The Science And Art Of Grazing Small Acres: Part 2 The Art
 | Author:
Allison Kosto, MSU Broadwater County Extension Agent
MSU Broadwater County Extension Agent |
The Science and Art of Grazing Small Acres: Part 2 The Art
Allison Kosto
MSU Broadwater County Extension Agent
This is the second and final part of a miniseries on the science and art of grazing livestock on small acres. If you are new to owning property and/or livestock, you may discover there is a steep learning curve when it comes to land stewardship. Even if you have owned property, the environment and conditions in Broadwater County are vastly different than other areas of the country, even different than other areas of Montana. There is a large amount of science behind grazing management. However, there is also an art to grazing that takes some trial and error to determine what works best for your property. Last week, I focused on the plant biology of grazing and this week will be on the art, the specific strategies to help you manage grazing.
One of the best strategies you can do is to develop a sacrifice area. This may sound counter initiative but hear me out. As I hopefully established last week, it is not realistic to graze livestock year-round on small acreages in Montana. It is critical to allow a rest period for your pasture to restore its energy reserves and regrow. Therefore, if you establish a sacrifice area, it will help keep your pasture in better health. This can be a small paddock, dry lot, corral, barn, stall, etc. where you are okay with complete grass loss. It is called a sacrifice area because this grass is ‘sacrificed’ so that you will have grazing accessibility on at least part of the year on the rest of the property. To be clear, the sacrifice area should not be your entire property.
Consider dividing your property into small units. Grazing isn’t the only action by livestock that causes harm to plant communities. You will also lose forage to trampling, soil compaction and manure buildup. If you divide your pasture into smaller units, it will allow you to utilize a rotational grazing system. There are many benefits to rotational grazing and a large amount of research about how to implement them (oops, talking about science again). Rotational grazing allows you to increase the rest period between units, reduce trampling and compaction, and avoid excess manure building. When done correctly, it will increase forage production and is a win-win for everyone.
Sometimes it’s not possible or practical to do rotational grazing. Another strategy is limiting the animals’ use of the property each day. For example, turn them out for two hours (or less) every day. This still allows you access to the forage, reducing supplement costs, but allows to you to have more control of their grazing access. When you start to reach the threshold (take half, leave half), its time to reduce the turnout time or stop completely to allow the pasture to regrow.
Time of year matters. It is natural to want to graze livestock when grass is green and growing. And it makes sense in many regards because this is when grass has the highest nutrient content (sorry, more science). As the grass matures, nutrient quality decreases. However, plants are most sensitive when young to overgrazing. Allowing plants to mature and gain strength during the growing system will make them more resilient to grazing. If you graze the plants in the winter while they are dormant, they can withstand heavier grazing (within reason). As an added bonus, winter grazing means less chores when the weather is cold! It is important to note though that some animals may need additional supplementation due to decreased nutrient content in the winter, especially pregnant, nursing, young or elderly animals.
Be prepared to supplement year-round. Don’t wait until you are out of hay to buy some. Drought years can sometimes catch us off guard and you don’t want to be caught without hay and put into a situation where you are forced to overgraze due to availability or cost of hay or supplements. Always have some on hand so you have the flexibility (here’s to the art) to adjust your grazing management plan as needed throughout the year.
Ultimately, grazing management takes trial and error to figure out what works best for your property and livestock. When grazing management is done correctly it can provide benefits to the land including stimulating growth, removing dead plant material, reducing wildfire threat, increasing nutrient cycling and increasing forage production. However, when land is overgrazed, it can lead to many issues including the prevalence of weeds, increased use of herbicides, poor forage quality, lack of plant diversity, reduced land value, and increased erosion, water runoff and nutrient leaching. Don’t wait until it’s too late to seek help and finetune your system.
For more information about grazing management, stop by your local MSU Extension Office at 416 Broadway or contact us at 406-266-9242 or allison.kosto@montana.edu.
