Forage budgeting is balancing forage production and use. Thethree main types of forage budgeting are livestock carryingcapacity budgeting, winter feed budgeting, and growing seasonpasture production budgeting.
Livestock carrying capacity budgeting
Whole-farm forage budgeting to determine the farm's livestockcarrying capacity is done by the Natural Resources ConservationService to evaluate the safe stocking level of livestock on thefarm. Forage budgeting also looks at potential changes instocking level because of improved forage management. Mostfarmers arrive at an estimate of their farms' carrying capacitythrough years of experience, including some accounting for riskbecause of drought and wet weather effects on pasture and hayproduction.
Winter feed budgeting
Livestock producers budget winter feed by maintaining (onpaper or in their heads) an inventory of the hay supply on hand,which is tied to an estimate of the hay required to feed thefarm's animals. The producer decides whether feed supplies are inexcess or deficit of the herd's need. The farmer then knows ifhay can be sold or must be purchased, or if some animals thatnormally would be kept need to be sold.
Pasture budgeting
Budgeting pasture production over the growing season is not aswell managed by many livestock producers as the previous twoforms. Often, pastures are undergrazed in the spring andovergrazed in the summer and fall. This results in less thanoptimal animal performance because of overmature forage in latespring and inadequate forage availability in the fall. Thepasture plants may be weakened by overgrazing since the reducedleaf area may not intercept enough sunlight for adequate rootgrowth.
Research at WVU and other universities has shown that ifpasture is grazed too short, animal performance is reduced. WVUresearch on continuously grazed, mixed short-grass pastures showsthat the minimum pasture height for good animal performance isabout 3 inches for the calf in a cow-calf system and 3 to 4inches for a growing steer (Figure 1).When pasture height is above the 3- to 4-inch level, animalperformance may decrease because of reduced forage quality, ifthe excess spring growth is not controlled by haying part of theland or using a variable stocking rate.
The growth rate of pasture varies over the season (
If overgrazing occurs, soil erosion increases, resulting in aloss of topsoil, soil fertility, and future productivity of theland. The eroded soil will also reduce water quality for peopleliving downstream from the mismanaged land.
Forage and livestock production can be optimized usingrotational grazing with a hay field buffer. The hay field bufferis where part of the land is harvested for first-cut hay, thenbrought into the system for grazing the hay aftermath. Underrotational grazing, a short grass (bluegrass-white clover)pasture should grow to 4 to 6 inches high, then grazed to a 1- to2-inch stubble. This results in an average pasture height of 3 to4 inches during the grazing period which is optimum for animalperformance. This management is also beneficial for cloverproduction in pasture. Under rotational grazing, tall grassstands such as orchardgrass-red clover should grow to an 8-inchheight, then grazed to a 2- to 3-inch stubble.
When drought reduces the pasture growth rate and animals beginto graze the pasture shorter than what is good for the pastureand animals, start supplemental hay feeding. Move the animals toa field that needs the fertility supplied by the manure from thefeed. Above all, protect the grass over most of the farm so itwill stay healthy for growing once the rains return. When thismanagement is followed and once moisture returns, the grass willgrow up to twice as fast as it would if the livestock are allowedto graze it into the ground. If fertilizer is applied also, thegrowth rate may be even higher. In 1999, managers using thesepractices did feed hay much of July, but got the cows back onquality pasture in August and kept them on pasture until the endof December.
Budgeting pasture growth over the year--by using rotationalgrazing and hay field buffers, controlling grazing by usingproper pasture height guidelines, and not overgrazing during dryweather--is the keys to optimizing forage and livestockproduction and reducing the risks and damage from drought.
Figure 1. Expected effect of pastureheight on calf growth in a cow-calf system.
Figure 2. The effect of the date andyear on pasture growth rate on fertile soil with goodwater-holding capacity.
