Don’t jump the gun in putting your cattle out on pasture. It could hurt your forage supply in the long run, according to Natural Resources Conservation Service Grazing Land Specialist Adam Abel.
He jokes that when he sees animals grazing already this time of year, he’s got to refrain from knocking on doors. Abel says a little bit of green doesn’t mean the pasture is ready — it’s the worst thing you can do to put animals on the grass too early.
“Your biggest potential for production on your operation is from the end of April through the middle of June. That’s when cool-season grasses produce, by far, more dry matter than any other time during the year,” he explains. “If you put animals on it right now and you keep grazing it, it’s like a bruise. You keep hitting it and it just doesn’t heal. You don’t give that grass the opportunity… to actually use the photosynthesis. It has to recover every time from what it has stored in its root reserves.”
Abel recommends letting grasses get up to 10 inches and rotating when the grass gets to about four inches.
He advises new grazers to get involved with grazing networks in their area. You can find them here: https://grassworks.org/
Abel adds that pasture walks with these groups are a valuable chance to learn from other people’s mistakes and ask graziers what worked and what hasn’t in their pasture management.
Reach out to Wisconsin NRCS for help and resources: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/contact/state-office-contacts/wisconsin-state-office
