Go green in another way; try management-intensive grazing
By Steve Fairchild, editor
Perusing the budgets for cow/calf production in Missouri and the Midwest is a sobering practice. It’s even more sobering with the legacy of last year’s drought topped off by a winter of forage-depleting ice and snow.
If that’s not enough, there is the ethanol demand curve for corn supply. But amidst all of these challenges, there is something underfoot that cattle producers can use to gain an advantage—grass.
Right now (or at least for now) good old cool-season grass is delivering cattle producers from the margin-poundin forage shortages of the past 8 months. Yet, forage could be doing more for our livestock producers.
Missouri has about 18 million acres of grazing land, which is about 45 percent of the state’s land base. And the majority of it is underused. The same is true for pastureland in surrounding states.
But with a little planning and a relatively modest capital investment, a management-intensive grazing plan can boost forage production on many of those acres. A water source and cross fence here, and a thought-out grazing plan there can make for better pasture and better conditioned cattle.
Winter annual forages can be planted to extend the grazing season and help build a stockpile of standing cool-season grass for winter grazing.
Next time you see MU agronomist Rob Kallenbach scheduled to talk about using winter annual forages, take time to go for a listen. He’s on a quest to get through the year without feeding hay. Of course, he would have failed miserably in the past season’s drought and subsequent snow and ice, but Kallenbach’s work with brassicas and other winter annuals has shown that the grazing season can be extended. He can also talk about seeding annual rye grass into standing grain crops to provide late-season and early-spring pasture. The point to his research is to show that producers can boost forage production on their farms. Doing so helps avoid the expense of producing hay. Or, in years like the one just past, it can help stretch hay supplies. A few paddocks of warm-season grass can stretch your forage supply even farther. But it all takes planning and management.
From what I’ve seen, successful management-intensive grazing takes at least 10 paddocks. Of course, you can have more. And you can have permanent pasture in the mix. But 10 paddocks grazed at a couple days per paddock will be evidence enough that the system works. In fact, if you have sized the paddocks to match your herd and the weather is at all cooperative, those 10 paddocks will keep the cows munching happily on less land than cows on permanent pasture. That’s freeing an asset on your farm.
Once you’ve saved money by not putting up as much hay or increased the size of your herd without adding pasture, you’ll catch the management-intensive grazing fever. You will want to do more. That’s when you will learn the real secret. Management-intensive grazing isn’t so much about raising cattle. It’s about understanding and growing forage.
So in these days of dropping beef prices, surging grain prices and a new high plateau for energy costs, try getting a little extra return on your management. Pay attention to the grass.
If you want to know more, get in touch with your local NRCS office to find out about upcoming grazing workshops or check out the University of Missouri’s Forage Systems Research Center site at http://aes.missouri.edu/fsrc/. The research center is at Linneus, Mo. and hosts a world-famous grazing workshop each year.
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