f “ 70 percent of our ”
and a mile long is almost 2 and a half acres. Failure to compensate for ungrazeable acres is the most common mistake made when setting stocking rates.”
orage is produced by July 1 to July 15
over-utilize the forage resource by not compensating for animal size. “It is also important to compensate for ungrazeable
acres in a pasture,” says Goodwin. “NRCS uses aerial maps and fi eld assessments to make these determina- tions. From the total acres in a pasture, we subtract the number of acres covered with dense tree canopies, brush, cacti and rock. Next, we subtract the number of acres with steep slopes and the acres more than 2 miles from water, because cattle will typically not utilize these areas. “We also subtract the amount of acres consumed by ponds, headquarters and roads. A road 20 feet wide
Stockpiling standing hay Once the stocking rate is determined, decide the
number of pastures that will be dedicated for standing hay production. Between Aug. 1 and Aug. 15, apply nitrogen at the recommended rate from a current soil test if you are going to stockpile bermudagrass and you want to increase production near the end of the growing season. See the January issue of The Cattleman (page 28),
or The Cattleman Plus on your tablet app for an article on how to correctly sample soil for a soil test. Prior to fertilizer application, remove livestock from
the pasture and do not graze it again until after the fi rst killing frost, which is usually around Nov. 15. Fertil- ization and pasture deferment will normally produce between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds of forage per acre. Estimate the costs of these practices for your opera-
tion to determine if it is more economical to reduce grazing pressure than to apply inorganic fertilizer. If you are using native grass pastures for stockpiling, do
Gene Pool • Shelby Horn 86 The Cattleman February 2014
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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