Subject: Re: Pasture FAQ (draft)

From: [email-masked] (Jim Baranski)
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 94 18:23:07 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] writes: ...

Some extra questions...

What's the smallest field that it's worth subfencing to rotate grazing for
sheep?

I have 15 aces of woods and rocky hills that was farmland a century or so ago.
The only meadow left is about 1.5 acreas.  I have wire fence around about 4
acreas including the meadow.  Of course Charlotte also wants to have her garden
in the middle of the meadow.  In the middle, *not* in a corner which is shaded.
Grrr, well, I've pushed the garden over toward a corner somewhat, but it has to
coexist with the sheep...

I'm gradually cutting out the junk wood, tree-of-heaven, and thinning the
woods, hoping that it will eventually turn into pasture.  I'd like to turn some
mushroom compost into the earth and reseed it to improve it as our 3 sheep seem
to have eaten everything to their liking.  Of course they don't seem to like
the weeds/brush that are the most plentiful, and need eating.  I don't like
goats, and don't want to get goats just to clear brush.

Jim Baranski
(same neck of the woods as Ron)

 Pastures are generally rougher than hayfields, and this draft Pasture
 FAQ is even rougher than the Haying FAQ I posted earlier.  I'd welcome
 comments, suggestions, corrections, or additions.   -- Ronald
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                Frequently Asked Questions About Pastures
                    DRAFT Version 0.1 - 5 October 1994
             Copyright 1994 Ronald Florence <[email-masked]>

 1.  Why pasture?  
 
     On many high-productivity farms today, the answer might be
     `nostalgia' or `to clean up odd corners that the tractors can't
     reach.'  Some large, mechanized farms get along with no pasture at
     all.  Dairy cows are fed silage, hay, and grain; market lambs and
     beef cattle are fattened in feedlots; horses get by on stall
     feeding.  In the interest of efficiency and maximum gains, pasture
     is sometimes limited to dry cows or rams after breeding.
 
     The economics of high-productivity mechanized farms don't
     necessarily apply to smaller farms, and especially hobby
     operations, where pasture can provide excellent low-cost feed,
     savings in hay and manure handling, a healthier environment than
     the barnyard or feedlot, extra-clean wool or grass-fed lamb or
     beef for specialty markets, and the pleasures of watching foals or
     lambs gambol on a grass field.

 2.  How much pasture do I need?
 
     Pasture needs depend on whether the pastures are primary or
     supplementary feed, local rainfall, forage quality, the
     availability of alternate pastures for rotation, the level of
     fertilizer and other nutrients applied to the pastures, the time
     and equipment available for pasture maintenance such as clipping
     or taking a cutting of hay, and the length of the grazing season.
 
     The usual rule of thumb is that one acre of permanent pasture can
     support one animal unit (one cow or horse, six sheep or goats).
     Pasture productivity can vary widely from that guideline.  Lush
     improved pastures can often support 10-12 ewes with their lambs
     per acre.  Stocking rates for aggressive rotation, with
     substantial rests for the pastures after each grazing cycle, can
     reach six animal units (6 cows or 24 sheep) per acre on improved
     pastures.  At the other end of the scale, a cow would have trouble
     supporting itself on two or more acres of some scrub pastures, and
     one sheep per acre is the rule on some Australian sheep stations.
 
     Too much pasture can be as big a problem as too little, unless you
     can take a cutting of hay when the forage gets ahead of the
     animals, or use a mower to clip weeds and over-ripe grass to
     provide fresh grazing.  (See the Haying FAQ for information on
     haying practices and equipment.)

 3.  How do I convert woodland, or an overgrown field, to a productive
     pasture? 
 
     The methods depend on whether you have more money or more time.
     Instant pastures are expensive.  If you're willing to spend a few
     years on the project, it can be done with minimal investment.
 
     Start with a survey of the trees.  There may be some trees you
     want to leave on an overgrown orchard, field, or woodlot, like old
     apple trees or ancient `wolf' trees on the edges of a field.  Most
     animals enjoy fallen fruit (watch out for drunk sheep if the
     apples lie too long), and all animals need shade.  You may be able
     to sell mature trees to a logger; otherwise, take advantage of the
     firewood.  If you have access to a chipper, the slash can be
     chipped for garden mulch and as path coverings.  Alternatives for
     the slash are burning (you'll probably need a permit), or piling
     in an out-of-the-way area as a wildlife refuge.  It will
     eventually rot down.
 
     The quick way to a pasture is to hire a bulldozer with a grubber
     blade, or a backhoe, to clear the stumps and stones.  A grubber
     blade looks like a huge rake, and will clear out stumps and large
     stones without scraping away the topsoil.  A good backhoe operator
     can also pull stumps and stones without disrupting too much of the
     topsoil.  Some backhoe operators find it easier to pull stumps
     when the trees are left standing, by using leverage high up on the
     trunk.  It may be wise to ask before you bring out the chainsaw.
     If you hire a bulldozer without a grubber blade, make sure the
     operator scrapes the topsoil aside before pulling stones and
     stumps, and regrades the topsoil afterwards.
 
     If you have more patience than money, saw stumps parallel to the
     ground -- a sharp stump can wreak havoc with tractor tires or the
     feet of livestock -- and where possible, cut the stumps low enough
     to clear a mower, so you can clip the pasture even before the
     stumps rot.  You may want to hire a backhoe or dozer to pull a few
     large stones, or learn to live with them.  Lambs love a big stone
     or two for games.
 
     You can cut brush low to the ground with a chainsaw, a saw-blade
     on a heavy-duty brush-whacker, or a heavy-duty brush hog.  Don't
     try light-duty brush hogs on heavy brush or a stony field, or
     saw-blades on lawn-trimmers.  You may be able to scrape away some
     brush with a bucket-loader on a tractor, though most tractor
     loaders don't take kindly to being treated as a bulldozer.
     Sometimes, it is easiest to use animals to clear the brush.  Goats
     are specialists, often preferring brush to grass and clover.
     Sheep love poison ivy and bittersweet.  The real masters of brush
     clearing are pigs, who will eat roots and all if they are put out
     without nose rings.  The trick to getting animals to clear brush
     and weeds is to confine them to a relatively small area.  If they
     have an entire pasture to roam, animals seek out tasty new grass,
     clover or buds.  When they are confined to a small area, they eat
     everything in sight, including brush and weeds.
 
     Once you have the trees and brush cleared, it's time to upgrade
     the pasture.  See question 4 below.

 4.  How do I improve the quality of my pasture from the present mix of
     native grasses and weeds?
 
     The first step is a soil test.  In many areas of the country,
     pasture land has a pH too low to support the better forage grasses
     and legumes.  The soil test will tell you how much lime to add.
     Applications of more than two tons/acre may need to be split over
     a period of a year or so.  You can spread lime yourself with a
     fertilizer spreader on a tractor, but it may be easier and cheaper
     to have a local blending plant spread it by truck
 
     For low-input passive improvement, you can introduce clovers and
     other desirable forage species by feeding mature hay on the
     pastures.  The animals will trample the seeds into the ground as
     they feed, and distribute seeds in their manure.  You can also
     change the balance between native clovers and grasses, or the
     balance of grasses in a pasture, by tilting the fertilization mix
     and timing, or by modifying the pH.  Grazing heavily in early
     spring, when grasses come up before the legumes, will favor the
     legumes.  Grazing heavily or mowing when jointed grasses like
     bromegrass have their growing point close to the ground will
     retard their growth.  Alternately, if grasses are allowed to reach
     boot stage, when seed heads have formed inside the stems, cutting
     or grazing encourages rapid regrowth.  Adding nitrogen-rich
     fertilizer, and early fertilizer application (see question 6
     below), favors grasses; heavier applications of potash and
     phosphate and later applications favor the clovers.  Higher pH
     from applied lime generally favors native clover and other
     legumes.
 
     For more aggressive improvement, once you have the pH up where you
     want it -- usually close to neutral for alfalfa or clovers, a
     little lower for grasses -- you have a choice of reseeding from
     clean tillage or over-seeding.  For lush mono-culture grass
     pastures, or for planting legumes like birdsfoot trefoil or
     alfalfa that don't compete well, clean tillage may be the only
     possibility.  You may need to plow under the old turf; you will
     certainly need extensive harrowing.  It's hard dusty work, and the
     animals will have no use of the pasture until the new seeding is
     well-established.  In some cases you may have better results if
     you plant an interim crop before a final harrowing and seeding
     with the desired grass or legumes.  Buckwheat that you can harrow
     in as green manure works well to choke out weeds, or you can plant
     dwarf Essex rape, turnips, oats or rye, and let your animals graze
     down the temporary pasture before a final seeding.  Keep your
     animals off the newly seeded pasture until it is well established.
 
     Most native grass pastures can be renovated without plowing and
     harrowing to clean tillage.  Soil test results will tell you what
     fertilizer to apply for the new seeding.  You can then over-seed
     with a no-till seeder (some agricultural extension offices rent or
     loan them).  If you don't have access to a no-till seeder, a few
     passes with a disc or a field cultivator will incorporate the
     fertilizer and lime, and disturb from 50% to 100% of the existing
     grasses.  If your soil has some clay content and shows frost
     cracks in late winter, you may not need to disc if you `frost
     seed' in late winter, after the snow is off but while the ground
     is still frozen.  Broadcast the new seed at a heavy rate and
     either roll, harrow lightly, or drag with branches or a wooden
     drag to set the seed.
 
     If you are seeding legumes to upgrade your pasture (see question 5
     below), when grass growth begins, and as soon as the soil is dry
     enough to avoid tracking, graze the newly seeded fields with
     enough animals to keep the grass short.  This will open the field
     to provide light to the new seedings.  (If you cannot graze down
     the early grass with animals, you may have to mow it to allow
     light down to the legumes.)  Keep the animals on the pasture until
     you see them starting to eat the newly seeded legumes.  Then pull
     the animals off and let the legumes grow undisturbed for 6-8 weeks
     for clovers, 8-12 weeks for alfalfa.  At this stage, don't worry
     about the weeds; it's more important to get the new seedings
     established.  When the legumes are vigorous, you can begin a
     regular grazing program.

 5.  What should I seed in pastures?
 
     Mono-culture grass pastures are sometimes used on picture-book
     horse farms, and mono-culture legumes are sometimes used for
     aggressively rotated paddocks or where a cutting of high quality
     hay is taken off the pasture in the spring.  In general, the most
     productive and lowest maintenance improved pastures are mixed
     legumes and grass.
 
     The advantage of mixing legumes and grass on a pasture is that the
     clover and grass grow at different times of year, providing good
     feed through the seasons.  And once inoculated clover or other
     legumes are established, they will generate nitrogen that will in
     turn fertilize the grass -- saving the expense of added nitrogen
     fertilizer.
 
     Typical legumes for pasture seeding are red, ladino, alsike, or
     white clover; birdsfoot trefoil; and alfalfa.  The latter two are
     tough to establish except in clean tillage.  For renovation
     seeding, a combination of ladino and red clover works well in many
     areas.  Red clover can handle shading by grasses better than most
     other clovers; ladino has small seeds that do well in partially
     tilled soils.  Some extension and soil conservation services may
     recommend white clover instead.  Some tests have indicated that
     red clover can retard ovulation in ewes, so it may not be a good
     choice for a pasture used for flushing sheep before breeding.
     Ladino clover is too low to cut for hay, so it may not be a good
     choice on a pasture where you're planning to take an occasional
     cutting of hay.  Make sure you inoculate legume seeds before
     seeding.
 
     Predominantly legume pastures present the potential danger of
     bloating in ruminants.  Bloat can generally be avoided if you
     condition animals to lush legumes gradually.  Let them eat their
     fill of dry hay in the morning before they go onto an alfalfa or
     clover pasture, and limit their grazing the first few days.
 
     Among the grasses, orchardgrass, bromegrass, timothy, and
     bluegrass are all popular in pastures.  Unless you've cleared to
     clean tillage, chances are your pasture will be a mixture of
     grasses.  Some farms structure their grazing to provide a rotation
     between cool-season grasses (bluegrass, bromegrass), which do best
     in the spring and fall, and warm-season grasses like sudangrass.
     Reed canarygrass and orchardgrass grow all season, depending on
     the available moisture.  Timothy grows well all season, but
     doesn't take well to continuous grazing.  There is a danger of
     prussic acid poisoning from some varieties of sudangrass.

 6.  What do I need to do to maintain my pastures?
 
     To maintain their productivity, pastures need adequate nutrition,
     clipping or controlled grazing to eliminate weeds and over-ripe
     grass, and protection from overgrazing.
 
     Fertilizers and added manure provide the nutrition.  Trust your
     soil tests, but as a guideline, legume or mixed legume-grass
     pastures generally need 30-60 lbs of phosphate (P2O2) and 90-120
     lbs of potash (K20) per acre once a year, with the lower rates for
     pastures where you spread manure or have fertile soils.  Alfalfa
     and ladino clover profit from a little boron in the fertilizer.
     Good legume-grass pastures need no additional nitrogen (N).
     Straight grass pastures need 80-120 lbs of N per acre annually in
     split applications (usually a first application in early spring,
     and a second application sometime after first cutting of hay in
     your area), 40-90 lbs of P2O5, and 60-100 lbs. of K2O per acre
     annually.  If you spread manure on the pasture, applications as
     low as 40-60 lbs N, 20-30 lbs. P2O5, and 30-40 lbs K2O are
     probably sufficient.  Taller grasses, like orchardgrass and reed
     canarygrass, generally need the higher rates.
 
     If you don't have access to a blending plant, or don't have the
     equipment to use bulk fertilizer, you may have to select from
     available bagged fertilizer, or mix two or more blends of bagged
     fertilizer to get the formulation you need.  A good starting point
     for legume or mixed legume/grass pasture is 300-600 lbs/acre of
     0-10-40 or 0-15-30.  A starting point for grass pastures is a
     split application (early spring, summer) of 400-600 lbs/acre of
     15-8-12.
 
     Applied manure, in addition to the animal droppings, is good for a
     pasture.  Ten tons per acre of cow manure (two-thirds that amount
     of sheep manure), well-flailed and spread in the fall after
     grazing has stopped, is ideal.  Chicken manure application should
     be no more than 3-4 tons per acre.  If you don't have a manure
     spreader, you may be able to borrow one, or hire a neighbor to
     custom spread your manure.
 
     Unless you are using a very aggressive rotation scheme on small
     paddocks, you will probably need to clip your pastures at least
     once per year to control weeds.  Twice is better -- once in late
     spring to eliminate ungrazed old growth, and a second mowing in
     late summer to get the weeds.  Pastures with tall-growing grasses
     like orchardgrass or reed canarygrass may need three clippings per
     year.  Clipping after every rotation can do wonders to eliminate
     nasty weeds like thistles.
 
     A sickle bar mower set at 3 inches will do an excellent job of
     clipping a pasture.  A brush hog will also do a good job if the
     blades are sharp; in a stony pasture, the brush hog will function
     as a missile launcher, so be careful.  If your pastures are free
     of stumps and stones, you can use a heavy-duty finishing mower or
     lawn mower.  The best time to mow is just after a heavy grazing
     cycle.  Some mowers may scatter the manure, or you can use a spike
     harrow or drag to break up and distribute clumps of manure.  An
     alternative or supplement to mowing is a wether goat or two in
     with your other animals, if you've got the fences and secure
     enough gates to hold a goat.
 
     Grazing too early in the spring, or too late into the fall, takes
     a toll on a pasture.  When a pasture is grazed too early, the
     young shoots are quickly nibbled off, plant root systems are
     destroyed, and weeds move in.  Animals then churn the wet sod
     searching for palatable plants, turning the pasture into a muddy,
     eroding feedlot.  Grazing too late strips the fall growth that
     forage grasses and legumes need to build up root systems for the
     winter.  Fields reserved for succession grazing on annuals (see
     question 9 below) can extend the grazing season.

 7.  What is the best fence for pastures?
 
     Fences have two purposes: keeping animals in and keeping predators
     out.  The wood fences of fancy horse farms or New England stone
     walls may succeed at the former, unless you're trying to keep a
     bull away from cows in season, or weaned lambs away from their
     mothers.  To keep predators out, you will probably need woven
     wire, high-tension, or electric fences.  Stopping a mother coyote
     who is trying to feed her kit may require 48-inch woven wire with
     additional strands of barbed wire at ground level and above the
     woven wire, or 6-7 strands of high-tension electric fencing.
 
     Cattle and horses that are trained well to electric fences can be
     fenced in with a single wire.  Many horse farms prefer to use a
     highly visible wire or one of the wide braided conductors.
     Smaller animals and animals with heavy coats need multi-wire
     fences to contain them, and pigs need carefully-placed ground
     level wires -- barbed or electric -- to keep them from digging
     their way out.
 
     Woven wire fences are relatively simple to install.  Depending on
     local supplies and aesthetic needs, you can use metal T-posts,
     pressure-treated commercial posts, or homemade posts of a
     resistant wood like cedar or locust.  T-posts or sharpened wooden
     posts can be started with a pry bar and driven in with a post
     pounder.  Corner posts should be stout, dug deep and may need
     braces.  Use a fence-stretcher or a tractor to tension the fence
     before you staple it to the posts, and leave the staples loose on
     intermediate posts to allow the fence some play.  A convenient
     tool for fence-stretching is a pair of 2 x 6 boards, longer than
     the fence, drilled for 3 to 5 strong bolts.  Sandwich the end of
     the fence between the two boards and tighten the bolts to hold the
     fence, then hitch a chain from the tractor or fence stretcher to
     the ends of the sandwich-boards to stretch the fence evenly.
 
     High-tension fences work best for long runs on level land, where
     they require few intermediate posts.  Because of the tension in
     the wires, the corner posts need to be well dug and braced; old
     telephone poles make good corner posts.  In some cases high
     tension fences do not need to be electrified, but to look good and
     perform well, they require careful installation and no stinting on
     tensioners and other hardware.
 
     For temporary fencing, portable electric fences using `polywire'
     or electrified netting are quick to set up and move.  The various
     reel devices are useful if you plan to move the fence often.
     Gallagher sells hardwood posts that require no insulators, which
     are convenient as end posts and corner posts for temporary electric
     fences.  Welded hog or cattle panels can also be used for
     temporary holding pens.
 
     Premier Fence Systems (800.282.6631, fax 319.653.6304) and
     Gallagher (???) distribute catalogs with excellent ideas for
     electric and high-tension fencing, including electric scare fences
     that can be used as an adjunct to stone walls or older woven or
     wooden fences.  Reliable electric fences require adequate charger
     strength, good grounds, and some thought to gateways, streams, and
     abrupt changes in terrain.

 8.  What is rotation grazing and how do I do it?
 
     Most pasture forage responds well to a cycle of heavy grazing,
     followed by a period of rest.  Many animals, if they are confined
     to a limited area, will eat everything in sight, including weeds
     and coarse forage, instead of nibbling only the tender shoots that
     grew the night before.  Rotation grazing takes advantage of the
     pattern of forage growth and animal habits to increase pasture
     productivity.
 
     Rotation patterns can vary from super-aggressive `forward paddock
     grazing' which may move the animals daily, to a casual rotation
     between two pastures every three or four weeks.  Two weeks is
     generally the minimum rest for a pasture; three or four weeks is
     better.  Some farms rotate different livestock onto pastures,
     taking advantage of the different grazing habits of cattle and
     sheep.  After the cattle eat the coarse growth, sheep are brought
     in to eat the fine grasses and clovers the cattle missed.
 
     Livestock can be rotated between separate pastures, between
     paddocks carved out of pasture areas with stone walls or
     cross-fencing, or between areas of a pasture with portable
     electric fencing.  Portable fencing is versatile, but requires
     more work to move and set up than the advertisements in the
     catalogs and magazines suggest.  The alternative, permanently
     divided paddocks, can be inconvenient for mowing, fertilizing, or
     taking an occasional cutting of hay.  Whatever the rotation
     pattern, you will need shade, water, and mineral feeders in each
     paddock or pasture area; if you don't use portable fencing, you
     will need gates or barways between the paddocks or pastures.
     
     Strip grazing uses one or two electric fences, moved as often as
     daily, to allow the livestock to graze fresh forage.  On some
     operations, the lambs or calves are allowed to graze a paddock or
     strip first; when they move on to fresher grass and clover, the
     ewes or cows are brought in to clean up the old paddock.
 
     Another advantage of rotation is parasite control.  Many internal
     parasites cannot survive two or three weeks away from their hosts,
     especially in the hot sun on a close-clipped pasture.  Before
     rotation onto a clean pasture is an optimum time to worm your
     animals.  Even if you don't have a planned rotation scheme, when
     you see animals moving about restlessly in search of forage, it
     usually means the pasture is temporarily exhausted and needs a
     rest.  If you don't have an alternate pasture, it may be time to
     confine the stock to a feedlot until the pasture recovers, or at
     least to take pressure off the pasture by feeding supplementary
     hay or silage.

 9.  What about seasonal rotation, with alternate forages?
 
     You can extend the grazing season, and gain maximum production
     (milk from cows, growth in lambs) by rotating stock to different
     forage depending on the season.  On permanent pastures, you could
     rotate between grasses that grow better in the spring and fall
     (bluegrass, bromegrass) and mid-summer grasses (sudangrass).  You
     can also rest pastures by turning animals into hayfields to clean
     up the aftermath.  Some old-time dairy farmers developed
     sophisticated grazing programs to take advantage of the growth
     patterns of a variety of forage, and may be a good source of
     advice.  One caution: ruminants and equines may develop scours
     when they are moved abruptly from one forage variety to another;
     it is generally a temporary condition and will disappear when the
     stomach flora adapt to the new forage.
 
     You can also extend the grazing season by reserving a field or
     portion of a field for annual plantings of supplemental grazing
     crops.  Rye or wheat seeded in the fall can provide early spring
     grazing before the permanent pastures are ready.  Oats or rye
     seeded in the early spring can provide grazing in the summer when
     regular pasture growth slows.  On heavier soils, Japanese millet
     can provide mid- to late-summer grazing.  Brassicas like rape or
     turnips can provide temporary grazing in 4 to 6 weeks, and allow
     sheep to graze well into the winter.  Some brassicas can be
     heavily grazed, rested for a month, and grazed again.  Sheep will
     trample and waste root crops if they aren`t confined to a few days
     worth of grazing with temporary fencing.
 
     Supplemental pastures or grazing hay aftermath may allow you to
     bank grass (field hay) on your permanent pastures for late season
     grazing.  Sheep and cattle can graze snow-covered pastures as long
     as there is no heavy icing.
 
     With carefully planned succession grazing, rotation of permanent
     pastures, and banked grass, it is possible to extend the grazing
     season to as long as 10.5 months in a climate like Wisconsin, and
     possibly to all year in milder climates.  The trade-off for the
     welcome elimination of manure and hay handling is the time and
     fuel for harrowing and seeding supplementary grazing crops.

 10. This all sounds like too much work.  Why can't I just turn my
     stock loose in a woodlot or overgrown meadow?
 
     You can, and if there are no poisonous plants or other dangers,
     the animals will browse grass and brush.  Some species to watch
     out for: choke cherry (the leaves are toxic if a branch is cut or
     knocked down by a storm), water hemlock, spotted hemlock,
     rhododendron, locoweed, elder berry, lupine weed, jimson weed,
     horsenettle (nightshade), milkweed, and some laurels.  Most stock
     will avoid poisonous plants unless they are hungry.
 
     Unimproved pasture like woodlots or brushy slopes generally won't
     provide more than maintenance feed for cattle or sheep.  But if
     you already have a regular feeding program and need only
     supplemental grazing, or if you are using animals to maintain the
     land, low-input grazing may be just the ticket.  On some farms,
     feeding supplementary grain to animals on unimproved pasture may
     be more practical than improving pastures with heavy inputs of
     lime, fertilizer, and tractor time.

 11. Who wrote this FAQ.  I'd like to be aware of regional and other
     prejudices. 
 
     Ronald Florence <[email-masked]>, who raises Cotswold sheep in
     Stonington, Connecticut, is responsible for the omissions, errors,
     and prejudices in this draft FAQ.
 --
 
 				Ronald Florence

---

From: [email-masked] (Ronald Florence)
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 16:26:04 GMT

Jim Baranski writes:

I hope Bernie Cosell will answer that one, as he's got a lot of
experience with both temporary fencing and paddock rotation of sheep.
If you're using the sheep to clear brush and weeds, you may need
intensive stocking (40-60 sheep/acre) and frequent rotation until the
pastures are productive.  On improved pastures, the stocking rates can
vary from 6-20 sheep/acre, depending on how often you're willing to
move the flock and whether you have enough paddocks to provide 2-4
weeks rest between grazings.

   I'd like to turn some mushroom compost into the earth and reseed it
   to improve it as our 3 sheep seem to have eaten everything to their
   liking. 

You might want to consider putting the mushroom compost on your garden
and using a soil test, lime, and fertilizer on the pastures.  The
Franklin Mushroom Farm, not far from you, charges $50 to fill a
12-yard truck with spent compost, which is about the right amount to
harrow or rototill into a 40x60 foot garden.  
--

				Ronald Florence

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 94 14:36:56 +1200

Gallagher's telephone number in the USA is (in Texas)
210 4945211
[and in New Zealand is 07 838 9800]

Here in NZ we have found that the hardwood electric standards 
which are sold as being their own insulators, are OK in dry 
climates like Australia.  But here where it is much wetter (like
the North West Coast of USA in Summer), they do not work well.
We find that wooden posts with the newer plastic insulators work
fine.  

Also here in NZ lots of people use sheep to trample in grass seed.
A large mob in the Spring sets it in well.

Also there are a number of new cultivars of grasses designed to grow
during those periods when not a lot is growing.  Several of these 
need careful grazing but will grow in early Spring, mid Summer, and late
Autumn.

Also there is a lot of recent interest in the use of herbs in pastures.
The animals love them and some have proven medicinal properties which
are undergowing further selection (vermifuge of garlic).  Most of these
cannot tolerate heavy grazing or grazing more then 2-3 times per year, 
but are worth noting.  Chickory and lotus are two current favourites.

---

From: [email-masked] (Ronald Florence)
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 16:26:04 GMT

Jim Baranski writes:

				Ronald Florence

---

From: [email-masked] (Bernie Cosell)
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 1994 02:33:40 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, Jim Baranski writes:

} What's the smallest field that it's worth subfencing to rotate grazing for
} sheep?

I don't understand the question.  Depending on the local ecology, you'll
be able to get 3-8 sheep per acre [we're running about 6-7 just now].
The number goes toward the high siide as your land improves and you do
more agressive rotation.  The question is: given how much land you have,
it is worth the bother to have <that> many sheep [~= acres*5].

Given that you DO decide to run sheep, then subfencing is always going
to be worth it [in terms of improving the amount of use you get from
the given amount of land].

} I have 15 aces of woods and rocky hills that was farmland a century or so ago.
} The only meadow left is about 1.5 acreas.  I have wire fence around about 4
} acreas including the meadow.  Of course Charlotte also wants to have her garden
} in the middle of the meadow.  In the middle, *not* in a corner which is shaded.
} Grrr, well, I've pushed the garden over toward a corner somewhat, but it has to
} coexist with the sheep...

4 acres, minus a bit for the garden, ought to be enough for 20 or
so sheep.  I don't see the exact problem: even if it is smack in
the middle of one of the paddocks, if you just fence around the garden
it'll essentially not be there... am I missing something here?

} I'm gradually cutting out the junk wood, tree-of-heaven, and thinning the
} woods, hoping that it will eventually turn into pasture.  I'd like to turn some
} mushroom compost into the earth and reseed it to improve it as our 3 sheep seem
} to have eaten everything to their liking.  Of course they don't seem to like
} the weeds/brush that are the most plentiful, and need eating.  I don't like
} goats, and don't want to get goats just to clear brush.

Ah --- 3 sheep.  If you want to work it, you ought to be able to
run the 3 sheep on *just* the 1.5 acre meadow!  It won't do just to
try to get them to 'trim' your 15 acres [as I suspect you've
already discovered]: they'll just eat what they want and leave the
ugly stuff behind.  In fact, in many ways this is the *worse* thing
you can do: none of your pastures will really reap the benefit of
being rotationally grazed, since none will be eaten down enough.
Better, I'd think, would be to stock some portion of your land at a
sufficient level to be well-managed, and then just do something
else with the other land [we lease some to a neighbor who runs a
couple of cattle on it, and we just bushhog the rest].  Then as
your flock grows, you can expand how much of your farm is brought
into the rotation.

  /Bernie\
-- 
Bernie Cosell                               [email-masked]
Fantasy Farm Fibers, Pearisburg, VA         (703) 921-2358
    --->>>    Too many people; too few sheep    <<<---

---

From: [email-masked] (Bernie Cosell)
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 1994 14:28:40 GMT

} In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] writes: ...
}
}  Pastures are generally rougher than hayfields, and this draft Pasture
}  FAQ is even rougher than the Haying FAQ I posted earlier.  I'd welcome
}  comments, suggestions, corrections, or additions.   -- Ronald

For some reason, I didn't see this first-time around, but only on the
tail of Jim's post... hmm..  In any event, this is another *great* FAQ.
As I scan over my comments, I see that I have a whole lot of nothing
much to say [not even consistent spelling errors...:-)].

In fact, even more than the haying FAQ, I'd have to say that this is
one of the best, most concise, to the point _references_ on pastures,
the life cycle of plants [and animals], etc, that I've seen.  For those
of you that haven't poked around on these topics, read it all carefully:
Ron has distilled stuff that I've only been able to find spread across
thousands of pages in dozens of boring books.  You won't find it more
clearly presented _anywhere_.

}  1.  Why pasture?  
}  
}      On many high-productivity farms today, the answer might be
}      `nostalgia' or `to clean up odd corners that the tractors can't
}      reach.'  Some large, mechanized farms get along with no pasture at
}      all.  Dairy cows are fed silage, hay, and grain; market lambs and
}      beef cattle are fattened in feedlots; horses get by on stall
}      feeding.  In the interest of efficiency and maximum gains, pasture
}      is sometimes limited to dry cows or rams after breeding.

I'd prefer a more positive approach to this topic.  In pariticular, you
*cannot* raise livestock with "no pasture at all": what you can do is
have the pasture be far away from the place where the livestock live,
but you still have to have it _somewhere_.

We approach this from the point of view of the _land_, not the
_livestock_.  I agree that the modern, huge mechanized farms raise
a breathtaking number of bushes/acre, tons of hay/acre, etc.  This
means that if you have x,000 acres, you'll probably get more
'productivity' by confining the livestock to as little of it as
possible and running the heavy-iron on the remaing <x-1>,999.9999
acres.

But there are problems, IMO, and you touch on one of them them:

}      The economics of high-productivity mechanized farms don't
}      necessarily apply to smaller farms, and especially hobby
}      operations, ...

Again, I think you can make a more positive statement than just:

} ...  where pasture can provide excellent low-cost feed,
}      savings in hay and manure handling, a healthier environment than
}      the barnyard or feedlot, extra-clean wool or grass-fed lamb or
}      beef for specialty markets, and the pleasures of watching foals or
}      lambs gambol on a grass field.

The _finances_ of opting for a feedlot operation are a lot different
than that of a pasture operation, and it isn't clear at all that
'feedlot' is always the most cost-effective [and so implying that
any other decision has to be trading off "intangibles" against
hard-cash].  I think the key is 'smaller farms' --- my reading is
that for the high-productivity farms to really work you need to be
operating **B*I*G**.  If you cannot afford that much land, that
much capital equipment, that much staff to help out with the
operations, then the prudence of a feedlot operation gets a bit
trickier.  [basically, as with our discussion about haying, what
you have to do is 'borrow' someone else's land by buying some feed
>from  them.  Whether that's financially a win depends on how good
your land is, how cheaply you can get grain/hay/etc locally, etc].

Another aspect is one that I truly cannot say much about but I have
a gut feel about: I think that those huge high-productivity
operations are bad for the land.  From what I have read [although I
haven't looked at it all that carefully so I'm improvising here],
the h-p farms are doing not so nice things to the water table, they
rely on heavy-duty fertilization to 'force' the soil to produce and
are depleting it, the runoff with all of those chemicals is causing
a nontrivial amount of secondary trouble.

}  6.  What do I need to do to maintain my pastures?
}  
}      To maintain their productivity, pastures need adequate nutrition,
}      clipping or controlled grazing to eliminate weeds and over-ripe
}      grass, and protection from overgrazing.
}  
}      Fertilizers and added manure provide the nutrition. ...

What we've heard is that as a rule of thumb you must balance what
you take off the land with what you put back into it.  The basic
idea is that having pasture animals live on a pasture is pretty
close to a closed-loop ecology and won't require much
supplementing.  If you take a LOT from the land and ship it off
your farm [e.g., dairy and beef cattle], you'll have to provide a
lot more replacement nutrition.  If you don't take much [e.g., you
only raise sheep for their fleece] you'll need to add a lot less.

}      Unless you are using a very aggressive rotation scheme on small
}      paddocks, you will probably need to clip your pastures at least
}      once per year to control weeds.  Twice is better -- once in late
}      spring to eliminate ungrazed old growth, and a second mowing in
}      late summer to get the weeds.  Pastures with tall-growing grasses
}      like orchardgrass or reed canarygrass may need three clippings per
}      year.  Clipping after every rotation can do wonders to eliminate
}      nasty weeds like thistles.

We do that [after we rotate the sheep out, I go in and cut down
what's left], but I haven't found that it helps very much with
thistles.  It does seem to do wonders with other weeds and such
[and it is amazing to start using a new paddock that is pretty
rough, and after half-a-season of rotations/clippings see it
magically getting better and better right before your eyes!], but I
still end up going out and spot-spraying with 2-4D to get rid of
the thistles.

}  8.  What is rotation grazing and how do I do it?

}      Rotation patterns can vary from super-aggressive `forward paddock
}      grazing' which may move the animals daily, to a casual rotation
}      between two pastures every three or four weeks.  Two weeks is
}      generally the minimum rest for a pasture; three or four weeks is
}      better.  Some farms rotate different livestock onto pastures,
}      taking advantage of the different grazing habits of cattle and
}      sheep.  After the cattle eat the coarse growth, sheep are brought
}      in to eat the fine grasses and clovers the cattle missed.

Another problem here [I'm told] is the height of the foraging: sheep
will eat the pasture down lower than cattle can deal with, and so if you
run sheep in first the cattle won't find much, but vice versa [as you
recommend] works great.

}      Livestock can be rotated between separate pastures, between
}      paddocks carved out of pasture areas with stone walls or
}      cross-fencing, or between areas of a pasture with portable
}      electric fencing.  Portable fencing is versatile, but requires
}      more work to move and set up than the advertisements in the
}      catalogs and magazines suggest.

**AMEN**.  We use some temporary fencing and I am constantly impressed
by what a hassle it is to deal with.  We've also found that as you use
it a lot, it gets harder to deal with [since it gets slightly less well
wound up each time, the plastic stretches a little bit, etc].  A year or
two back someone posted here that he had horses and used portable fencing
to move them around -every-day-, and I could only marvel at his industry...

} ...   The alternative, permanently
}      divided paddocks, can be inconvenient for mowing, fertilizing, or
}      taking an occasional cutting of hay.  Whatever the rotation
}      pattern, you will need shade, water, and mineral feeders in each
}      paddock or pasture area; if you don't use portable fencing, you
}      will need gates or barways between the paddocks or pastures.

Another option [which is what we use] is to have a common area
connecting to all of the paddocks and put the minerals, water, etc
_there_.  We use a central island, with each paddock hanging off of
it.  The number of paddocks in the pasture varies depending on the
size of the field [our small field has just four paddocks, the
large one has eight].  We make the opening to the island be about
12 feet and close them off with hog panels [welded-wire panels, 3'
high by 16' long] and 'rotating' is a pretty trivial operation: you
go down to the island [checking minerals and cleaning out the
waterer as you go], move the hog panel to the new paddock out of
the way.  The sheep race past you, ka-klump, ka-klump, ka-klump,
into the new paddock.  we walk to the entrace to the old paddock
and put its hog panel back in place and we're done.

} ...  Even if you don't have a planned rotation scheme, when
}      you see animals moving about restlessly in search of forage, it
}      usually means the pasture is temporarily exhausted and needs a
}      rest.  If you don't have an alternate pasture, it may be time to
}      confine the stock to a feedlot until the pasture recovers, or at
}      least to take pressure off the pasture by feeding supplementary
}      hay or silage.

This is _great_ advice!

} ...  One caution: ruminants and equines may develop scours
}      when they are moved abruptly from one forage variety to another;
}      it is generally a temporary condition and will disappear when the
}      stomach flora adapt to the new forage.

"generally" is probably important here --- we're told [but thankfully
haven't experienced] that you can _kill_ sheep by changing their feed
abruptly.

}      With carefully planned succession grazing, rotation of permanent
}      pastures, and banked grass, it is possible to extend the grazing
}      season to as long as 10.5 months in a climate like Wisconsin, and
}      possibly to all year in milder climates.  The trade-off for the
}      welcome elimination of manure and hay handling is the time and
}      fuel for harrowing and seeding supplementary grazing crops.

As I've said, one of these years, when things settle down, we're
looking forward to trying to get _real_ close to year-round.
Beyond the explicit trade-off would be the satisfaction of really
running your farm pretty much closed-loop.  Another aspect about
the size of the tradeoff is how aggressively you have to pursue it
to make it work in your climate.

As I've mentioned, our rough analysis is that we should be able to
divide our farm into two regions.  One with the usual grass mixes,
that will provide plenty of grazing in the Spring and Fall.  And
one area which is alternated: sown in the Spring with
summer-growing stuff.  Sheep graze there while the spring/fall
pastures rest.  comes the fall, sheep go back to the other pastures
and we reseed with something that'll grow in the winter.  That seems to
me to be not quite as complicated as the many-season scheme you had
outlined.

We'll see... stay tuned for the news from Fantasy Farm someplace around
1998 or so...

}  10. This all sounds like too much work.  Why can't I just turn my
}      stock loose in a woodlot or overgrown meadow?
}  
}      You can, and if there are no poisonous plants or other dangers,
}      the animals will browse grass and brush.  Some species to watch
}      out for: choke cherry (the leaves are toxic if a branch is cut or
}      knocked down by a storm),

Can you expand on that a bit?  It is hard to get the straight scoop on that.
We've taken several cherry trees out of our fields for this reason, but I
don't exactly understand what is happening.  Do the leaves that fall in
Autumn have this problem?  It was frightening to think [as you mention] that
a wind-blown-down branch could poison some of the flock...

}  11. Who wrote this FAQ.  I'd like to be aware of regional and other
}      prejudices. 
}  
}      Ronald Florence <[email-masked]>, who raises Cotswold sheep in
}      Stonington, Connecticut, is responsible for the omissions, errors,
}      and prejudices in this draft FAQ.

One thing I don't recall from our visit: what are you doing these days?
Are you rotating?  Seasonal rotating?

  /Bernie\

---

From: [email-masked] (Ronald Florence)
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 1994 21:50:25 GMT

Bernie Cosell writes:

   The basic

The closed-loop ecology is an appealing idea, and a pasture may be a
far less intrusive ecology than a cornfield with the required heavy
annual inputs of fertilizer, herbicides, and insecticides.  But dairy
cattle and breeding sheep take more from the pasture than they put
back, the pH may gradually decline, and intensive grazing may have
other consequences which require compensating inputs to maintain the
productivity of the pasture.

Mark Kramer <[email-masked]> sent me the following in email, which
I quote with his permission.  Seems right on target to me:

  Just one small point--gawd knows where I got it into my mind, but it was 
  years ago.  I've ended up with a received-wisdom level notion that 
  pasture is far from 'closed loop', because animals take their weight 
  gains away, and also do physical damage.  I kinda had the notion that the 
  rule of thumb that they return 80% of what they take off was about 
  right.  Certainly they create a SPECIAL ECOLOGICAL NICHE by their 
  intensive grazing--i.e., one in which thistle does well, for example, 
  when it wouldn't do nearly as well in open grassland without animals 
  doing weeding duty for it.  Is my memory right in thinking that mullien 
  (is it called hairy mullien or mullane or something like that?) also is 
  selected for by grazing pressure?   
   
[I think the stuff is called `mullein' and it is a nasty that like
thistles seems to thrive in intensively grazed pastures.]

I've added sci.agriculture to the distribution in the hope that others
may contribute to this interesting thread.
--

				Ronald Florence