Pasture, Fences, and Facilities - Raising Sheep - page 109

■ If you're intending to go with a breed that doesn't rate as highly on for-
aging capabilities, you may need to do some mechanical clipping or
mowing right away.
■ If you opt to mechanically clip brush or weeds, keep in mind that by
optimizing the timing of your clipping, you can have a big impact on the
success of your labors.
■ Clip weeds just as they begin to fl ower but before the seed heads have
opened.
■ Clip brush in the early spring, while the sap is running.
Fixing Bare Spots
Carrying around some pasture seed in your jacket pocket whenever you walk
through the pasture and simply tossing handfuls on the bare places can help
rejuvenate bare spots. Another trick is to feed bales of hay right on the bare
spots during the winter — the hay gets stomped into the ground and protects
the soil surface, enabling seeds to germinate and grow better.
Frost Seeding
Another technique that can rejuvenate a pasture or just increase the diver-
sity of plants found in it is frost seeding. As the name implies, frost seeding
requires seed to be spread during the spring, when the nights are cold enough
to frost but the days are warm enough to thaw the soil surface. This freeze-
thaw action allows planting of the seeds at a shallow level, where they are
most likely to germinate.
To frost seed, broadcast it thinly over the pasture. If the pastures are large,
use a tractor-drawn broadcast seeder; for smaller pastures, use a handheld
version. The technique works really well with legume seeds — it is a great
method for increasing the diversity and percentage of legumes in an older
pasture where they have become too thinly populated.
Grass Growth
Understanding how forage plants grow helps you get the most out of your
pasture. Growth takes place primarily at the plant's basal growth point, which
is just above the soil surface. Initially, plant growth is relatively slow, but as
the leaves reach above the basal growth point, things really speed up. Then, as
the plant reaches maturity, growth slows down again because the energy that
had been used for growth switches to fl ower and seed production.