in the livestock and forage industry have changed, but only those with the keen eye for art and science have taken notice. The weather is at the top of the list. Climate change arguments aside, weather is never the same. Sure, there are temperature and precipitation averages, but Ferguson says if you look back 50 years, not a single year has been the same. “The temperatures are different, rain and snowfall
different, yet people expect the forage to be the same. It doesn’t happen like that,” he says. “Growing condi- tions refl ect the precipitation events. They are mirror images of each other. However, we have the mindset of county averages.” Room for forage is also changing. Erosion reduces
topsoil in some areas; maybe weeds have increased or brush is becoming an issue. All of those scenarios mean less forage, Ferguson explains. Add to that cow size has increased over the last
few decades because ranchers enjoy seeing a big, fat cow in the pasture. However, larger cows also mean greater demand for forage. That can lead to additional purchased feed. And no one will argue the price of inputs, such as feed and fertilizer, have also increased. Despite all these changes, the number of individual
animal operating units that acreage can run has driven our grazing system in the past, Ferguson says. “That particular production system has reached its
peak. You can’t run a cow to 20 acres for 50 years with no adaptation. It catches up to you. The silver lining in a drought is the sobering effect on people who realize they can’t keep doing what they’ve done in the past. “More people are looking at what’s under their feet,
the current condition and size of their herd, and they realize they can’t do it this way anymore. Traditional production practices have come to the end of the road. What was normal in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s is not going to work anymore,” according to Ferguson.
Where to start Determining stocking capacity starts with what’s
going on below, he says. That’s not just limited to the forage, but the soil the forage is growing in. What is the soil capable of doing? Is the soil healthy
or is it sick? What’s the soil fertility? Are the microbes good? All those are important questions in determin- ing the quantity and quality of forage that can grow. Dr. Ed Rayburn of West Virginia University says the soil will have a big impact on how the pasture grows,
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72 The Cattleman February 2014
Manager: John Van Pelt
Asst. Manager: Grady Van Pelt
Artwork by Dino Cornay
thecattlemanmagazine.com
Proven for more than 15 years
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