For me, December has always been a time of reflection. It is the end of the year and I take time to look over my records to see what went well, what flopped and what I still need to work on. One set of records I have access to are the pasture measurements from the [...]
Fall is one of the most crucial time periods for our cool season pastures. The most important activity a livestock producer should be doing to help the pastures survive winter and remain productive next year is to avoid overgrazing. Why is fall a critical time for our cool season perennial forages? The grass plants in [...]
How are your pastures growing? If you are like most you would reply in terms like fast or rapid. It is the month of May and pastures should be right in the middle of the ‘spring flush.’ ‘Spring flush’ is the term to describe the rapid growth of our cool season forages during April, May [...]
When the management of grazing is discussed, what are the topics of that discussion? Typically, they involve forage growth, forage varieties, soils, animal nutrition, grazing behavior, and paddock layout and design. These are all valuable topics for a grazier to understand and use to effectively manage his system. Rarely do you hear discussions on the [...]
Many producers are looking for ways to improve their pasture yields. The good news is that there are several things that can be done. You can improve pasture fertility. You could plant improved forage varieties. You can manage the grazing of a pasture by removing the livestock before the grazed plants regrow. When you remove [...]
If you have not yet adopted management intensive grazing, you should now. At the end of 2007, I figured I would be spending my winter talking about how to evaluate and renovate pastures after the drought. Boy, was I wrong.
Managing grazing can have a greater effect on the pasture than any other part of pasture management.
Jeff McCutcheon walks graziers through springtime pasture starts and management.
The heart of grazing livestock is finding the balance between what the animal needs and what pastures can produce.
Managing grazed pastures this spring has been a challenge. Should you focus on quantity or quality?
