Grazing & Hay Management

Question 1

T/F: Rangeland and pasture are the same thing

Answer 1

False

Question 2

What happens as cows create a path in the field or you have a herd on a pasture for a long time?

Answer 2

They compact the soil

Soil has reduced water holding capacity and infiltration

Question 3

What are the two most important ingredients for grass growth?

Answer 3

water and nitrogen

Question 4

It is recommended to evaluate soil nutrients on pasture every _____ years

Answer 4

5

Question 5

T/F: Fertilizing in the spring promotes grass growth, while fertilizing in the fall promotes root growth and better pasture the next spring

Answer 5

True

Question 6

What is rangeland?

Answer 6

Land out West containing native species

Tend to be dry environments w/ warm season grasses, forbs, browse

Question 7

What is pastureland?

Answer 7

Land out East with introduced forages

Tend to be cool or warm season grasses depending on location

Question 8

T/F: Cool season grasses grow best in the summer, while warm season grasses grow best in the spring and fall.

Answer 8

False - flip those bad boys around

Question 9

95% of plants on the planet are ______ season

Answer 9

Cool

Question 10

Do cool or warm season grasses have higher protein?

Answer 10

Cool

Question 11

Because most of our pastures in the U.S. are not native, we must _________

Answer 11

Manage them

Question 12

If you’re calving season is in January, what kind of pasture would be ideal?

Answer 12

Cool season

Question 13

1 animal unit (AU) =

Answer 13

1000lb cow w/ calf (<3-4mo)

Question 14

How many pounds of dry forage does one AU require?

Answer 14

750lbs/mo

25lbs/day

Question 15

What is the stocking rate in Virginia?

Answer 15

2-4 acres/AU

Question 16

T/F: Stocking rate is highly dependent on location

Answer 16

True - 2-4 acres/AU in VA, but 25 acres/AU in Utah

Question 17

What method of grazing is the most efficient?

Answer 17

Strip grazing! Don’t allow them to pick and choose

Strip grazing = 90% utilization
Continuous grazing = 35% utilization

Question 18

What happens if you allow cows to munch the grass all the way to the ground?

Answer 18

Poor root growth
Plants rely on roots when they lack leaves

Question 19

Guidelines to a rotational grazing system

Answer 19

Minimum of 8 paddocks
Don’t graze a single paddock for more than 14d

Question 20

What is mob grazing?

Answer 20

Have one acre of land with 300,000+ lbs of grass
Allow 300 cows on the acre for one day

Question 21

What is the cool thing about high tannin plants?

Answer 21

Potential to assist in parasite control in small ruminants

Question 22

Cons of feeding round bales in a ring

Answer 22

One cow can monopolize the area

Ground gets torn up wherever the ring is placed

Question 23

Cons to rolling out the hay

Answer 23

• Cows can use it as bedding
• Sets up a place for animals to congregate (not ideal for parasite management and calf scours)
• Animals don’t eat as much

Question 24

What is bale grazing? What are the benefits?

Answer 24

In the fall, farmer will preplace bales throughout the pastures surrounded by hot wire/fencing

As animals finish individual pales, you can remove the wire/fencing around the next bale

Spreads manure out (cow becomes fertilizer spreading device)
Helps avoid mud

Question 25

T/F: Limit feeding hay dramatically increases waste

Answer 25

False - decreases it!

Give cows access to hay for 6-8h/day. Cows learn that they better eat it now. For the rest of the day, turn them out on pasture.

Dramatically reduces waste compared to hay ring feeding

Question 26

What is stockpiling fescue?

Answer 26

Allow cows to graze fescue down to 2” in late summer and remove cows

Apply 50-100lbs N/acre

Start grazing around thanksgiving (strip graze is best)

Quality is good until mid Feb or severe freezing (as long as it looks green, should be OK)

Question 27

T/F: Turning cattle out on fresh spring pasture is risky

Answer 27

True - Risk grass tetany

Treat like you would legumes and allow them to eat hay prior to turning out

Question 28

When soil N is _______, clover predominates

Answer 28

Low

Question 29

T/F: Legumes/clover provide N fertilizer to grass

Answer 29

True - clover fixes atmospheric N, once enough N is in the soil, grass will dominate until N is gone

Question 30

What is a risk associated with clover?

Answer 30

Bloat! Can prevent by putting out bloat blocks, limit grazing, or feeding hay before grazing

Question 31

When is the best time to plant clover?

Answer 31

February!

Apply seeds on top of ground

Freezing/thawing and cattle hoof action incorporate seed