Spring of 2011 had brought significant challenges to livestock grazing operations. In many areas, 10 to 12 inches of rain fell from April to May, preventing land from drying out during early-spring grazing. And recent snow melts have cause flooding in other areas.
Many times when the grazing season begins, pastures are soft and wet and this year has been exceptionally wet in many areas. Normal grazing can quickly get these pastures muddy from damage by hoof traffic where livestock hooves are punching through the upper sod layer.
Special grazing techniques are needed to limit damage in soft, muddy paddocks. One way is to graze all your cattle together in one small “sacrifice” paddock until the ground gets solid again. This technique may destroy the area grazed and require reseeding in that individual paddock. This works for 3 to 4 days.If more time is needed, you will need to pull cattle to a sacrifice lot and feed hay until the ground is firm enough to turn back out. This may create some forage maturity challenges that require mechanical harvest. Both options can help protect most of your pasture acres from trampling losses and should be considered when conditions are not improving.
The worst thing you can do is graze a pasture for several days until it’s all torn up and then move to a new area. Repeated trampling over several days greatly weakens plants and can reduce production for months, or even years, due to subsoil compaction.
In contrast, pastures muddied up by grazing only briefly usually recover quickly. It may not happen as fast as when the ground is solid, but it will be fast enough to minimize yield or stand loss.
Take advantage of this rapid recovery by moving animals frequently, at least once a day, to a new area. Temporary fencing equipment like poly reels and set-in posts will help increase your grazing flexibility by allowing you to confine or fence cattle away from wet areas. Once the ground firms up, you can return to your normal grazing rotation. FG
—Excerpts from the Michigan State University Extension News newsletter, June 1, 2011.
PHOTOS
TOP: Severe hoof punching and damage to pasture.
BOTTOM: Moderate hoof damage to pasture. Photos courtesy of Michigan State University Extension.
