With an increasing focus on producing the most efficiency on available acreage, farmers must get the most out of the available pasture land, says Scott Banks, a crop specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
Banks, guest speaker at the Rainy River Federation of Agriculture’s spring dinner/dance last Friday night at the Millennium Hall in Stratton, told those on hand there’s a great deal they can do to optimize the efficiency of their pasture land without investing a great deal of time and money.
“You often think there’s a lot of work involved in pasture rotation, but that’s not really so,” he said. “The most important investment for successful grazing is fencing.”
Next to fencing, soil fertility and species selection are the most important issues. But in order to make that work, rotating the stock through the pastures over the growing season is essential.
“Studies have shown forage efficiency increases from 30 percent to 60 percent over uncontrolled grazing,” Banks noted. “With intensive rotation, this can increase to up to 90 percent.”
Forage efficiency, added Banks, is the amount of nutrition cattle actually utilize from the grass they eat.
“Cattle derive the most nutrition from grass that is in the active growing phase as opposed to producing seed heads,” he explained. “But by allowing them to graze too close to the ground, you reduce the root viability and slow down the re-growth.”
Banks said you can allow cattle to take up to 40 percent of the top growth without affecting the roots. That’s where timing comes into it. Banks said cattle will graze down to a height of three-four inches in a period of seven to 10 days.
“Then you should allow a rest period of 30-40 days,” he remarked. “You can begin grazing again when the grass is eight to 12 inches high.”
Again, the issue is timing and fencing. “Cattle can be trained to respect fencing,” Banks pointed out as he showed some slides from a Powerpoint presentation.
Another important aspect is nutrition. Banks said some crops can recycle up to 80 percent of the nutrients in cattle manure if properly managed. The key to that, he noted, is water.
“It’s important to keep the water supply close to the cattle to minimize trampling and concentrating the manure in a small area around the water instead of all over the field,” he explained.
“Cattle tend to move in ones and twos when they are only going a short distance, but will move en masse when travelling further.”
Banks also demonstrated the merits of different types of fencing commercially available and the relative costs of each.
And he recommended farmers shape their pastures as close to a perfect square as possible to minimize the amount of fencing required to enclose a given area.
Also Friday night, Allan and Shirley Teeple of Emo were presented with the Bill Gibson Memorial Award, which is presented annually to recognize outstanding volunteer service to agriculture in Rainy River District.
About 50 people attended the banquet.
Fort Frances Times
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