Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings

To avoid knocking out the soil due to excessive or insufficient concentration of cattle, it is important to know how much livestock is acceptable or necessary per hectare of your pasture. There are many variables that determine the number of cattle livestock per hectare: from the difference between pasture use intensity, pasture load and livestock concentration, to the formula needed to calculate the permissible pasture feed capacity, pasture load, livestock concentration and pasture use intensity. Below we will explain all this! Important: This article is also useful for those who maintain horses, goats, sheep and other grazing animals.

Steps

1. 1 It is important to understand what factors influence determining how to graze livestock in your pasture. Simply based on the assumption that the standard grazing load for all farms is one cow per hectare, you can face big problems in the future, as many factors make this "general rule" completely unreliable. There are many factors to consider when evaluating the topic of this article. It is necessary to answer the following questions:
   • Location: In which country (USA, Canada, India, etc.) and where exactly do you live? Remember, to solve the problem of the optimal number of heads per hectare, simply specifying the region or province in a particular country is not enough. For example, in Alberta, Canada, when determining the optimal load on pasture, the rates vary significantly from north to south and from east to west.
   • Soil quality and type: What type of soil does your pasture have and what is its quality? Soil type significantly affects the number of cattle you can keep per hectare. Poor quality soil will provide plants with fewer nutrients than high quality fertile soil. Certain soil types are better suited to producing large amounts of forage and biomass than less fertile soils. There are three main types of soil: clayey, loamy and sandy. Loamy soils tend to produce more biomass and forage, while sandy and clayey soils do the opposite.
     • Do a soil analysis to determine its type, quality and the level of fertility it possesses. If you already know what type of soil is in your pasture, then this analysis will be an excellent way to determine its quality and fertility, in order to find out if you need to fertilize the soil and what.
   • Vegetation quality and quantity: What is the quantity and quality of vegetation in your pasture? The amount of forage (in terms of yield t / ha or c / ha) and its quality play a key role in determining the rate of cattle on your pasture per hectare. Basic principle: the higher the yield of forage crops, the more cattle you can keep per hectare. The yield of forage crops is determined by calculating the total amount of forage mass obtained per unit area (hectare) for a certain period of time.
     • The fodder mass is obtained by cutting off fodder crops at a distance of 10-15 cm above the ground on a square 1m by 1m (or a circle with a diameter of 1m). Weigh the forage in raw material, then dry it with a Koster toaster, Vortex drying chamber or other similar equipment specially designed to evaporate moisture from the harvested forage crops or grass, then we weigh the forage again. The resulting weight can be used to calculate the average yield of forage crops in your pastures, but only after you have received not one, but several samples, from which you have derived an average!
       • The quantity and quality of vegetation is an indicator that constantly changes throughout the year and determines the quality of your pasture. The lower the quality of the pasture, the less should be the load on it in the form of grazing animals. In other words, the worse the pasture, the fewer heads per hectare need to be kept. Are grasses, as such, just beginning to appear on your pasture or are they already ripening (for example, seed heads appear)?
   • Vegetation type: What type of vegetation prevails where your cattle graze: forest, crop field (for example, grazing on grain residues), wild grasses or cultivated grasses with or without legumes? Grazing on natural pastures should be done more carefully than on cultivated ones, depending on what grasses grow on those natural pastures.Forest land requires fewer grazing animals per hectare, or must be used for grazing for a shorter time compared to fields or pasture.
   • Precipitation: What is the annual rainfall in your area? Usually measured in millimeters (mm), rainfall or humidity in your area determines how many animals you can keep per hectare. More rainfall usually results in more biomass, less precipitation usually results in less.
   • Cattle type: Do you graze dairy or beef cattle? Due to the peculiarities of the lactation period, dairy cattle, as a rule, consume more feed than beef cattle. Dairy cattle also need better quality pastures than beef cattle, which significantly affects the number of heads per hectare and even when it is best to graze it.
   • Gender and age groups of your cattle: What group of cattle do you graze on your pastures? Do you keep only one sex and age group of animals or several? Can they be grazed together or do they require separate grazing? The group indicates the age (relatively speaking), sex and physiological / reproductive stage of the livestock. Do you have:
     • Cows. Are they pregnant or not? If pregnant, what is the term of pregnancy? Are they old or young?
     • Bulls. Are they growing or mature? Young or old? Are they used for insemination or not?
     • Gobies. Are they growing or fattening?
     • Heifers. Are they grazing as replacement chicks or in rearing? Do you feed them for slaughter?
     • Calves. Are they kept with their mother, raised for meat, are they weaning calves or calves fed from a bottle with a teat? If the calves are not weaned, often, when calculating the load on the pasture, the weight of the cow along with the calf is taken as a unit. But if the calves are raised for slaughter, fattening, or bottle-fed, then no.
   • The weight of your cattle: What is the average weight of your animals, or rather animals divided into age and sex groups and averaged as a herd? Weight is measured in kilograms (kg) and is often rounded to the nearest 10 - 100kg. Weight is a factor that has a huge impact on the possible number of livestock per hectare, since the basic rule is: the more an animal, the more it will eat, and, therefore, it needs a large area for grazing or it is necessary to graze this animal in a certain area square less time.
2. 2 Use all or any of these factors to determine pasture feed capacity, pasture use intensity, pasture load, or livestock concentration. As a numerical system for determining the optimal number of cattle per hectare of pasture, the concepts of pasture load and livestock density are most often used, most often - pasture load (sometimes even excessive). These four systems should never be confused with each other.
   • Grazing pressure defines the number of notional head of livestock on a pasture in one month or during the grazing season, and is expressed as notional head per month (AUMs) per hectare.
   • Livestock density is the number of animals in a given area at a given time, usually measured as the number of conventional heads (AUs) per hectare.
     • One conditional head (AU) is equivalent to a 450 kg cow with or without calf, which consumes an average of 11 kg of feed per day in dry matter, which is 2.5% of its weight. However, some sources define the concept of a conditional head differently. For example, according to the book Forage: An Introduction to Rangeland Agriculture , Volume 1 (2003), “A notional head is defined as an ad libitum fed dry cow weighing 500 kg or its equivalent for other livestock species. Advantageous feeding refers to the consumption of feed on a dry matter basis equal to 2.5% of the animal's weight.
       • Despite the differences, the most widely accepted definition of a conditional head (AU) is the first definition presented by the author of this article above.
         • Note that it is incorrect to assume that all livestock weighs 450kg. Cattle vary in weight from 100 kg to more than 800 kg and therefore affect the load on your pastures.
           • The unit of measurement, the conventional head, is applicable not only to grazed cattle. This unit of measure is also widely used in grazing various types of livestock, which are also grazing animals. Below are tips on how to calculate conditional heads for other livestock species.
   • The forage capacity of a pasture determines the number of animals that can be kept on a pasture throughout the grazing season without causing damage to the pasture, such as knocking out or desertification. The feeding capacity of a pasture is measured in units of AUM (kg / bird / month) and measures the ability of a pasture to produce enough forage crops to meet the needs of a herd of grazing animals such as cattle, bison, elk, deer and even horses.
     • AUM is the amount of forage required per conventional head (AU) per month. Thus, 1 AUM corresponds to 335.5 kg (30.5 days x 11 kg / day) of feed per dry matter, which one conventional head consumes per month.
   • Intensity of pasture use is defined as the ratio of conventional heads to feed mass. This term is used to define under or over grazing. Insufficient grazing means that the intensity of pasture use is low, in other words, a small number of conventional heads per unit of forage mass (the amount of forage per dry matter per unit area at a certain point in time), that is, the production of forage exceeds the needs of animals. Conversely, overgrazing means that the intensity of pasture use is high and that the needs of the animals exceed the production of forage.
     • This type of calculation does not determine how many animals should be kept per hectare, but it does give you an idea of ​​whether you are keeping too many, too few, or just enough animals in your pastures.
3. 3 Graze your pasture according to these indicators. Regardless of which grazing technology you choose (from free to limited grazing), you must consistently manage your pastures so that they remain productive throughout the season.
   • Monitor the condition of the pasture (in terms of the quality of forage crops), the weight of your animals (especially if you are grazing not adults, but young growing animals), the intensity of pasture use and the quality of forage, so that you have an up-to-date data on how many heads you can keep per hectare per day, week, month. If possible, adjust grazing pressure and stock density accordingly.

Tips

• If you are reading this article and are interested in a different type of livestock and how to determine how many heads of this type should be kept per hectare, this article may usually also apply. The article can also be used for cattle whose weight is not exactly 450 kg / head. To determine the rate of livestock per hectare, you can more accurately equate livestock based on their metabolic body size. This mathematical approach allows animals to be equated based on their body area rather than weight and is usually accepted and calculated by raising the animal's weight in kilograms to the 0.75 power (Weight (kg) ^ 0.75).
  • One conventional head is equal to (450kg) ^ 0.75 = 97.7. Thus, for example, let's calculate the coefficient for a sheep weighing 200 kg: (200 kg) ^ 0.75 = 53, or in terms of conventional heads (53 / 97.7) = 0.54 conventional heads (AU).
    • This calculation can be used for all types of livestock of different weight categories, from adult bulls weighing over 1000 kg to young goats reared weighing less than 20 kg and other intermediate options.
• It is quite possible to measure and calculate the dry matter content of feed yourself on the farm without sending feed to the laboratory for analysis, especially if this is the only thing that interests you. All you need is equipment designed for this purpose, such as a Vortex drying chamber, a Koster, an air-powered oven (most commonly used in laboratories, but quite expensive), a feed dehydrator, or even your own microwave oven. There are also electronic moisture testers on the market, but these are mainly used for cereals, hay (in bales and rolls) and silage, rather than grazing feed for your animals.
  • As mentioned above, to calculate the average forage weight and average yield, make sure you take more than one sample (preferably at least 10 in different areas of the pasture or paddock). It is also necessary to weigh in advance the container in which the feed will be located in order to calculate the weight of the feed only (net), not the weight of the feed together with the container (gross). If this is not done, the results will be skewed.
• First, try to understand the difference between grazing pressure and stock density. Grazing pressure is more associated with free grazing or grazing on a large plot of land for more than one month. Stocking densities are more appropriate for paddock grazing or controlled intensive grazing.
• Remember, most calculations are based on dry matter unless otherwise noted. Dry matter means that the food sample is essentially cooked until all the water has been removed and weighed as “dry matter”. Wet means that the feed is fed without pre-drying.
• There are several types of grazing that you can choose from. They include alternating and free grazing, sequential, driven grazing, intensive controlled grazing, and others. Which one you choose is up to you and your management methods.
• Don't be afraid of math calculations. Math is useful and especially needed to calculate the livestock rate for your pasture. If you do not use mathematical calculations, but simply assume, overgrazing on your pastures is much more likely than reaching the ideal indicator or below the optimal range.
• Everything in nature changes and will never be the same. Therefore, do not think that the condition of the pasture or the weight of your animals will remain the same throughout the grazing season.
• Use the help of local farmers or a government advisory service to get information on the type of vegetation, soil and rainfall in your area.
• Use a scale or meter to determine the weight of your animals. Some, but not all, experienced herders are able to determine the weight of a cow just by looking at it. But even those who manage to guess the weight of the cow are not always accurate.

Warnings

• Never confuse grazing pressure with stock density. The best way to avoid confusion is to remember that “load” is more applicable to free grazing and “density” is more applicable to intensive controlled or paddock grazing.
• Do not mistakenly assume that grazing load or feed intake calculations are based on raw material. Otherwise, your calculations will be wrong and far from the truth.