The Rural Voice, 2003-05, Page 31PhotoJanice Becker
efficiently graze the paddock without
overgrazing while still optimizing the
weight gain.
The stocking and forage regrowth
rates will determine the number of
paddocks needed to effectively rotate
the animals through the pastures
while allowing for the appropriate
rest periods.
The density in each paddock also
impacts the effectiveness of the
grazing. If the density is high
enough, it reduces the selective
grazing and the paddock is more
evenly grazed.
This can be used when trying to
clean-up a plot as well. An increased
density will force the animals to eat
the scrub.
Stewart also promoted the idea of
extended grazing, including
wintering the animals outside.
"You make money if you use less
hay. Costs can be reduced by
wintering beef cattle," he said.
He also noted it was very important
to have cattle suited to the
environment.
Having to make hay is limiting to
expansion, said Stewart.
By keeping the cattle in the field,
they are not only recycling nutrients
back into the system, but reducing
costs of trucking manure from
enclosures.
By pasturing 50 cows on 20 acres,
Stewart said there is a potential for
87 per cent of the consumed nitrogen,
67 per cent of the phosphorous and
77 per cent of the potassium to be
returned to the land base. Wintering
out the animals can therefore benefit
a poor pasture.
While it has been determined that
cattle can get sufficient water from
the snow, a contingency plan must be
in place for low snow years.
"Management is an art," said
Stewart. "You have to get out and
practise."
"You have to develop a 'grass eye'
by walking the pastures daily.
Develop a plan as to when each
paddock will be ready and where to
move the animals next. Decisions
have to be made daily."
Stewart told the audience there is
no recipe for grazing. It is something
that must be developed by each
grazer and is governed by the
conditions on each farm.
At Elmwood Stewart also
discussed the use of hog manure as
fertilizer for forages. As a recipient
for liquid hog manure forage crops
are excellent, he noted, because they
are alive and growing almost all year
round, unlike annual crops. As well.
with root systems that go down more
than 10 feet, many forages can make
use of nutrients that go deeper than
the root zone of annual crops.
In Manitoba, beef farmers are using
hog manure as a source of fertility for
their pastures and report higher net
returns than the land base would
produce from annual crops. Trials
using 100 pounds nitrogen rate of
manure application have reported
forage yields in excess of 3 tons dry
matter per acre, and when forage
quality is also considered, resulted in
a net return to the land base of about
$300 per acre from the beef
produced.
Forage quality and quantity varied
by species but mixtures tended to do
best. Monitoring of fields with soil
tests from both a 24 -inch depth and 8
foot depth indicated limited
movement or accumulation of
nutrients in the soil profiles.0
EW
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MAY 2003 27