Pasture Planning

Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator, Athens County, Buckeye Hills EERA

Mature cow weight + Hoof action + Dormant pasture plants + Soft, wet soil = Nothing good, if the goal is to keep the pasture sod in good condition. In fact, depending upon how soft the soil is and how much hoof action there was as determined by the number of hooves and the amount of time they were in an allotted area, the result could be mud and the destruction of the sod base. In less intense areas the result might be some chewed up or pugged up soils with enough sod base left to insure that this will once again be a productive pasture paddock when the growing season returns.

In either case, the pasture manager should be making plans now on what is needed to improve, renovate or re-establish various pasture Continue reading

Posted in Pasture