By Susan Kerr
According to poet T.S. Elliott, April is the cruelest month, but actually ... February and March tend to be the cruelest months for livestock. This article will help livestock owners appreciate why this is true and how they can mitigate late winter’s impact on livestock health.
Green does not always mean 'go'
Livestock producers eagerly await spring pasture green-up so they can turn animals out and stop feeding hay. However, it takes several weeks after initial pasture green-up before fresh forage contains adequate concentrations of essential nutrients to meet animals’ requirements.
The moral of the story: Keep feeding hay until pastures come on sufficiently, i.e., 6 to 8 inches in height.
Early forage growth is called “washy,” meaning it has high water content. Livestock forced to subsist exclusively on low-nutrient, washy pasture become “washy,” too, and produce copious amounts of diarrhea.
The moral of the story: Keep feeding hay until pastures come on sufficiently, i.e., 6 to 8 inches in height. Supplemental hay and/or grain may be needed to meet the nutritional demands of grazing livestock in some situations. Before spring turnout, horse owners should educate themselves about the danger of laminitis (“founder”), which can be caused by grazing.
Susan Kerr
EM 9867 | Published December 2009, Reviewed 2024 |
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According to poet T.S. Elliott, April is the cruelest month, but actually ... February and March tend to be the cruelest months for livestock. This article will help livestock owners appreciate why this is true and how they can mitigate late winter’s impact on livestock health.
Green does not always mean 'go'
Livestock producers eagerly await spring pasture green-up so they can turn animals out and stop feeding hay. However, it takes several weeks after initial pasture green-up before fresh forage contains adequate concentrations of essential nutrients to meet animals’ requirements.
The moral of the story: Keep feeding hay until pastures come on sufficiently, i.e., 6 to 8 inches in height.
Early forage growth is called “washy,” meaning it has high water content. Livestock forced to subsist exclusively on low-nutrient, washy pasture become “washy,” too, and produce copious amounts of diarrhea.
The moral of the story: Keep feeding hay until pastures come on sufficiently, i.e., 6 to 8 inches in height. Supplemental hay and/or grain may be needed to meet the nutritional demands of grazing livestock in some situations. Before spring turnout, horse owners should educate themselves about the danger of laminitis (“founder”), which can be caused by grazing.
The pull test
Turning livestock out to graze too early in the spring is not good for pasture health, either. Animals should not be allowed to graze until pasture forage passes the “pull test.” This involves grasping a forage plant and pulling; if a human can uproot plants by pulling, livestock can do so by grazing.
The pull test involves grasping a forage plant and pulling; if a human can uproot plants by pulling, livestock can do so by grazing.
Although there are multitudes of managerial errors that can reduce pasture performance, completely uprooting pasture plants eliminates production. Soil runoff, noxious weed invasion and water-quality degradation ensue, along with increased input costs and other negative impacts on profitability.
Wet soils can be damaged and compacted by livestock activity, especially heavy animals such as horses and cattle. Ruts caused by hoof imprints can make pastures rough, uneven and dangerous when the soil dries. Compacted soils are less productive because plant roots have difficulty expanding for nutrients and water does not permeate well.
Source : oregonstate.edu