WELLSBORO (Tioga Co.
cessful graziers know there is more
to grass-based dairy and beef opera
tions than just turning the cows out
each morning. Proper pasture man
agement is critical, especially in
drought conditions such as much of
Pennsylvania has experienced this
growing season.
“The key is keeping forage primed
so it’s ready to respond to moisture,”
said Tioga County Cooperative
Extension Agent Craig Williams. “If
you make it go dormant (through
overgrazing), it won’t respond to
rain.”
Pasture growth and the resulting
fertility and nutrient availability
are the focus of an ongoing study
Williams and several other exten
sion agents are conducting through
out the state. The idea was to take
weekly grass growth measurements,
plot the data on graphs, then use the
information to study the complex
relationships between feed and milk
production, pasture rotation sched
ules and regrowth rates, and the
amazing variability, even on adja
cent paddocks, of these regrowth
rates.
Laneway
(Continued from Page 22)
rotational grazing, contact your
local conservation district. For more
information about Project Grass
and Project Grass demonstration
farms, contact J.B. Harold, Somer
set County Conservation District,
1590 North Center Ave., Suite 103,
Somerset, PA, 15501, or phone (814)
445-4652, ext. 119.
Successful Grazing Means Measuring Pasture
Craig Williams noted the impor
tance of Alistair Pasture Gauge.
Using the Alistair Pasture Gauge,
an instrument that calculates grass
density, height, and pounds-per-dry
matter, agents have the benefit of
uniformity as they obtain measure
ments. Everyone agreed the “eye
ball” is the best measure, Williams
continues, but with seven different
agents there was a need for a “com
mon denominator.”
In Tioga County, Williams used
Russ and Karen Tomlinson’s Kick-a-
Moo Farm, an intensive, rotational
grazing operation, as a study area.
During a Pennsylvania Association
for Sustainable Agriculture spon-
Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 12, 2000—Page 23
sored field day at the farm, Williams
discussed the study process and, on
the pasture walk, explained some of
the differences in pasture fertility.
For example, green circles where
several there had been round bales
showed the cow manure and urine.
The green “stripes” were the result
of spreading “Hatgrow fertilizer” out
of a barrel manure spreader.
Williams said, “The green stripes
were not what we wanted, but now
we will be able to watch the two
areas of different fertility levels,
together as the cattle graze across
them.”
Grazing in a drought year is chal
lenging, he noted. A field that gets
grazed all the time will simply shut
down. The data gathered so far
shows how fast grass will respond to
even a little bit of water if it is in the
right stage (of growth). Graziers
Daily Changes In Alfalfa
Quality
Studies conducted in California
indicate that both crude protein and
acid detergent fiber in alfalfa are
lower in the afternoon than early
morning. However, total digestible
Growth
must therefore be ready to adapt to
changing conditions; at Kick-a-Moo
Farm that means moving the cows
about every 12 hours and keeping a
close watch on pasture growth.
Those practices, in conjunction with
the sporadic, small amounts of rain
which have fallen on Tioga County,
have been enough to keep the
Tomlinson pastures relatively
green.
“Some areas of the state have
received no rain, and the plants
have just gone dormant,” Williams
said. “That’s the struggle with graz
ing. Keeping track of how the grass
is growing is the only way to keep on
top of it. It really does make it a
week to week management issue.”
The pasture gauge is a good tool.
A boot and a eye work also, but the
most important thing is to measure
growth, regardless of what tool is
used, he said.
❖ Grazing Bits ❖
nutrient levels were higher in the
afternoon than morning. Further
research is being conducted to deter
mine if these daily changes in forage
quality are detectable after baling
and storage.
Dan Putnam and others,
Univ. of California
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