OTHER IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS IN
PRESCRIBED GRAZING
Once a prescribed grazing management plan has been developed, there are several other important factors to consider.
Water is an extremely important part of a grazing plan and the more accessible it is to the livestock, the better. However, this does not mean that every paddock requires a separate stock tank. In some cases a stock tank can be placed in a fenceline and easily serve 2 or more paddocks, or with some creative fencing, one source of water can supply the entire planned acreage. The primary concern is making sure that water is available to the livestock at all times and that it is of adequate quantity and quality. Grazing management plans for lactating dairy cattle should include a source of water at least every 500 feet. Other classes and kinds of livestock should have a source of water at least every 1000 feet.
As a general consideration, under normal New York State conditions, there are but a very few days during a summer when the lack of shade would be a concern. In fact, providing shade for lactating dairy cows may do more to harm milk production than to help. Livestock are a lot like people in that sometimes things are done, not out of necessity, but out of desire. When a lactating dairy cow stands in the shade on a 75 to 80 degree day with a cool breeze blowing, it is not because she needs to. It's because she wants to. Unfortunately, while she is standing in the shade she is not eating and, as a result, milk production is reduced. However, during those few days when temperatures exceed 85 degrees and there is little or no breeze blowing, dairy cows can still graze mornings and nights. During the heat of the day they can be put in the barn or on a pasture with shade. As far as other classes and kinds of livestock are concerned, providing shade may make the producer feel better but, I doubt that the livestock actually need it for survival in a typical New York summer.
Livestock like to cruise fence lines to locate their boundaries or escape points. In doing so, a greater amount of forage is trampled and wasted through deposition of manure and urine. To help reduce these impacts, paddocks should be as square as possible. Rectangular paddocks are also acceptable as long as they are no more than four times as long as they are wide. Although other shapes can be used, in particular when fence lines have to follow natural land forms or boundaries, the use of circles, triangles or other odd shapes should be kept to a minimum. Keep in mind that just because a fence is already in place does not mean that it is in the best place.
Forage growth rates, forage availability, and forage utilization are all impacted by, among other things, differences in forage type, topography, and soil suitabilities. As a result, paddocks need to be oriented in such a manner that variability is kept to a minimum.
In other words, a single paddock should not include steeply sloping hillsides with hilltops and flatlands, soil types that vary significantly in suitabilities due to wetness, stoniness, inherent differences in fertility, etc., or forage species that differ greatly in growth or yield characteristics. Also, paddocks should not be oriented up and down hillsides. In particular, if the water supply is located at the bottom of the hill, livestock will tend to overgraze the lower slope and undergraze the upper slope. As a result, whenever feasible, paddocks should be oriented on the contour.
Gates need to be located so they do not interfere with the natural movement of livestock as they travel to and from the barn or water. Generally, gates should be located in the corner of the paddock that is closest to the direction the livestock need to travel. If they are not, although some of the livestock will find their way out of the paddock, there will always be a few that will end up trapped in a gateless corner trying to figure out how to destroy a fence.
Laneways should be constructed so that livestock can be easily moved from one paddock to another, to the water supply, and to the barn or other facility. The laneway should be wide enough to get harvesting or other machinery through. In heavy traffic areas, gravel, shale, crushed limestone, concrete, or other material may have to be utilized to prevent livestock from turning the laneway into a wallow. If necessary, a culvert pipe may be needed or a bridge built. Being able to get livestock to the pasture is as important as producing the forage in the pasture.
Clipping pastures should be done if there is a need, but not done just to make the pasture look pretty. A good prescribed grazing management plan has a planned amount of forage that will be harvested by livestock and an additional amount that must be mechanically harvested. However, even with the best management, some of the pasture may still get ahead of the livestock and become overmature, or there may be a problem with weeds. If the livestock rejected the forage the first time they came into contact with it, chances are they will reject it the second time as well. In these instances, clipping is not only desirable, it is a key to maintaining high quality pastures.
The more intensive the grazing management, the lesser the need for dragging manure. With rotational stocking, livestock do a fairly good job of spreading their own manure. However, with continuous stocking, livestock have the opportunity to congregate or camp out in favorite areas, such as around watering facilities, mineral feeders, feed bunks, or in shaded areas etc.. As a result, there will be a greater accumulation of manure in and around these areas, and dragging will be required to redistribute the nutrients back to the pasture.
Although the lack of grazing management is the primary cause of pasture failure, the second most important cause is the lack of fertility management. For a pasture to produce large volumes of high quality feed, there must be an appropriate amount and balance of nutrients available in the soil. If essential plant nutrients are lacking, or unavailable as a result of low pH, plant productivity will be reduced. Ideally, soil testing should be done at the same time the grazing management plan is being developed, and soil nutrients added prior to implementing the plan. A pH level near 6.0 should be maintained and phosphorus and potassium levels should be in the medium to high range for grass/legume forages.
As a general consideration, seeding a pasture should be the last step in a three step process. In many cases, controlling the negative influences of grazing animals by implementing a sound prescribed grazing management plan, followed by correcting deficiencies in soil fertility, will be all that is required to bring an existing pasture up to an acceptable level of production. Hence, the first step should be the implementation of a prescribed grazing management plan; the second step should be a proper fertilization program; and the last step, if necessary, should be seeding the pasture.
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