Limit-Grazing Wheat Pasture: A Practical Strategy for Beef Cows and Calves

David Lalman, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Beef Cattle Nutrition Specialist

We have excellent prospects for wheat pasture this fall, but the market conditions and low cattle numbers will make purchasing stocker calves more difficult than normal. How can we best use this valuable forage resource? Small-grain winter pasture is an excellent protein and energy source for beef cows. Fall-calving, lactating cows perform extremely well when grazing abundant wheat pasture throughout lactation. We tracked performance of lactating Angus cows and their calves grazing wheat from January through grazeout in May (Table 1).

Performance of fall-calving cows and calves grazing wheat pasture January through May.
Item	January 9	May 18	ADG, lb
Cow Weight, lbs	1157	1429	2.1
Body Condition Score	4.8	6.7
Milk, lbs/day	27	25
Calf Weight, lbs	262	714	3.5

Notice cows averaged 26 pounds of milk yield during late-lactation and still managed to gain over 2 pounds per day along with tremendous increase in body condition. The combination of forage quality and high forage intake can result in cows becoming over-conditioned. This would certainly be a concern in spring-calving cows as their nutrient requirements are substantially lower during gestation.

Limiting wheat pasture forage intake can serve to control cow condition and stretch the expensive, high-quality forage over more grazing days. One approach is to limit-graze the wheat as a protein and energy source to complement low-quality standing forage or hay. We discovered that about 9 to 12 hours per week of access to wheat pasture (3 to 4 hours per day, 3 days per week) met supplemental protein and energy needs for lactating beef cows. Using this method, we were able to stock cows at about a cow/calf pair to 0.7 acres of wheat pasture from mid-November through mid-May. Hours on wheat can be adjusted to maintain a minimum level of cow body condition. We simply fed low-quality native grass hay in dry lot pens when the cows were not grazing wheat. Stockpiled forage in a pasture adjacent to the wheat pasture would be an ideal situation to minimize wintering costs. In our situation, automatic waterers were available in the dry lot pens. After about 3 to 4 hours of grazing, the cows were ready to get a drink and lay down, so they would walk into the dry lot pens and we would shut the wire gate behind them. Next to the gate, we simply raised the electric fence so the calves could pass under it to graze.

In our experiment, another set of cows were wintered grazing tallgrass prairie stockpiled forage and fed about 5 pounds per day of dried distillers’ grain with solubles. Calf weight averaged 467 pounds in mid-April in this “traditional” system whereas calves in the limit-grazed wheat pasture system averaged 565 pounds in mid-April.  

Using Patch Burning to Adjust Grazing Distribution

Dana Zook, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service NW Area Livestock Specialist

Grazing distribution has long been a challenge for cattle producers.  Even with a correct stocking rate, cattle can “over-use” or “over-graze” some areas of pasture or rangeland.  To combat unbalanced grazing, producers have historically employed different management methods to encourage cattle to graze more evenly (think fencing and water infrastructure or mineral and salt).

Researchers at the Oklahoma State Natural Resource Ecology and Management Department are looking at Patch Burning as a tool in the toolbox to adjust grazing distribution.  Patch burning is a technique that burns a portion of a grazing area and allows cattle and other livestock to select what forage they prefer from the burned or unburned areas.  In a study conducted by Kathrine Haile, Dr. Laura Goodman and others at the Klemme Research Station south of Clinton, patch burning was used to target under grazed areas of a pasture and adjust grazing distribution.

In this study, GPS collars were put on cattle and grazing distribution was analyzed in three pastures (100-200 acres each) for the first year without fire.  This GPS data was then utilized to identify portions of the pasture that cattle were avoiding.  Four 4 areas were then selected from these under-grazed areas for patch burning in March (2) and June (2).  Forage samples were collected and analyzed every two months comparing quality of burned and unburned areas.  The results of this study didn’t find a difference in the season of burn (March vs. June), but overall forage consistently remained high quality (8-15% Crude Protein) for about 5 months. By using fire, grazing distribution was totally changed in these pastures and the burned patches enhanced forage quality during times of the year when quality is typically low.  Using GPS tracking, they identified that the previously avoided areas were now targeted by the cattle, allowing previously over-grazed areas to recover. Due to many natural disasters over the years, fire isn’t always thought about in the best light.  However, good research shows the benefits of a well-planned prescribed burn for plant quality, species diversification, wildlife, and livestock production.  If you would like more information about patch burn grazing.