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Two critical steps all cattle farmers should take, according to Denise Schwab, Iowa State University Extension beef specialist, include assessing all forage fields and pastures and performing spring soil tests to see if soil pH or lack of nutrients is impacting production.

With hay ground and pasture ground suffocated by drought-like conditions these past couple of years, producers may wonder what they can do to boost the productivity of their forages.

Denise Schwab, Iowa State University Extension beef specialist, noted that there really isn’t an easy fix to the current situation. She recently shared a seven-step approach with farmers attending the Eastern Iowa Hay Producers Association meeting.

She emphasized that the first two steps are critical for everyone, but the remainder of the steps she recommends may or may not apply to all farmers and fields.

1. Do a good assessment of all your forage fields and pastures.

Which were grazed hardest or late last year? Those pastures or fields need a longer rest this spring before grazing or harvest. Which fields have obvious thin areas or weed patches? Which fields or pastures survived last summer in good condition so we can graze or harvest them first. Which fields or pastures had cows on them all winter or have heavy mud or trampling areas?

2. Soil test this spring to determine if soil pH or lack of nutrients is impacting production and correct if needed. Fertilizer isn’t cheap, so only apply where the soil test level is below optimum levels. Pastures typically don’t lose much phosphorus or potassium unless we remove a hay crop from that paddock, but hay ground removes a significant amount of nutrients, especially potassium, that needs to be replaced.

If phosphorus and potassium levels are not optimum, any additional nitrogen will not be as effective either. Hay and pasture both respond well to additional nitrogen fertilizer, but remember that only has value if the additional forage growth can be used in a timely manner. For hay fields, that additional growth can be used, but in grazing situations, there is often excess forage growth in the early spring but not enough growth later in the year. In those situations, you may want to delay the application of nitrogen till mid- to late-May to help increase forage growth going into the summer. The exception is with infected tall fescue pastures, in which case you don’t want to add any additional nitrogen in the spring since it will encourage seed development, which increases the endophyte level in the forage.

3. Delay turnout. One of the most important parts of forage management is allowing adequate time for the crop to rest, regrow and refill the nutrients reserved in the root system. For some pastures that were abused last year, grazed late or used for calving paddocks, it is important to delay turn-out or harvest till the plants have had time to really refill their root reserves. Here, a field of winter cereal rye cover crop can really help pastures by providing early grazing in April and May (in Iowa) and allow the pastures to rest till mid- to late-May.

Remember, the tall cool season grasses should be allowed to get about six inches of growth before turnout, then remove the cows to a new paddock when the forage is at three to four inches of stubble height.

4. Control weeds. For some fields or paddocks, this may move up the list because weeds compete with forages, are typically not consumed by cattle and prevent further stand improvement. Weed infestation is also an indicator of over-grazing since most weeds are very optimistic and fill in bare ground areas.

Identify the major weeds present and select a management plan to address them. With heavy infestations, a herbicide will typically be needed, and often require more than one year to get them under control. Always remember to read and follow label instructions when using herbicides. If weeds are at a low level, they can often be managed with spot spraying or mechanical methods. Timing of weed control is also important. Most annual and biennial weeds should be treated in the rosette stage, April or May in Iowa, or again in the fall. Perennial weeds are best managed a little later in the growing season, May or June in Iowa.

5. When weeds are at a controllable level, we can improve the forage stand and we have many options to consider.

One of the easiest methods is frost seeding, although we are getting a little late for that. Broadcast seeding red clover in February or March is simple and inexpensive and adds both quantity and quality to a hay field or pasture. We also can broadcast over seed, or drill interseed legumes and grasses into existing thin stands. Legumes, especially red clover, tend to overseed better than grasses. If adding grasses, a drilled interseed option usually gets a better establishment. Be sure to select forage varieties best suited for the growing conditions and be sure to allow the new seedlings to get well established before grazing.

6. The next and very important step is to fix the overgrazing problem by planting fence posts and establishing a rotational system.

Continuous grazing pastures result in the same problems you are dealing with now. Something as simple as four to six different paddocks gives the grass a needed rest and increases forage utilization by 50 percent.

7. The last item is to add new forages/fields into the system.

We’ve done a lot of projects at ISU focused on using annual forages to help fill in some of the gaps in the grazing system. Most producers have a small, corner field that is a challenge to plant and harvest. These are ideal to use for a double-crop forage system that can produce five to 10 tons of feed dry matter per year.

Summer annuals like sudangrass, sorghum sudan hybrids or millets are very heat and drought tolerant and produce about three to seven tons of dry matter forage.

These can be strip grazed in late July and August, and even stockpiled for winter grazing. Giving cool season grass pasture a rest during the heat of summer allows them to rest and get more regrowth before grazing again. Winter annuals (cover crop) like winter cereal rye, wheat or triticale, either prior to the summer annual or following it, can produce another two to four tons of dry matter per acre. And most of this growth is during the time that our cool season grasses are growing very slowly, so it benefits our pastures as well.

Aaron Saeugling, field agronomist with Iowa State University Extension, also chimed in on the subject.

He noted that management varies based on whether a field has legumes or grasses or a mix.

“Obviously, alfalfa production is predominately legume, so the thing we want to address there is to first evaluate the stand to see how we came through the winter. A soil test is beneficial and we want to make sure potassium levels are especially addressed. That’s one I definitely wouldn’t neglect. In fact, it’s probably the first key that I have in terms of alfalfa production,” Saeugling said.

With a mixed stand that includes alfalfa and grasses, Saeugling recommended taking the same steps — evaluate the alfalfa in the mix of the legume in the mix. If it’s less than 30 percent, treat the ground like a grass stand, which means it will need nitrogen fertilizer, which should be applied in the spring prior to a rainfall, Saeugling said.

“That will help boost productivity. If it’s strictly a grass stand, which we have a lot of in southern Iowa, I caution people to not cut it too short or too soon. That’s the biggest thing with grasses in particular. They regenerate from the root system,” he said.

For a mixed stand where pasture grass is part of the mix, Saeugling warns producers not to turn out their cow-calves too soon in the spring.

“We want to make sure there’s six to eight inches of active growth as opposed to the ‘green-up phase.’ It’s worth it to buy a load of hay in the spring and give the grass a rest versus buying in the summer, especially when supplies are tight,” he advised. “Producers can supplement their herd, especially a spring calving cow herd, that’ll take the pressure off the ground. Be sure and limit exposure to the pasture, lock it in the evening and keep them off by modified grazing or modified rotational grazing.”

When battling weeds in stands, there are several suitable herbicide choices for grass hayfields and pasture ground, but not many for alfalfa stands.

“If you’ve never considered rotational grazing, it’s simple to do. You can start by dividing your pasture in half and use polywire or a temporary fence. It does wonders to give that grass a week of rest,” he said.

Seeding depends on a farmer’s goal, Saeugling said. Inner seeding a pasture or thickening hay stand should be done in the spring. Frost seeding should be done in February or mid-March.

“It isn’t recommended to add alfalfa to an existing alfalfa stand because of autotoxicity. The alfalfa will kill the other alfalfa plants. But you can plant grasses in there. Another tactic to boost productivity would be to drill this spring,” Saeugling said.