Jaylor: Pasture Points to Ponder

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Pasture Points to Ponder…

Once again the pasture season is upon us,
here are a few points to ensure that your
pastured animals have a successful season!

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Research suggests that sugars begin
accumulating in forages at a steady rate from
an hour or two after sunrise and continue until
one to two hours before sunset.
This suggests starting cutting at mid afternoon
and continuing until an hour or two after
sundown. This will provide a six to seven-hour
cutting period, which is common to many
operations.

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What does this mean to you?
It has been demonstrated that dairy cows
strongly preferred hay cut at sundown
compared to hay cut at sunup, due to the high
soluble sugar content.
Keeping with the old adage “More in, more
out”: cows ate more forage and produced more
milk when fed late cut hay.This proved true
for animals pastured as well as animals
fed dry forage.
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Pastured animals must have free and
easy access to high quality clean water.


Remember that if you are pasturing animals
this summer they MUST have shade.

Cows are susceptible to sun burn in the same
manner that humans are, in addition, high
exposure to sunlight also increases the
possibility of “cancer eye”.

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Close-up dry cows in particular must have
good shade.

Newborn calves are very susceptible to heat
and sun and will not survive for long
exposed in the mid-day heat.

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Heifers less than one year of age can be
stressed on pasture,due to competition, heat
and parasites.

It recommended that they summer inside.

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One strategy used by many producers to
lessen heat stress, is to pasture animals later
in the afternoon and over night; keep them in
the barn until after lunch when the sun is at
its hottest.

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Remember that pasture quality drops rapidly,
particular if growing conditions are good.
Pasture quality adequate to support milking or
young animals is often diminished by July.
Fence-line or portable manger
supplementation of protein &/or energy
ingredients are often needed, particularly to
heifer groups. Work closely with your
nutritionist here.

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The most neglected ingredientsin pasture
situations are vitamins and minerals.
Good consumption of adequate vitamins and
minerals often requires a carrier such as
grain and this is usually not accomplished
on pasture.
“Lick” products are often a good remedy to
this situation and ease with labour in the
busy summer months.

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Remember to check on pastured animals
regularly.
Check body condition score and growth in
young animals; watch for any health or injury
issues.
It is distressing, unnecessary and often very
costly to repair “wrecks” in the fall because of
summer pasture mismanagement.

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Remember to bring animals in at the end of the
pasture season, and this is NOT the first
snowfall!
Animals out of the barn are “easy” to manage.
But by mid to late summer pastured animals
require so much supplementation that it is
usually easier simply to bring them back into
a more controlled environment. As with the
above point, avoid “wrecks”, bring them
back in early, not late!

Jaylor: Pasture Points to Ponder

Jaylor: Pasture Points to Ponder

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