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Spring Pasture Management
By Justin Petrosino, ANR Extension Educator
OSU Extension, Darke County
After a beautiful day like Sunday spring is definitely in the air. The
grass is green, but are our pastures ready for the cows to be turned
out? Well, that can depend on the condition of our fences, soil
fertility, and how the grass was managed last fall.
One
of the most important things to check before bringing in a load of
feeder calves or turning cows out is the condition of fences. I always
enjoyed walking fence on a nice day to look for breaks, down wires, and
to scout for weeds. A walk on a beautiful day is much better than a
rude awakening to “The cows are out!” at 5 am, or spending a cold,
rainy night trying to figure out why the fencer is in the red. Keep an
eye out for areas deer might have broken, insulators that are cracked
or dry rotted, and weeds like poison hemlock and multiflora rose.
Replace insulators with quality pieces that are rated to handle UV
degradation. A quality perimeter fence may be a pricey investment but
it is the only thing keeping your animals in and predators out.
Interior fences can be a little less stout than perimeters but still
need to be of quality products.
Spring automatically brings fertilization to mind. However spring
fertilization can actually be counterproductive in a pasture. A small
amount of fertilizer can be applied in the spring to jump start the
pasture but too much fertilizer can lead to conditions like grass
tetany. Too much nitrogen can cause more growth than the cows can
consume leading to more time spent on the tractor mowing. Mowing is not
a good investment with $4.00 diesel. Jeff McCutcheon, Forage Specialist
and Extension Educator in Morrow County, suggests applying less than 20
lbs of N in the spring and applying P and K in the fall. For a few
great articles on fertilizing pasture check out the BEEF Newsletter
published at http://beef.osu.edu/. Remember the amount of fertilizer we
apply should be based on a soil test and not applied before a
forecasted heavy rain.
Speaking of rain, or lack thereof last fall, our pastures are
recovering from a very stressful fall. Most pastures were grazed too
short in dry conditions limiting the carbohydrate reserves that
typically fuel spring growth. Turning cows out too early can injure our
forages further, especially in wet conditions. In conditions like we
have this spring it is recommended to let the cows out onto pasture
that is 6 inches tall, allow them to graze it to 3 to 4 inches, and
then rotate to another pasture. Quick rotations in the spring will help
the pasture recover while preventing grasses from flowering and losing
forage quality. If this is not possible and no stockpiled pasture is
available an option McCutcheon recommends is moving cattle into a
‘sacrificial’ lot that is slated for renovation. The loss of a poor
stand is much more tolerable than destroying your best paddock.
Spring grazing is all about management. Keep the cows on the right
pasture, keep them moving, and keep the grass from flowering. In open
pastures grazing efficiency is below 30%, especially when stressful
conditions occur. Intensive grazing management can help bring that
efficiency closer to 60% while increasing stocking densities and weight
gain. Keep an eye out for an intensive grazing workshop in June and
several pasture walks scheduled for August in Darke County and
September in Shelby County.
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