A good pasture is the foundation of any profitable livestock operation. It provides the forages needed not only to sustain but also to allow the livestock to grow. Having enough forages for all of the animals is essential to keep your feed costs down to a manageable level. However, keeping a pasture at this level can be complicated.
Despite your best efforts, a good pasture can end up going bad on you. We have all seen it before: certain invasive species somehow make it into your pasture and overrun everything. They then choke out the forages your animals need, meaning you will either need to supplement or reduce your numbers. Another thing that can happen is that you start seeing bare spots showing up more and more.
Needless to say, people are not too happy when facing scenarios like this. In fact, people tend to dread it when they think they will need to renovate their pasture. They believe it will require tremendous labor and an equal amount of money to get it back to form. What if I told you there were some ways to do this without breaking the bank? Before shelling out a lot of money to fix your pasture, here are some things to consider.
Having to feed supplements is sometimes necessary for cattle operations. That being said, it is something other than what most ranchers like to do. Feed costs remain the single most considerable expense for any cattle producer. The amount really depends on different things, but it can easily be half of the total annual expenses.
Doing a soil test can be a very effective tool in a producer’s toolbox. It can tell you the kind of nutrients available as well as the amounts that are present. Really it is the foundation of any plan to improve the output of your pastures.
A good pasture is the foundation of any profitable livestock operation. It provides the forages needed to not only sustain but also allow the livestock to grow. Having enough forages for all of the animals is important to keep your feed costs down to a manageable level. However, keeping a pasture at this level can be a little complicated.
Having to feed supplements is necessary sometimes in cattle operations. That being said it is not something that most ranchers like to do. Feed costs remain the single largest expense for any cattle producer. The amount really depends on different things but it can easily be half of the total annual expenses.
Doing a soil test can be a very effective tool in a producer’s toolbox. It can tell you the kind of nutrients available as well as the amounts that are present.
As winter begins to wind down now is the time to consider getting your soil tested for the coming year. A soil analysis is a good management tool because it tells you what your soil may be lacking, saving you money on fertilizer. A soil test however is only as good as the samples that you collect to give to the testing lab. Here are some things to consider with soil sampling:
