Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
son and give you more grass yield per acre of pasture. Cattle farmers primarily perform rota-
tional grazing.
Setting up a rotational grazing plan will take some planning. To start, grab a pen and a note-
book, and sketch out an outline of your available pastureland. Divide the pasture into at least
six, 3-acre paddocks. A moderately intensive rotational grazing plan — depending on your
rainfall amount — can support one cow and calf pair on 1 to 3 acres. You will have to decide
on the number of acres needed for your geographical region and on the number of animal
units (cow/calf pair) you plan to place in each paddock. Once you have your paddocks
planned, you will need to plan your fences. A three-strand electrical fence or a woven-wire
fence with a top line of electric wire will hold your cattle in the appropriate paddocks. Be sure
to include gates or alleyways to allow the cattle to move from paddock to paddock.
To be successful, each paddock will need a water source. You can use natural sources such as
ponds, but using simple irrigation pipe will provide a more reliable and fresher source of wa-
ter. This pipe can be purchased at general farm supply stores in 50-foot spools of black plastic
pipe. It is connected together with simple plastic fittings to make an inexpensive water supply.
Remember to drain the pipe before freezing weather sets in so your pipe does not split due to
ice expansion. Generally, paddocks can share pipes to save on expense, so try a few sketches
to make sure you do not use excessive pipes. A portable stock tank should be sufficient to
hold the water, and many sizes can be found at general farm stores.
The fencing should be placed the fall before you plan to rotational graze. This will give the
end posts time to settle in the ground to prevent premature upheaval of the posts. The water-
ing system can be placed the spring before implementing the practice. It does not need to be
buried, except at gates or where cattle may trample it or cut it with their hooves.
The principle behind rotational grazing is simple. Cattle should be placed on a paddock and
allowed to graze until the grass is eaten down until 4 to 6 inches is left. Then, the cattle should
be placed in the next paddock, allowed to eat that grass down to 4 to 6 inches, and then
switched again. This continues until the final paddock is grazed. Then, they should be re-
turned to the first paddock, which should be regrown with fresh grass. By not allowing the
grass to be grazed too short, the pasture will recover faster. By forcing the cattle to graze in
only one paddock, they will be forced to eat all the vegetation, instead of picking and choos-
ing certain grasses or legumes over others.
