The very warm and sunny February we had was just what the doctor ordered for the winter blues. These spring-like conditions leave us thinking it might be time to turn the livestock out on pasture. When we decide to graze will leave a yearlong impact on your grass species and overall pasture production. Ask yourself these three questions to help determine the best time to start grazing.

1. What shape are my pastures in?

Pastures grazed later in the fall did not have the time to build up their reserves (carbohydrates, minerals, and sugars) in their root system before winter. If the species over-wintered okay, the first thing it’s going to do is take any sort of sunshine it can get and start building up those reserves. It’s a matter of survival over yield. If weak, energy-deficient plants are grazed, this will likely be their demise.

Most of the Midwest had a surprisingly dry fall. This made for an excellent harvest, but how stressed were our pastures going into the winter? The lack of moisture and some sub-zero temperatures without snowfall have us thinking Old Man Winter did a number on our perennials.

If your pastures do need some TLC, now is the time to do it. Consider adding Renovator Special to existing pasture stands at 10-25 lb/acre. If your pasture is predominantly cool season grasses, it will be beneficial to allow animals to rotationally graze these over-seeded pastures as they will keep competition at bay and help incorporate new seeds. Once tender, young growth begins on new seedlings, pull animals off until new plants are well-rooted.

2. What species are present in my pastures?

Your pastures are most-likely predominantly cool season grasses with legumes and warm season grasses sprinkled in. The cool season grasses will start to “wake up” before the warm season species will. A rule of thumb for grazing is to wait for 3 leaves on your cool season grasses (Kentucky bluegrass, orchardgrass, perennial ryegrass, smooth bromegrass, tall fescue, timothy) and for 4 leaves on warm season grasses (switchgrass, Indiangrass, big bluestem).

Legumes store energy underground and grasses store energy at the base of their stem unless rhizomes are present. Rhizomes are present in smooth bromegrass, fescues, and Kentucky bluegrass. This is important because if there is not much growing, animals can potentially graze grasses too low where energy reserves are kept and the legumes/rhizomatous species will dominate. This is also one way to manage unwanted stands.

3. Will I be able to incorporate rotational grazing?

If you can move your animals every 24 hours you may be able to get away with 4-6” of growth. 6-8” of growth is necessary if you plant to move your animals every 3rd day. 8”-10” of growth for continuous stocking systems. If you allow animals out early and plan to move them within 24 hours, the 4-6” of growth they consume will be mostly water. You’ll want to make sure your animals are not burning more calories than they are intaking.

Fertilizing your pastures in early spring will help bring them out of dormancy and get to the desirable 8” of growth earlier. Also, to elaborate on the previous mention of Renovator Special, It contains: