As the growing season comes to an end, Kansas livestock producers have an opportunity to evaluate their pastures and make management decisions that could improve forage production and grazing conditions next year.
Kansas State University rangeland management specialist Molly Reichenborn and range scientist Keith Harmoney say fall is an important time to assess remaining forage, identify areas of overgrazing and monitor unwanted plant species.
“Now that we’re getting into (late) October, especially if we’re talking about warm season rangeland, we’re really getting towards the end of the production curve,” Reichenborn said.
“Now’s a really good time to take inventory of your forage resources,” Reichenborn said.
Evaluating residual forage
Harmoney, who works at K-State’s Agricultural Research Center in Hays, said producers should pay close attention to the amount of vegetation remaining after grazing.
Differing grass species require different amounts of residual leaf material to maintain healthy growth and recover the following spring.
- For short grasses, including buffalograss and blue grama, Harmoney recommends leaving approximately 2 to 4 inches of vegetation.
- Midgrasses, such as sideoats grama and little bluestem, should have 4 to 6 inches remaining.
- Taller grasses, including big bluestem, should retain at least 6 to 8 inches.
“Not enough residual is always a concern because that means that our forage demand and our forage supply probably was not balanced during the year,” Harmoney said.
When pastures are grazed too heavily, plants may enter winter with fewer energy reserves, potentially limiting their ability to recover when growing conditions improve.
“When we have more leaf removal than what we desire, those plants are going to be lower in energy going into the winter and potentially could start off next spring slower,” Harmoney said.
Identifying grazing patterns
Along with measuring residual vegetation, producers should evaluate how evenly livestock utilized available forage throughout the pasture.
Harmoney said identifying underutilized areas can help producers make changes to improve grazing distribution during the next growing season.
“This time of year is a great time to scout pastures and look for underutilized areas that receive less grazing and have a lot of residual growth,” he said.
Placing salt, mineral or protein supplements in underutilized areas may encourage cattle to graze locations they previously avoided. Other management options include prescribed burning, adjusting fencing and improving water access.
For areas experiencing excessive grazing pressure, Harmoney recommends allowing additional recovery time before livestock return.
“You want them to have an adequate amount of leaf material produced in their recovery in order for them to get back to photosynthesis,” Harmoney said.
Reichenborn adds that producers should also pay attention to changes in plant populations, particularly when undesirable species begin appearing in heavily used areas.
Plants such as ironweed, ragweed and snakeweed may indicate uneven grazing distribution rather than an overall stocking rate problem.
“It’s possible that it might be a grazing distribution problem and not necessarily a stocking rate problem,” Reichenborn said.
Monitoring invasive plants
Fall pasture evaluations also provide an opportunity to identify invasive and problematic plant species before they become more difficult to manage.
Reichenborn said biennial plants, including musk thistle and teasel, can be easier to control during their early growth stages.
These plants typically spend their first growing season developing low-growing leaves known as rosettes before producing flowering stems during their second year.
“The upside is now, if you noticed a population of say like musk thistle or teasels this summer, there’s likely rosettes coming up there that are vulnerable to herbicide,” Reichenborn said.
Returning to areas where those plants were previously identified can help producers locate new rosettes, which are generally more susceptible to herbicide applications than mature plants.
As pastures enter dormancy, producers may also notice differences in vegetation color that help identify invasive grasses.
Old World bluestems, which are not native to Kansas, often appear lighter than surrounding native vegetation during the winter months.
“I like to say they look like bleach spots,” Reichenborn said. “(It’s similar to getting) bleach on a T-shirt; they kind of stick out like lighter color patches of vegetation.”
Harmoney said these lighter patches can stand out against the reddish tones commonly found in dormant native grasses.
“That coloration change will hint to an area that may need to be addressed later on after you’ve identified the invading grass,” Harmoney said.
By taking time to evaluate pasture conditions this fall, Kansas producers can better understand how their grazing management decisions affected forage resources and identify opportunities to improve pasture health for the coming year.
More information on pasture evaluations is available online from K-State Extension or from local extension offices in Kansas.
