Pasture Management Calendar
T e Horse Outreach Workgroup was established to provide information to horse owners about pasture and manure man- agement issues. T e workgroup consists of representatives from local Soil Conservation Districts, the Maryland Department of Agriculture, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the University of Maryland, the Delaware Cooperative Exten- sion and the Maryland Horse Council. T e Maryland Department of Agriculture provides coordination for this workgroup. T e Workgroup has created a month-by-month calendar on how to maintain and improve pastures in Maryland. Here are
a few tips to get you started this April and running for one full calendar year. For a full list of monthly tips from the Work- group, visit UMD’s resource page:
https://goo.gl/GqFdmS or scan the QR code provided here.
APRIL
• Move horses onto a sacrifi ce lot/heavy use area and feed hay if pastures are too wet for grazing.
• Rotate pastures by moving horses from a pas- ture grazed to 4’’ to a pasture that is 6’’ in height or more.
• Inspect pastures weekly to monitor forage growth and weed encroachment. • Control existing weeds with herbicide and frequent mowing to about 4’’ high.
MAY
• Mow recently grazed pastures to no lower than 4’’ to maintain vegetative growth and to control weeds before they go to seed. • Apply composted manure or 1/3 of the an- nual fertilizer amount to pastures based on soil test recommendations or your farm’s nutrient management plan. • Delay grazing fertilized or limed pasture until after about 0.25’’ of rainfall has fallen. • Evaluate soil erosion in sacrifi ce lot/heavy use area and other heavy use areas (e.g. gates, feed- ers, run-in sheds, waterers).
JUNE
• Reserve or rest one or more pasture fi elds starting in early to mid-June so that it can be used for late summer grazing. • Adjust grazing system to manage for slower seasonal pasture growth by providing longer recovery times for pastures being grazed.
• Allow horses to graze any pasture fi elds rested since March.
• Identify summer weeds and initiate control method with the help of your local University of Maryland Extension Offi ce.
JULY
• If there is a summer drought, close off and rest all pastures while feeding hay to horses in sacrifi ce lot/heavy use area. • Irrigate pastures if possible. • Continue to rotate pastures by moving horses from a pasture grazed to 4’’ to a pasture rested to 6’’ height or more. • Evaluate pastures to identify those that have less than 50% desirable grasses so that they can be scheduled for reseeding in the fall. • Pre-order certifi ed seed to ensure seed avail- ability and an August delivery date if a late summer reseeding of pastures is planned.
AUGUST
• Plant certifi ed pasture seed optimal for graz- ing horses and soil conditions of grazing pas- tures between August 10 and September 10. Early planting is critical to provide adequate fall growth to ensure robust spring stands. • Do not graze reseeded pastures for a mini- mum of 6 months. • Begin resting tall fescue pastures for winter grazing.
SEPTEMBER
• Do not allow horses to graze pasture grasses below 4’’ in height because food reserves and growing points are in the lower stems of grasses. • Work on suppression of fall weeds with either routine mowing, biological control (goats and sheep), or herbicides. • Apply 1/3 of annual compost manure or fer- tilizer amount to pastures. • Plan for winter liming based on soil test rec- ommendations.
OCTOBER
• Apply lime to pastures according to soil test or nutrient management plan recommendations. • Continue the suppression of perennial weeds using mowing or herbicides in early October making sure that herbicides are the type that move in the plant with accumulating sugars (translocatable herbicides) to active growing points. • Remove excess left-over vegetation. Be care- ful to not allow thick windrows of mowed vegetation or patches of thick dead vegetation since the windrows or patches will shade the underlying grass, killing it and leaving an open area for weeds to encroach.
NOVEMBER
• Discuss grazing and conservation cost-share programs with soil conservation district staff to see whether fi nancial assistance is available.
continued...
Printed here are just a few of the many monthly pasture management tips provided by the Horse Outreach Workgroup. For the complete list, visit
https://goo.gl/GqFdmS or scan the QR Code on the top of this page with your cell phone.
www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580 APRIL 2018 | THE EQUIERY | 29
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