Top 10 Reasons to Improve Grazing Programs on Your Farm
Source: Dr. Garry D. Lacefield, Extension Forage Specialist, University of Kentucky
Grazing is an excellent way to utilize forage that is already available, either through sprayfields, or through non-sprayfields. Grazing is an efficient way to feed the animal as well as remove canopy. If grazing is managed properly, farmers can get more good out of what their animals are eating and make it go further, which is particularly important when fuel and feed costs are high. There are ten excellent reasons to improve your grazing programs through controlled grazing:
1) Wasting of forage by animals decreases. Rotational grazing or other controlled grazing methods can increase utilization versus continuous grazing, where animals are kept on virtually the same area continuously. Research (cited by Lacefield 2009) shows that in four different states, gain per acre increased with rotational versus continuous grazing. With less wastage in the pasture, this equates to potentially lower feed costs.
2) Overall forage yield has higher potential for increase. The optimal time for grazing is when plants are in their vegetative stage. Continuous grazing usually results in some plants being overgrazed and unable to repair and some plants are not grazed and become overly mature. When rotational grazing is used, the plant is grazed at the optimal time (usually) then has a period of rest and regrowth for another grazing. This method produces a higher yield than continuous grazing because plants are continuous at their optimum production stage for photosynthesis (VPI Bull. #45; cited by Lacefield 2009). When stocking rates are high, leaf area goes down and the plant cannot produce as much food for itself because of lower photosynthesis rates. As a result, the plant is weaker and growth of the plant slows down. During times of too much plant for the animals to graze, those plants could be harvested for hay.
3) Quality of forage increases. During continuous grazing, the majority of the plants in the pasture are either overgrazed or undergrazed, resulting in a very short or very mature plant. Quality with very mature plants is much lower than quality with plants at the vegetative stage. To increase quality, it’s best to have animals grazing when quality is optimum – normally at the vegetative stage with leaf growth is tender for animals to eat and abundant. Forage quality normally is at its highest when leaf count is high as well. Rotational grazing allows you to manage your pastures to put animals on the paddocks with high leaf content (Mathews et al. University of Florida 1994; cited by Lacefield 2009).
4) Potential for extending the grazing season increases. Because there is less wasting, more forage is available for a longer period of time because the forage you have on your farm can carry the animals over longer. According to Lacefield, during drought conditions, rotational grazing results in more pasture over a longer period of time compared to continuous grazing.
5) Potential for stand persistence of established forages increases. Some types of forages withstand grazing pressure better than others. In our area, bermudagrass tends to tolerate grazing pressure between than fescue, especially if the grass is not drought-stressed. If you allow any plant a rest period, that plant has more potential to make food for itself, grow faster and out-compete weeds, provided all its other needs are taken care of. This can result in improved stand density for forages.
6) Animal performance increases. Incorporating rotational grazing practices has the potential to increase the amount of gain achieved per acre and the amount of gain per animal, as well as a decrease in the amount of supplemental feed. According to Dr. Carl Hoveland at the University of Georgia, using rotational grazing instead of continuous grazing resulted in a 38% increase in gain per acre (stocking rate), 37% increase in gain per animal, and a 32% decrease in the amount of hay fed/animal.
7) Potential to observe animal health increases. There is not specific data that directly links animal health to rotational grazing that I am aware of (also Lacefield 2009), but common sense would suggest that when you move animals on a fairly frequent basis, that you are able to observe any health symptoms or anything amiss in your herd. One would hope that as you are able to notice these signs, you can better treat and respond to problems as they occur.
8) Positive impact on water quality increases. As pastures are not overgrazed, there is less potential for runoff and erosion, and therefore, we could expect better soil quality as well. There are other factors that influence water quality besides rotation of pastures, as well, including access by animals to surface waters, number of waterers and common areas, and annual forage versus perennial forage. The distribution of animal waste is also more uniform when rotational grazing is used.
9) Amount of profit per acre has potential to increase. Research from Penn State (Cunningham and Hanson 1995) shows that when compared to continuous grazing, hay, and corn silage, intensive grazing practices, such as rotational grazing results in a higher profit per acre. This would depend on the weather, forage, management, etc. but it makes sense that because you’re better using what you already have, you end up coming out better for your budget too.
10) Competition with weeds potentially decreases. If the forage you have is better able to compete and grow under grazing conditions, it stands to reason that the forage is better able to grow competitively with weeds, which many publications allude to (Lacefield 2009, University of Minnesota Extension Service Grazing Systems Planning Guide). Although rotational grazing will not completely eliminate the need for weed control, in most cases it will help the producer better manage weed control in a more efficient way.
All this being said, rotational grazing may still not be right for you and your operation. It takes time, materials, and quite a bit of management to effectively use rotational grazing. Simply buying the fencing materials is not enough – you must incorporate proper fertilization, forage selection, pest management, and sound breeding practices and selection to achieve good overall results. Rotational grazing does have its disadvantages as well, including increased fencing and waterer potential cost and increased monitoring and management requirements. However, if you have the resources to accomplish rotational grazing effectively and your goals are similar to the advantages, you as a producer may consider incorporating it into your farm.
