Pasture Rotation

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Pasture Rotation

• Karen Hutchinson
• Virginia Cooperative Extension
• This presentation is from Virginia Tech and has
  not been edited by the Georgia Curriculum Office.

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Pasture Rotation

• Definition
• The use of several pastures, enabling one to be
  grazed, while the others rest

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Why Rotate?

• Reduce cost of machinery, fuel, supplies
• Reduce supplemental feeding and pasture waste
• Improve animal waste distribution and use
• allocated pasture to animals more efficiently,
  based on nutritional needs

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Three Principals of Pasture Rotation

• Nutritional needs of livestock can be met
  efficiently
• Forage yield and quality and pasture persistence
  can be optimized
• Economic profit can be realized through improved
  efficiency and productivity of livestock

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Nutritional Needs

• Enables managers to make best decisions regarding
  quantity and quality of forages
• Requires a good mix of forages
• Pasture must be made available in quantities
  large enough for animals nutritional requirements

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Forage Yield

• Rotational grazing allows manager to regulate
  frequency and intensity of grazing
• Benefits forage production and utilization
• Allows plant to be defoliated to a certain
  height, and then left to grow back.

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Economic Profit

• Improves livestock efficiency and productivity
• Increased animal gains per acre
• Increased gains per acre compared to continuous
  grazing
• Virginias increased gain per acre is 61

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Rotation Considerations

• Fencing
• Current resources
• Good forage mix
• Lanes for moving
• Existing facilities
• Water availability
• Think before acting!

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Designing the System

• Goals
• Use as much forage as possible to meet needs of
  cattle, but allow for regrowth
• Have water in every paddock
• Construct permanent fences where needed
• Plant a good mix of warm and cool season forages
• Integrate fencing systems with livestock handling
  facilities

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Pasture Maps

• Maps should include
• water in each field
• access to facilities
• fences
• notes on pasture type (if more than one)
• location of gates

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Scope of Paddocks

• How big?
• Size paddock varies with animal units and quality
  of pasture.
• 1000 lb. Cow with calf 1 AU (animal unit).
  Assuming excellent pasture, would need one
  acre/month/AU
• How many?
• Start with 5-8 allows paddock to be grazed for
  3-5 days, and then rested for 25-30.

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Why Feed Forages?

• Two main reasons
• Protein ( N x 6.25)
• Energy (total digestible nutrients or TDN)

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Selecting Forages

• Based on animal type, size, stage of growth
• For example, average milking beef cow needs 10
  crude protein and 56 TDN.
• Orchard grass fits the bill.
• Try mixing red or white clover with it.

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Creep Feeding of Calves

• In Cow-Calf operation, can give calves a head
  start by setting the electric fence high enough
  that they can slip through a day or two in
  advance of the cows into the new pasture, thus
  getting the best stuff

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Activity

• Give mock farm layout, plan a pasture rotation
  system.
• Keep in mind issues discussed earlier.

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Scenario

• Cow-Calf operation
• Dont worry about number of head right now
• Select grasses/forages
• Mark off appropriate paddocks
• Allow for lanes
• Show where waterers would be, etc..