Managed Grazing

By David Jessee

The drought that has plagued our area has weakened stands of cool season grasses. Dry weather and damaged sod have reduced the numbers of live tubers or killed whole plants. Here are some suggestions to help you provide productive grazing and sow new grazing areas.

Seeding or over-seeding of small-seed cool season grasses during late spring and summer is usually not successful because of competition for light and moisture. Rather than over-seed cool season grasses, the best approach is to:

• Support existing grass by applying potassium along with nitrogen and phosphorus to help the plants resist heat stress and increase numbers of new sprouts of tillers from existing plants.
   
• Let horses roam in an exercise area, but use a separate, fenced-in area for rotational grazing. Allow pastures to reach a height of six to ten inches before grazing in the spring. During summer, graze to no lower than four inches so that leaf and energy reserves aren’t depleted. During dry periods, allow at least 45 days between grazing. Imagine your horse as a “lawn mower” that manages your grass – not too close but high enough to provide significant forage grazing.
   
• To thicken up the stand come fall, use weed control in spring and summer to create voided areas for reseeding. New seedlings can't compete with weeds, so visit your Southern States professional to decide what herbicides best suit your farm and application times.
  If your stand of grass is too thin, millet in a new seedbed is an option for a grazing area. Graze in summer to a height of 6-8 inches and then allow re-growth. In late summer or fall, the area can be reseeded to perennial, cool season grass. Bermuda grass is a good option for a perennial warm season grass, but goes dormant from late fall through spring.

Summer is the dormant season for cool season grasses and they can produce even during moderate droughts, if allowed to rest between grazing.

David Jessee is an Agronomist for Southern States. For additional information, contact your local Southern States store or agronomist.