grasses with a healthy component of legumes. Achieving this happy state may take a few years of managed grazing, mowing, and fertilization. You may want to add plant species by overseeding—that is, scattering seed in an established pasture. Much of the fertilization and all of the grazing will come from your cattle. Your job is to manage the cattle so that they do a good job of fertilizing and grazing.
The grasses and clovers that cattle like to eat grow differently from trees, shrubs, and some weeds. If you understand this difference, you’ll understand why mowing and grazing are the keys to good pastures. Grasses and clovers have a “growing point” at or near the ground. When a cow bites off a blade of grass or a clover stem, the plant quickly regrows from this growing point. Trees, shrubs, and weeds, however, grow from the tips of their branches and leaves. That’s why, when you prune a shrub, it stays pruned for months. By contrast, you have to mow the lawn every week—the cutting actually stimulates it to grow faster by removing the older leaves that are getting in the way of the growing point at the base of the plant. Grazing has the same effect, so grazing, when correctly managed, results in lush pastures.
Unmanaged grazing, however, can devastate a pasture. This is because when a mower or a cow shears off the leafy part of the plant, it temporarily depletes the food supply to the roots, and some of those roots die. Dead roots put a lot of organic matter into the soil, which is great for holding water and keeping the soil moist, but a great many live, healthy roots are necessary for a thick, lush pasture. You want a balance between dead roots and live roots. If you cut your grass every day or let your cows graze the same plants every day, you kill too much of the root, and the grass will become stunted or even die. If the process goes on too long, the soil loses much of its plant cover and becomes vulnerable to wind and water erosion.
Weeds are especially abundant when the cattle feed in the same pasture for an entire growing season. Because the cows keep the grass and clover so short, the weeds have no real competition for sun or water and thus can grow with little restraint. In the spring, when all of the plants in an extensive pasture get off to an even start and are growing like gangbusters, this type of pasture looks great. By late summer, when the rain has slacked off, the spring growth spurt is over, and the cattle have kept their favorite plants short, a lot of these pastures are full of big weeds, tiny grass plants, and skinny cattle.
By contrast, grass that isn’t grazed while it’s still fairly young and tender gets stiff from hard-to-digest cellulose as it matures. The tall grass blades shade the growing point near the soil, and growth slows or stops. Some older plants in a pasture are OK to supply some fiber. However, the older the plant is, the slower it grows, and the less palatable it is to cows. Keep in mind, too, that a certain amount of old growth left over the winter can protect roots and growing points from freeze-thaw cycles that heave the soil and break roots. Too much, though, and the ground will be shaded and slow to warm in the spring, and new growth will have a tough time struggling through the old stuff to reach sunlight.
In summary, a thick pasture full of grasses and legumes that cattle like and lacking the weeds they dislike—with grass that isn’t too old or too short—is ideal for the health and growth of cattle. This type of pasture provides the added advantages of growing longer into dry spells, greening up sooner in the spring, and staying green longer in the fall, which means money in your pocket that you won’t have to spend on extra hay.
Rotational versus Extensive Grazing
It would seem that the best way to graze cattle is to let them graze an area thoroughly for a short period and then put them somewhere else while that area rests and regrows. This is called rotational or management-intensive grazing. Figured out in the 1960s and 1970s by Allan Savory, founder of Holistic Management International, and a host of other researchers, farmers, and ranchers around the world—and since portable fencing became readily available in the 1980s—rotational grazing has been quietly revolutionizing pasture and range management.
Nonetheless, extensive grazing is still by far the most common pasture system in the United States. If you have a lot of land and just a few head of cattle, it may be the most economical choice. The cattle can be turned out for the grazing season and left largely on their own; you only need to make sure that they have water, salt, and a mineral mix on hand at all times. If the pasture is big enough, no one will starve, although if it gets dry in the late summer and grass growth stalls, the cattle will need hay.
The biggest long-term problem with extensive grazing is that it can wreak havoc with the soil, water, and vegetation. Cattle that return to the same areas day after day to graze or rest will kill the plants and compact the soil. If there’s a stream or pond in the pasture, they’ll trample the banks into mud. With no lush vegetation to shade the water and no roots to hold the soil, the water temperature will rise and the banks erode, clouding the water and silting up the bottom. This is devastating for many aquatic species, especially prized ones such as rainbow trout. When cattle rest in the shade of the same trees day after day, the trampling can destroy the delicate feeder root systems and kill the trees. When palatable grass and clover are constantly grazed into the ground, noxious weeds can flourish. Especially in dry climates, where even without cattle it’s difficult for vegetation to prosper, extensive grazing can be devastating.
Setting up rotational grazing for beef cattle is fairly simple. Using whatever type of fence you prefer, split your pasture into several paddocks. Step-in posts and plastic electric wire are the cheapest, quickest, and most common choices for paddock fences. If, however, you don’t care for the constant maintenance required by electric fencing, you can put up permanent paddock divisions.
Paddocks should be sized to provide enough pasture to feed the herd for at least three days but usually no longer than a week. A shorter period tends to make beef cows too fat, and a longer stretch allows them to regraze plants that are just beginning to regrow. If you’re grazing steers with the goal of putting on as much weight as quickly as possible, you can shorten the rotation time to twenty-four, or even twelve, hours, although it’s not necessary if the pasture is in good condition.
Paddocks need to be rested anywhere from a couple of weeks during the spring flush of growth in high rainfall areas to several months in hot, dry regions. Getting it all right takes some experimentation, talking to other rotational grazers in your area, and practice. Fortunately, rotational grazing is a forgiving process, and the cattle will probably do fine while you tweak your system.
Portable fencing makes it possible to change paddock sizes and configurations at the drop of a hat. In those years when I have more cows, I subdivide the land into more paddocks and graze them for shorter periods. When I have fewer cows, I cut back on paddock numbers and don’t graze as tightly. Most years, I also graze all or part of our hayfields, either early in the spring or late in the fall or during a dry stretch when the pastures have given out. Anytime your cattle can harvest forage for themselves will save you time and money.
Overall, rotationally grazing pastures produces significantly more grass—as well as more palatable grass—than extensive grazing does. In practical terms, that means faster-growing animals and fewer out-of-pocket costs for feed. Organic matter in the soil increases, which helps hold moisture in. Consequently, grass growth continues longer into a dry spell. The pasture gets thicker and lusher. Trees are hardier. The tall grass along streams shades the water, and the roots hold the soil of the stream banks tightly, keeping the water clear and the stream narrow and deep.
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FEED ADDITIVES AND GROWTH SUPPLEMENTS
More than 90 percent of cattle being fattened for slaughter are implanted with hormones and given antibiotics in their feed to make them grow more quickly and to convert feed to muscle more efficiently. When done correctly, the economics of these practices are persuasive. Properly used hormone implants will add 40–50 pounds of weight to a finished steer for a couple bucks’ investment, while antibiotics and ionophores (a particular class of antibiotics with a different mode of chemical action in the body) increase the efficiency of digestion by 10–20 percent, which results in
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