Grazing Management Back to the Basics

by Steven W. Cussins, Rangeland Management Specialist
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Ulysses, Kansas

Getting back to the basic needs of livestock is the key to grazing management. What is meant by back to the basics? All living things have three basic needs to survive. These are environment (a place to stay), water, and food. In over 30 years of experience with plant and livestock performance, including raising and testing livestock in a total confinement operation, I learned that managing for the basic needs increased production. When any of those needs were not met, performance decreased and gains took longer to recover. When we address soil, water, plant, and animal concerns, the basic needs are being addressed to promote increased performance.

Environment

What environmental needs do animals have? One definition is a dry, warm place to rest or sleep. Another is the effective temperature (ET) an animal needs for optimum production. In a confinement operation, those needs are managed by artificially controlling the animal’s comfort zone. In an outdoor operation, the animal has to control its own comfort zone. Although we cannot control the external environment, our management may include providing areas to minimize the external environment and developing plans outside the box to help meet the animal’s ET. For example, this might include windbreaks, shade, and temporary housing. Although the external environment is out of our control, managing for the last two basic needs is within our planning capabilities.

Water

A fact known about water is that every living thing needs it to survive. When water is lacking for 12 hours, the time it takes to regain production lost is five days. With this in mind, planning is essential for improving grazing distribution in rangelands. When planning your water needs, some points to remember are size and type of livestock, daily requirements, and distance between watering locations. Develop a water system to match your livestock size and numbers. This should include time at the tank. Herds travel together and if the boss cow leaves before the rest have a drink, the remaining cows may not get their required supply. Your plan should include the daily requirement for livestock needs. For example, a lactating cow and dry cow have different requirements. Another factor is the temperature. As temperature increases, so does the animal’s needs. You should plan on a three-day supply, so if the water source is down, all animals’ needs are maintained. The next aspect is how many watering facilities are needed to promote proper grazing distribution. Terrain, cross fencing, and distance to water facilities all affect animal movement. Develop your plan to meet the needs.

Food

The final critical need is food. In rangelands, plants are the necessary resource to manage. If livestock have to graze all day long, their efficiency is reduced. Jim Gerrish talks about building your solar panel in his book MIG, The Grassroots of Grass Farming. He discusses managing your soil, hydrological cycles, and plants by leaving enough plant material to build an efficient solar panel. His example is to think of your grass as 43,560 square feet of solar panel. He describes grasses as energy efficient when they cover the entire acre. Other studies from Utah State University, University of Wyoming, Oklahoma State University, and Kansas State University discuss the need to leave grass standing. This allows for energy to be converted for plant re-growth, root development, and nutrient storage. Your solar panel, if managed properly, will provide the nutrients for livestock. The idea of "take half-leave half” by weight should be the target. How do you get there? What we know is rest restores plant health and vigor. A rotation system, be it a two-pasture switch back, four-pasture cell, or a 12-paddock grazing system, provides rest following a rotational grazing system. This will improve plant health and vigor, and animals don’t have to spend all day foraging.

These systems do work if managed properly. Some comments producers might make after following a rotational-grazing system are, “We have too much grass,” or “We need to put more animals in,” but in reality, they are achieving the “take half-leave half” rule. Those individuals are excited about how much their grass is improving along with improved animal performance. By planning to meet the three basic needs, environment, water, and food through proper management of our resources, a more efficient solar panel is developed.

For more information about grazing needs, please contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office or conservation district office located at your local county USDA Service Center.

For more information about NRCS programs, visit the Kansas NRCS Web site at www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov.

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Last Modified: 12/20/2007