In the last few years we’ve seen more livestock producers utilizing winter feeding sites.
Lorne Klein is a regional forage specialist with Saskatchewan's Ministry of Agriculture and he says producers are now bale grazing, swath grazing, corn grazing, stockpiling grass or grazing crop residue and supplemental feeding at the same time.
He notes selecting the right site is important because as the snow melts you want the water infiltrating into the soil profile to utilize the nutrients from the manure and urine that is left behind.
"Depending on the soil texture, whether or not the soil profile is dry or not, how much litter you have on the soil surface - those things all factor into how well the water from the snow melt infiltrates into the soil. But at the same time you want to avoid sites where you have a gravely or sandy soil texture and also a high water table."
A lack of snowfall over the past month or so has allowed some producers to utilize their pastures longer.
Source : portageonline.com