Improving Livestock Through Pasture Management
CJ Brinlee, Soil Conservationist Student Trainee; Randy Moore, District Conservationist, USDA-NRCS

 Pasture management is the key to optimizing a livestock operation; a healthy and productive pasture will result in healthier and more productive livestock.  A planned grazing system in many smaller pastures, as opposed to continuously or extensively grazing one large pasture, will improve forage production, and cut costs of feed and hay. 

The problem with continuously grazing a single pasture without rest is that livestock dine on the most desirable and nutritious plants first.  The desirable grasses lose their root systems as they are eaten down and require a longer rest to recover to their full potential, but without this rest in the continuous grazing system, livestock end up overgrazing and killing them off.  The pasture is then left to be repopulated by undesirable weeds, and production levels fall.  Signs of this overgrazing include bare patches, weeds, areas that livestock won’t graze, slow plant growth, and compaction and livestock paths. 

To remedy this problem, and improve a livestock operation, pasture management and rotational grazing should be considered.  Cattle would be combined into one herd and would graze one pasture at a time in order to improve grazing distribution and provide a rest period for pastures not currently in use.  Pasture and grazing management can improve both forage quality and yield, result in a decrease of weed infestations and soil compaction as well as the better distribution of nutrients, cut costs by feeding less hay and silage, and improve the health and productivity of your animals.  A good goal in pasture management is to provide as much high-quality forage to feed your livestock for as long a period of time as possible, rotational grazing can make this happen.

There are many methods of rotational grazing to be considered, as well as limitations to be taken into account.  One of the greatest limiting factors is in providing water to your livestock.  Cutting a large pasture down to size for multiple grazing pastures often isolates a water source in one pasture, leaving the others dry.  Troughs that can service multiple pastures or a water source that can be provided to multiple pastures when in use is optimal.  However, a water source invites heavy traffic and results in increased erosion damage and pasture deterioration. 

A two, three, or four pasture-one herd system takes advantage of various growth periods of desirable plants.  Depending on the number of pastures, grazing and rest periods vary depending on the forage production and the time of year.  Each grazing period can be as short as 10 days, or as long as 120 for the entire year.  In the two-pasture system each pasture is rested during a different part of the growing season in order to benefit the whole plant community.  In some three-pasture systems the herd is moved every four months, while a four-pasture period might move every three months to give a balanced grazing/resting period for each pasture throughout the year.  However, some three and four-pasture systems rotate through twice a year depending on the producer’s objectives and the available forage.

In a Merrill-four pasture system there are three herds that graze in three pastures while a fourth is rested.  Every four months one herd is moved to the rested pasture and the pasture they occupied is given a rest.  This allows a 12 month grazing period and a 4 month resting period for each pasture. 

A high-intensity-low-frequency system requires that one herd of livestock grazes eight or more pastures in a planned sequence (1 – 4 day rotation).  Typically, livestock graze a pasture for only 10 days to a month during the entire year. This allows longer rest periods for each pasture.  While this system greatly improves grassland condition, livestock performance can decline due to the short grazing period and frequent moves.

A management intensive grazing system is similar to the high-intensity, low-frequency system.  The difference is that, depending on the growth rate and the necessary rest period for the plants, the rotation speed is adjusted.  During the peak of the growing season livestock are rotated through the pastures quickly to allow as much rest period and growth as possible.  When growth rate slows down, the rotation slows as well.  When this system is operated properly it benefits the production of both livestock and pasture, however as suggested by its name, it is very management intensive and sometimes impractical.

A cell-grazing system usually consists of 12 or more pastures in a cell through which livestock are cycled.  The layout usually involved a design of radiating fences to enable ease of livestock cycling.  Generally water is located at the center of the cell and fences radiate out from there to form pastures, although livestock return to the center daily for water and minerals and therefore should be moved between pastures away from the center to encourage better grazing distribution.  Electric fences are often used for the cell-grazing system to reduce fencing costs.

There are of course advantages and disadvantages to rotational grazing.  Rotational grazing can increase startup costs due to the necessity for more fences and watering troughs, however it also reduces long term costs for feed and hay consumption.  Rotational grazing requires more intensive managing than continuous, but it gains higher production levels and improves the plant community and subsequently the environment. For more information on grazing and pasture management, please contact the USDA-NRCS office located at 200 E First Street, Rm 14, Bonham, TX or call 903-583-9513 x3.