stomach flora adapt to the new forage.

You can also extend the grazing season by reserving a field or portion of a
field for annual plantings of supplemental grazing crops. Winter rye and/or
wheat seeded in the fall can provide early spring grazing before the
permanent pastures are ready. Oats seeded in the spring can provide grazing
in the summer when regular pasture growth slows. On heavier soils, Japanese
millet can provide mid- to late-summer grazing. Brassicas like rape or
turnips can provide temporary grazing in 4 to 6 weeks, and allow grazing
well into the winter. Some brassicas can be heavily grazed, rested for a
month, and grazed again. Sheep will trample and waste root crops if they
aren`t confined to a few days worth of grazing with temporary fencing, and
sometimes sheep need an experienced lead animal to show them how to eat root
crops.

Supplemental pastures and/or grazing hay aftermath may allow you to bank
grass (field hay) on your permanent pastures for late season grazing. A fall
application of nitrogen fertilizer (~60lbs/acre) will green up the grass;
sheep and cattle can graze snow-covered pastures as long as there is no
heavy icing. Even mixed grass/clover pastures which generate their own
nitrogen during the growing season can sometimes profit from a fall
application of nitrogen to encourage grasses like perennial ryegrass over
early-dormant, low-nutrition grasses like redtop. Unfertilized banked
pasture is generally low nutrition feed. If the quality falls below the 45%
IVDMD (In Vitro Dry Matter Digestability) of good hay, the animals may need
relatively expensive supplements of grain or silage.

It is also possible to round-bale excess growth and leave the haybales in
place behind fences, covered, or just on the field. When the animals have
exhausted the fresh growth they will turn to the baled hay, even in heavy
snow. See the Haying FAQ for more information on combined grazing and forage
schemes.

With carefully planned succession grazing, rotation of permanent pastures,
fall nitrogen application, and banked grass, it is possible to extend the
grazing season to as long as 10.5 months in a climate like Wisconsin, and
possibly to all year in milder climates. The trade-off for the elimination
of manure and hay handling is the time, fuel and cost of harrowing, seeding
and fertilizing supplementary grazing crops.

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Subject: Weeds

How can I control weeds?

Mowing is often sufficient to control weeds. Goats or sheep can be effective
`mowers' for weeds like poison ivy, bittersweet, or leafy spurge. At Maple
Lawn Farm, our flock of Cotswolds have gradually eliminated poison ivy and
bittersweet from our pastures, including infestations of bittersweet that
completely covered stone walls.

For hard-to-mow nasties like Canada Thistles, it sometimes works to walk the
field with a scythe or a metal-bladed weed-whacker. If you can rotate your
livestock off the field for periods, you can use herbicides, either
broad-spectrum or targeted, against weeds. Banvel, Crossbow or Weed-B-Gone
will attack broadleaf weeds without killing the pasture grasses; it is best
to apply these broadleaf herbicides when the grass is not stressed. Fall,
after the second or third cutting of hay in your area, is a good time.

If the weedy patches are limited, you can spot-spray or apply Roundup or
another broad-spectrum herbicide by using a cotton glove over a rubber glove
and rubbing the Roundup on the weed leaves by hand. For large pastures
and/or heavy infestations of weeds, you can use a tractor or truck mounted
boom-sprayer, or hire a custom operator, to spray the herbicide. An
alternative for selectively applying herbicides is to use knotted cotton
cords dangling from holes in a length of PVC pipe that is mounted on a 3pt
hitch or bucket loader. Cap both ends of the PVC pipe, fill it with
herbicide, then adjust the height of the rig so the knotted cords drag
against the weedy growth but miss the grass and clovers as you drive over
the field. For a large field, you can rig a tank and piping to automatically
refill the PVC pipe with herbicide.

Weeds with persistent root systems, like bindweed or poison ivy, may require
repeated herbicide treatments. In some cases you may need Roundup followed
by discing and reseeding.

For areas that are so infested with foxtails, barnyard grass, or other
undesirable grasses, there is sometimes no alternative to discing and
reseeding an area of the pasture. We've had good luck at Maple Lawn Farm
harrowing up the weedy area after the spring flush, late-summer seeding a
mixture of dwarf essex rape and winter rye, and using temporary fences to
keep the stock off until the regular pastures are exhausted in late October
or November. We then strip graze the rape and winter rye, which extends our
grazing season for another month or so. In the spring, we let the stock
graze down the regrowth of winter rye, then harrow and seed a permanent
grass and clover mix.

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Subject: Disadvantages

Are there any catches or disadvantages to pastures?

The two biggest potential disadvantages to pastures are predators and
parasites. The Predator FAQ includes suggestions on how to control the
impact of predators. Parasites, especially worms, are a challenge in any
grazed area. Long-term rotation, regular programs with antithelmics, careful
monitoring of your livestock, and periodic testing and inspection of feces
will usually keep parasites under control.

In some cases, meat animals fattened on green pasture develop a yellowish
tinge to their fat from the stored carotene. Some packers will reject meat
with yellow fat. Restaurants and private customers may prefer the grass-fed
meat, not only for the taste and texture, but because pasture-fattened
animals tend to have less marbling; the fat is on the edge of cuts and
easily removed. If your market is to packers who reject yellow-tinged fat,
finishing the animals on a feedlot for 60 days, or grazing for a few months
after the green flush of spring pasture, will bring back the snow-white fat.

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Subject: Unimproved Pasture

This all sounds like too much work. Why can't I just turn my stock loose in
a woodlot or overgrown meadow?

You can, and if there are no poisonous plants or other dangers, the animals
will browse grass and brush. Some species to watch out for: choke cherry and
elderberry (the leaves are toxic if a branch is cut or knocked down by a
storm), water hemlock, spotted hemlock, rhododendron, locoweed, lupine weed,
jimson weed, horsenettle (nightshade), milkweed, and some laurels. Western
nasties include fiddleneck, brackenfern, larkspur, tansy, and yellow star
thistle. Your local Agricultural Extension office will probably have
brochures and charts to identify noxious and poisonous plants in your area.
Most stock will avoid poisonous plants unless they are hungry; be careful in
dry periods, or when you are mob stocking to improve a pasture.

Unimproved pasture like woodlots or brushy slopes generally won't provide
more than maintenance feed for cattle or sheep. But if you already have a
regular feeding program and need only supplemental grazing, or if you are
using animals to maintain the land, low-input grazing may be just the
ticket. On some farms, feeding supplementary grain to animals on unimproved
pasture may be more practical than improving pastures with heavy inputs of
lime, fertilizer, and tractor time.

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Subject: Credits

Who wrote this FAQ? I'd like to be aware of regional and other prejudices in
the information.

Ronald Florence <ron@mlfarm.com>, who raises Cotswold sheep in Stonington,
Connecticut is the author. Additional information was provided by

   * Christy Gammage <ctgammag@ingr.com> of Huntsville, Alabama
   * A. S. Chamove <A.S.Chamove@massey.ac.nz> of Palmerston North, New
     Zealand
   * Bernie Cosell <cosell@infi.net> of Pearisburg, Virginia
   * Mark Kramer <mkramer@world.std.com> of Boston, Massachusetts
   * Marsha Jo Hannah <hannah@ai.sri.com> of La Honda, California
   * David Kee <dkee@ag.auburn.edu> of Auburn University
   * Amy Chemerys <ax01@psuvm.psu.edu> of Penn State University
   * Gordon Couger <gcouger@master.ceat.okstate.edu> of Stillwater, Oklahoma

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Subject: Copyright & Permissions

May I use this FAQ in my homepage, book, talk, or article?

This document is copyright 1994-96 by Ronald Florence. Permission is granted
to copy this document in electronic form, or to print it for personal use,
provided that this copyright notice is not removed or altered. No portion of
this work may be sold, by itself or as part of a larger work, without the
express written permission of the author; this restriction includes but is
not limited to print, digital media, and electronic transmission.

The current html original of this document is available, along with html
FAQs on lambing, predators, and haying, on the Maple Lawn Farm home page at
http://www.connix.com/~mlfarm/. An ascii-digest version is posted by script
every 60 days to Usenet newsgroups misc.rural, misc.answers, and
news.answers.

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Please send comments to Ronald Florence <ron@mlfarm.com>
-- 

....Ronald Florence
