Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
turn away from the person in preparation to flee. If the animal turns to face the person, the
person is outside the flight zone.
If you find yourself in the animal's flight zone, step backward until the animal stops moving.
To move an animal forward, take a step into the flight zone. Nervous or agitated animals will
have larger flight zones. A nervous cow bobs its head up and down to watch you. It may
lower its head and paw the ground, or it may try to flee from you. Calm or tame cattle are
comfortable around you, stand and chew their cud when you are around, and do not move
when you approach. These cattle will have smaller flight zones. If your animal is very tame, it
might not even have a flight zone, and it may be difficult to move the animal at all. Cattle
have a blind spot immediately behind them about the width of their hips. Try to avoid stand-
ing in this spot, as it may startle cattle, causing them to kick or flee. Another important
concept in cattle handling is learning the point of balance. This is generally at the shoulder.
Moving behind the point of balance will cause the cow to move forward. Moving in front of
the point of balance will cause the cow to back up.
To make handling easier, you easily can tame and train your herd. Frequently walk among
your cattle herd when feeding. Speak to them gently and in a low voice so they become famil-
iar with your voice. When you move cattle, call them. Examples of cow calls are “Here, cow”
or “Come, cow.” Old farmers like to use the phrase “come, boss,” which is an ancient term to
call cattle. Do not yell or strike the animals; getting them excited will only make them more
difficult to handle.
You can also use treats such as alfalfa pellets to encourage the animals to follow you at first.
After a while, the promise of fresh grass will be enough to motivate cows to follow you. They
will recognize you as a source of fresh food and will be excited to see you. This makes other
herd management tasks easier too, because they will not be as reluctant to follow you into a
new situation.
Pasturing
The majority of beef cattle are placed on pasture during the summer months. Historically, pas-
tureland has been land unsuitable for crops. Even today, given the price of grain and the ex-
pense of hay, it is cheaper to graze pasture during the grass-growing season. Many pastures
can be better managed using rotational grazing techniques, which can extend the grazing sea-
