Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is back featuring comments from Steve Swaffar of the Noble Research Institute. Swaffar talks to Farm Director, KC Sheperd, about pasture management to maximize forage quality and quantity.
“When we open up a pasture, and we put them (cattle) out there, and they can just go anywhere at any time all the time, they are going to find that particular spot of that particular plant that gives them the highest nutritional value and really makes them feel good as an animal,” Swaffar said.
In a day or two, when the animal returns to that part of the pasture to eat the same preferred plant that is now growing again, Swaffar said not allowing that plant to grow causes stress to the root system and more.
“If we don’t give them free choice all of the time, we can have some greater recovery on those plants and we can maybe get them to eat a few less-desirable species that are still nutritious, and we get some better distribution across the pasture with our manure and our urine,” Swaffar said. “We have the ability to manage animal behavior. If we let animals manage themselves, they are going to do what is the easiest thing for them to do. They are going to take the easiest route, and they are going to walk down that same path every time.”
With fencing, distribution of hay, and distribution of water, Swaffar said animals can be moved around to help increase pasture health.
“Cover crops are one of the ways we can improve soil health in farm ground, on our pastures, and even in our introduced grasses,” Swaffar said. “What that is doing is adding diversity to the landscape. That is another root that is down in the soil feeding microbes- they are putting sugars down in there.”
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