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PASTURE CARE<br />
GET THE BOOK<br />
Iowa State University<br />
Extension has a 2018<br />
publication entitled Pasture<br />
Management Guide for<br />
Livestock Producers ($10,<br />
167 pages, spiral bound).<br />
Everything about grazing<br />
systems, seeding and<br />
fertilization, it’s in this<br />
book. Well worth owning<br />
no matter what system of<br />
grazing you adopt.<br />
to ground conditions though, they make sense.<br />
The hilly terrain, isolated timber tracts and need<br />
for water all work against each other – thus the<br />
gerrymandered fence lines.<br />
Burmahl, a conservation proponent, farms<br />
land that doesn’t lend itself to neat paddocks. He<br />
uses temporary fencing for some of his needs,<br />
row crop fields after harvest is completed. The<br />
farm’s sizable cow herd is divided into manageable<br />
groups, and it’s not a cattle drive for long<br />
as they get used to moving to fresh forage.<br />
Higher utilization of forages and even certain<br />
weeds, if caught at the right stage (lambs quarter,<br />
for example), rivals alfalfa for protein for a<br />
brief time.<br />
Last summer was a bear because of the heat<br />
and drought in eastern Iowa. Continuously<br />
grazed pastures looked terrible, burned out.<br />
Improving a pasture by using a combination<br />
of practices won’t guarantee more forage and<br />
higher carrying numbers, but the elements are<br />
there to take advantage when weather and moisture<br />
do cooperate.<br />
Schwab encourages careful paddock design.<br />
Top priorities include:<br />
-Assess the farm’s resources including soil<br />
type, slope, fences, water sources, and forage<br />
currently grown.<br />
-Flexibility of current fencing in developing<br />
adequate grazing. Fencelines are a good indicator<br />
of acres that belong as a unit or are capable<br />
of division.<br />
-Availability of water should be within 800<br />
feet of the grazing site to fully utilize forage<br />
through the season.<br />
-Keep paddocks divided as equally as possible<br />
to allow paddocks to recover after grazing<br />
and to not have to shift animals to a different<br />
group.<br />
Schwab notes there are concerns that cannot<br />
be dismissed in an intensive grazing system<br />
once it’s in operation. Worm and parasite<br />
pressure, weed infestation, plant density and<br />
maintaining grass and legume species all are<br />
magnified in importance in an open-pasture/<br />
continuous-grazing approach.<br />
Burmahl relies on this grazing system to get<br />
the land’s annual annuity because cattle are an<br />
efficient way to utilize crop residue on land too<br />
problematic to farm with a tractor.<br />
He has found the higher the level of management<br />
the greater the number of cattle. n<br />
Your Legacy<br />
Begins Now.<br />
In Clinton County, $9.3 billion is expected to transfer from one<br />
generation to the next through 2049.<br />
If we each commit to investing just 5% of our estates in a<br />
community endowment, $19 million could be available annually<br />
for community projects and nonprofits.* That’s a contribution<br />
that lasts forever.<br />
*Based on a 4.25% annual payout<br />
An affiliate of the Community Foundation<br />
of Greater Dubuque<br />
Let’s Build Your Legacy. Together.<br />
Amanda Willimack<br />
Executive Director, LincolnWay Community Foundation<br />
563.212.2812 | lwcf@dbqfoundation.org | dbqfoundation.org/lwcf<br />
110 EASTERN IOWA FARMER | SPRING 2024 eifarmer.com
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