curs. Accumulated rainfall from August to October is the primary factor affecting fall forage produc- tion. “The fi rst red fl ag that could trig-
• rainfall or moisture • quantity and quality of the standing forage crop
• animal body condition scores Dr. J. Alfonso Ortego, Caesar
Kleberg Wildlife Research Insti- tute, Texas A&M University-Kings- ville says, “The 3 most important variables to monitor in range man- agement are rainfall or moisture; quantity and quality of the stand- ing forage crop; and animal body condition scores. “Monitoring these variables
and establishing triggers for each of them will help to be proactive when making management deci- sions rather than reactive.”
Trigger No. 1 — rainfall It is important to measure and
record daily rainfall on your land because it can be different from ranch to ranch and may vary within the property. The amount of annual rainfall
has a big impact on forage produc- tion, but the time of occurrence has a greater influence. Learn when rainfall usually occurs in your area and how much can be expected. If less than the expected amount is received, you have the fi rst trigger for destocking. There are several ways to destock
86 The Cattleman April 2014
— reducing the number of animals on the pasture by culling or moving some or all of the cattle to a differ- ent pasture with suffi cient forage. “Received rainfall or moisture
is the most important variable that determines forage availability for grazing,” says Ortega. “Since forage production is not uniform through the year, it is important to deter- mine the months in which it occurs. “In South Texas, close to 50 per-
cent of the forage production poten- tial for the year occurs from March to May; therefore, rainfall received from January to May needs to be monitored and analyzed to deter- mine if there is enough moisture for pastures to grow. “If we don’t receive at least 5
inches of properly distributed rain- fall in Kingsville from January to May, we know that plants are not going to reach their potential pro- ductivity. We know this even be- fore estimating forage production. Reduced rainfall is the fi rst alarm.” He continues, “A similar situa-
tion occurs during September and October when about 23 percent of the annual forage production oc-
ger a destocking decision is the amount and distribution of rainfall occurring at least a month before and during the periods when max- imum forage production occurs. Each rancher should determine the minimum amount of rainfall that is necessary for rangeland or pas- tures to reach expected productivity potential.”
Trigger No. 2 — quantity and quality of standing forage crop The most useful way to use
standing forage crop measure- ments is to estimate animal days of grazing per acre; however, before making the estimates, answer these questions: 1) How much forage is standing? 2) When and how do I measure
the forage? 3) How much of the forage do
we want to use? 4) What is the minimum amount
of standing forage required for pas- ture recovery? Standing forage should be mea-
sured at the end of spring and fall growth periods and continually monitored by visual observation during the remainder of the year. See the February 2014 issue of The Cattleman for my article, “Plan Ear- ly for Standing Hay Opportunities,” to learn how to measure standing forage. Once you measure forage a few times, it becomes easier to accurately monitor its availability through visual observations. “After we determine the amount
of standing forage, we need to answer questions 3 and 4,” says Ortega. “Utilizing 25 percent of the
thecattlemanmagazine.com
VARIABLES TO MONITOR IN RANGE MANAGEMENT
THE MOST IMPORTANT
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