Subject: Pasture FAQ

From: Ronald Florence <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 1994 04:20:28 GMT

Archive-name: rural/pasture-faq
Last-modified: [email-masked], 25 Nov 1994
Version: 1.0

                Frequently Asked Questions About Pastures
	             Copyright 1994 Ronald Florence

1.  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.

2.  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 usual rule of thumb is that one acre of permanent pasture can
    support one animal unit (one cow or horse, six sheep or goats).
    Pasture productivity can vary widely from that guideline.  Lush
    improved pastures can often support 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 six animal units (6 cows or 24 sheep) per acre on improved
    pastures.  At the other end of the scale, a cow would have trouble
    supporting itself on two or more acres of some scrub pastures, 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.)

3.  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, or a heavy-duty brush hog.  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.
    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.

    Once you have the trees and brush cleared, it's time to upgrade
    the pasture.  See question 4 below.

4.  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 will tell you how much lime to add.
    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
    fertilizer spreader on a tractor, but it may be easier and cheaper
    to have a local blending plant spread it by truck.

    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
    balance of grasses in a pasture, by tilting the fertilization mix
    and timing, or by modifying the pH.  Adding nitrogen-rich
    fertilizer, and early fertilizer application (see question 6
    below), favors grasses; heavier applications of potash and
    phosphate and later applications favor 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 in early spring, 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.

    Most 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).  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.  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 spring seeding legumes to upgrade your pasture (see
    question 5 below), 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.

5.  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 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 extension and soil conservation
    services may recommend white clover instead.  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.  Ladino clover is 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.  Make sure you inoculate legume seeds
    before seeding.

    Predominantly legume pastures present the potential danger of
    bloating in ruminants.  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,
    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
    sudangrass.  Reed canarygrass and orchardgrass grow all season,
    depending on the available moisture.  Timothy grows well all
    season, but doesn't take well to continuous grazing.  There is a
    danger of prussic acid poisoning from some varieties of
    sudangrass.

    There is some recent research on cultivars of permanent grasses
    designed to grow in early spring, mid summer and late autumn.
    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.  The alternative for
    extending grazing seasons is annuals (see question 9 below).

6.  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 (P2O2) 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 ladino clover profit from a little boron in the fertilizer.
    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,
    and a second application sometime after first cutting of hay in
    your area), 40-90 lbs of P2O5, and 60-100 lbs. of K2O per acre
    annually.  If you spread manure on the pasture, applications 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 (early spring, summer) 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 in the fall after
    grazing has stopped, 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.

    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 in late
    spring to eliminate ungrazed old growth, and a second mowing in
    late summer 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.  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.  If your pastures are free
    of stumps and stones, you can use a heavy-duty finishing mower or
    lawn mower.  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.  For hard-to-mow nasties like Canada
    Thistles, try walking the field with a scythe or a metal-bladed
    weed-whacker.

    Grazing too early in the spring, or too late into the fall, 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 fall growth that
    forage grasses and legumes need to build up root systems for the
    winter.  Fields reserved for succession grazing on annuals (see
    question 9 below) can extend the grazing season.

7.  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 weaned 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 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 ends of 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 (???) 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.

8.  What is rotation grazing and how do I do it?

    Most pasture forage responds well to a cycle of heavy grazing,
    followed by a period of rest.  Many animals, if 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 the
    pattern 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,
    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, between
    paddocks carved out of pasture areas with stone walls or
    cross-fencing, or between areas of a pasture with 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 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.

    Another advantage of rotation is parasite control.  Many internal
    parasites cannot survive two or three weeks away from their hosts,
    especially in the hot sun on a close-clipped pasture.  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
    usually means 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.

9.  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 (sudangrass).  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
    sheep to graze 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.

    Supplemental pastures and/or grazing hay aftermath may allow you
    to bank grass (field hay) on your permanent pastures for late
    season grazing.  Sheep and cattle can graze snow-covered pastures
    as long as there is no heavy icing.  Banked pasture is generally
    low nutrition feed, and may need to be supplemented with grain or
    silage if the stock requires more than a maintenance ration.

    With carefully planned succession grazing, rotation of permanent
    pastures, 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 and fuel for
    harrowing and seeding supplementary grazing crops.

10. 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.  Most stock
    will avoid poisonous plants unless they are hungry.

    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.

11. Who wrote this FAQ.  I'd like to be aware of regional and other
    prejudices. 

    Ronald Florence <[email-masked]>, who raises Cotswold sheep in
    Stonington, Connecticut, is the author.  Additional information
    was provided by Christy Gammage <[email-masked]> of Huntsville,
    Alabama; A. S. Chamove <[email-masked]> of Palmerston
    North, New Zealand; Bernie Cosell <[email-masked]> of
    Pearisburg, Virginia; and Mark Kramer <[email-masked]> of
    Boston, Massachusetts.
-- 

				Ronald Florence