Smart grazing practices for dry conditions

By Blake Jackson

As dry weather persists, managing your grazing practices becomes crucial for preserving your pastures and setting the stage for future growth. While the lack of rain poses challenges, there are smart strategies you can implement to ensure your pastures remain healthy and productive.

1. Don't Graze Too Low: Resist the temptation to graze everything down to the ground, especially during dry spells. Maintaining sufficient leaf material and cover is essential for slowing evaporation and collecting dew. Aim for at least four inches of growth for most cool-season forages to help spur regrowth when moisture returns.
    
2. Give Pastures Rest: Under dry conditions, pastures benefit from rest. If rain is scarce, the existing forage isn't going anywhere and can be grazed later in the fall after it has gone dormant. Consider what alternative forages or areas can be grazed to allow your pastures the much-needed rest they require.
    
3. Utilize Late-Summer Planted Annuals: Late-summer planted annuals like oats and turnips can provide grazing opportunities if there's enough growth. Depending on planting timing and available moisture, you can start grazing them at a height of 10 to 12 inches or even shorter if necessary.
    
4. Be Mindful of Prussic Acid Poisoning: If you have summer annuals like sudangrass, sorghum-sudan, or Johnsongrass, be cautious about prussic acid poisoning, especially after frosts. These plants should be grazed before frosts and should be avoided if wilted from stress or frost. Millets and certain genetically bred varieties don't have prussic acid issues.
    
5. Consider Grazing Corn Stalks: With fall harvest, grazing corn stalks can be a valuable option to extend pasture availability and reduce early hay feeding. Nutrient retention is a significant advantage when grazing corn stalks. "Strip" grazing, where you allocate a specific area for a set period, helps ensure even nutrient distribution and stable fodder quantity and quality.
    
6. Plan Nutritional Supplements: The nutritional value of corn stalks can vary over time. Cows tend to graze grain, leaves, husks, cobs, and stalks in that order. Stalks start with around 8% crude protein and 70% total digestible nutrients (TDN) but can drop to 5% crude protein and 40% TDN over about 60 days. If your cattle are on stalks, consider supplementing their diet to meet energy and protein needs, especially for growing animals and lactating cows.
    
7. Calculate Acres Needed: To determine how many acres of corn residue you need for grazing, calculate the dry matter (DM) needed for your herd. Multiply the number of cows by their average weight, then by the daily dry matter intake (usually around 3% of body weight), and finally by the number of days you plan to graze. Divide this by the available pounds of DM per acre from your corn yield to estimate the required acres.
    
8. Ensure Water and Fencing: For grazing fields, ensure access to drinking water and adequate fencing. Portable fencing can be useful for allocating specific areas for grazing.
    
9. Consider Cover Crops: If possible, plant cover crops like wheat or cereal rye after grazing fields to trap nutrients and prevent erosion. Ensure compliance with your conservation cropping plan, especially if your fields are classified as highly erodible land (HEL).
    
10. Provide Necessary Supplements: Corn residue may lack some minerals, such as calcium and phosphorus. Offer a well-balanced vitamin and mineral mix to your cattle, free-choice, to complement their grazing diet.

Remember, the goal isn't just maximizing a single grazing event but optimizing the entire grazing season. By adopting these practices, you can ensure the health of your pastures, even during dry conditions, and set the stage for future growth and productivity. Keep on grazing wisely!

Photo Credit: gettyimages-r-j-seymour