Drought conditions-pasture management

Cowgirl

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
I got this email from Elmer Dengler, NRCS State Grazing Specialist. I thought I'd forward his comments to you all. Just a note-he sent along some publications geared towards beef cattle, so some of his comments are referring to beef as well.


I see lots of folks still trying to graze pastures. Until we have 30 days of recovery including several good rains we need to advise folks to get off the pasture and feed hay off the pastures and keep animals out of the pastures. Valuable food reserves for Fall regrowth are being destroyed. Folks need to stop it now !

A lot of damage is being done to pasture where animals are allowed to"clean things up"

I estimate the value of what we let on a pasture that is properly grazed is no more then $135 an acre if they could harvest to bare earth. Seed alone will cost that much and the process of sound reseeding methods and lost forage production during reestablishment go to well over a $1,000 of dollars an acre in lost revenue and erosion and nutrient losses too boot.

Key thing I see folks need to do:

!. Get off of all pastures till regret has occurred. Feed in a sacrifice area not the pasture!
2. Get rid of what animals they can.
3. Look at getting corn silage from lost crop fields and do test as appropriate.
4. Look to temporary small grains and annual grasses for temporary feed this winter. ryes and ryegrasses are great!
5. Get a grazing plan that gives drought management ideas.
6. Look at realistic animal numbers
7. Pray for rain and sound management in the future.

Thanks for your support.
 
Four*Leaf*Farm

Four*Leaf*Farm

RIP Quinn
Very good advice... I was just thinking I need to tape off my field since there is nothing there for them to graze. And what little sprig that does come up is promptly ripped from the cracked dirt.:frown:
 
mygoldnhorse

mygoldnhorse

Cowgirl Up
Thanks for passing the info along. I am currently working on sacrifice areas to get them off the pastures. I tried putting round bales in the pastures but the horses seem to prefer still trying to graze rather than eat the round bales :buttkick:.
 
Phyxius

Phyxius

Zoooooooom
I have small acreage and I found out the first year I had horses at home that if I didn't rotate properly they'd walk the grass out of the fields. With normal rain and the proper pasture grass a bigger cause of "bare ground" is the horses walking on the grass, not pulling it out by the roots or eating it down to nubbs.

So, I usually keep my guys in dry lots with plenty of hay and I rotate out on the grass field as I can. Usually the mares are out while Peanut is at a show and then the girls get locked up in a paddock and Peanut gets turned out after a lesson or show. My friend was amazed that all you had to do was say "Okay girls" and they'd return to their field. I buy very good quality hay and they love it. I'm still able to turn out on my field, it looks great. I was very careful with seeding, watering, and fertilizing this year. It got watered last week and recent rains have prevented me from having to water this week.

Drought is one instance where my small acerage has been an asset. I hope for everyone's sake that this drought ends soon.
 
mingiz

mingiz

Horse Poor
mygoldnhorse said:
Thanks for passing the info along. I am currently working on sacrifice areas to get them off the pastures. I tried putting round bales in the pastures but the horses seem to prefer still trying to graze rather than eat the round bales :buttkick:.
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:yeahthat: I have one field that I only let them out on it in the evening for a few hours. Other wise I feed round bales My main field is gone...
 
persimmoncf

persimmoncf

Persimmon Creek Farm
Also consider doing a bout of Sand Clear or sand blaster to help clear the gut. The intake of dust, sand, dirt and pebbles is extremely high now.
 
Loper

Loper

Animal Poor!
persimmoncf said:
Also consider doing a bout of Sand Clear or sand blaster to help clear the gut. The intake of dust, sand, dirt and pebbles is extremely high now.
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Good ol' metamucil works just as well... :howdy: 1/4 cup per horse for 4 days :howdy:
 
Loper

Loper

Animal Poor!
SouthernMdRocks said:
Never heard of using that, makes sense...thanks. :howdy:
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Yepper, Dr Benedict from Tidewater recommended it when we were at FRF cause there was alot of sand. I had bought the Sand Clear and he said the metamucil worked the same and is cheaper. They have different flavors and even sugarfree ones. We had to give it to them 4 days a month.
 
S

showqueen74

New Member
You can also do a poop test to see how much sand is in your horses system. After your horse poops, take an "apple" or two and place it into a zip lock bag, and add water and mash up the "apple". This should be a liquefy mix. Hang the bag so that a corner is facing the ground, and leave it for about 10-20 minutes. This gives eveything in the bag time to settle. Sand and dirt are heavier than the grass, hays, and other things that a horse eats, so the sand will be your first layer. Gives a small clue as to what is inside the horse. Vicky
 
mygoldnhorse

mygoldnhorse

Cowgirl Up
I did it! On Saturday morning I got up and was determined that I was going to take care of this pasture problem. Out back of our barn I made an area that they will stay in. I did it with step in posts and electric tape but if this works out I will make it permanent. They can still come into the barn's center isle and get out of the heat. I put the round bale out and sure enough they are eating it, where before they would rather pull the pasture out root by root before eating the hay:buttkick: . I give them a couple of hours out in the pasture every evening but this is better than them being on the pasture 24/7.
Now we just need some rain, anyone up for a raindance :dance: ?:lmao:.
 
Cowgirl

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
mygoldnhorse said:
I did it! On Saturday morning I got up and was determined that I was going to take care of this pasture problem. Out back of our barn I made an area that they will stay in. I did it with step in posts and electric tape but if this works out I will make it permanent. They can still come into the barn's center isle and get out of the heat. I put the round bale out and sure enough they are eating it, where before they would rather pull the pasture out root by root before eating the hay:buttkick: . I give them a couple of hours out in the pasture every evening but this is better than them being on the pasture 24/7.
Now we just need some rain, anyone up for a raindance :dance: ?:lmao:.
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Good job! :clap: Everyone should have a sacrifice area!!
 
Cowgirl

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
mygoldnhorse said:
Thank you for your post it is motivated me to do something that I should of done a long time ago.
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:dance: Just keep in mind that even if you're letting them out for a few hours a day they can still damage your pastures. Horses tend to re-graze the sweetest grasses (like orchardgrass). When they graze and graze every day on the same grass, the grass will die because it can't handle that. You might still want to rotate them even if they're only out for a few hours a day.
 
mygoldnhorse

mygoldnhorse

Cowgirl Up
Cowgirl said:
:dance: Just keep in mind that even if you're letting them out for a few hours a day they can still damage your pastures. Horses tend to re-graze the sweetest grasses (like orchardgrass). When they graze and graze every day on the same grass, the grass will die because it can't handle that. You might still want to rotate them even if they're only out for a few hours a day.
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Thanks for the suggestions I will remember to rotate also.
 
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