Although the leaves are falling and snow may soon blanket much of your land, grazing management should be something you consider year-round.
The American Forage & Grassland Council hosts its annual meeting early each year, deep in the heart of winter – in 2025, from Jan. 12 – 15 in Kissimmee, FL – but the lessons shared there are evergreen.
Consider the topic of grazing management of cool season grasses and late-maturing clovers, which was presented by Dr. Rocky Lemus of Mississippi State University Extension at the 2024 meeting. Lemus lists his specialty areas as forage establishment, grazing systems and management, hay production, forage fertility and forage quality.
“Why cool season grasses?” he asked. Cool season grasses include Kentucky bluegrass, fescues, bentgrass and perennial ryegrasses. They are sometimes referred to as “northern grasses” due to their hardiness and being well adapted to cold winter climates.
“Feed costs are generally the greatest expense for most cattle producers,” Lemus noted, so grazing as long as possible can be monetarily efficient. Cool season grasses decrease dependence on stored forages (hay and silage) and decrease the need for commodity feed supplementation.
Not only that, but “cool season annuals can also add to the diversity of forages to extend the grazing season.” Cool season annual grasses are extremely high in nutritive value from early autumn through spring, Lemus explained.
White clover. Photo courtesy of David Cappaert, Bugwood.org
The key is finding some sort of bridge between cool and warm season grasses to keep the grazing window open as long as possible. That’s where late maturity annual clovers can come into play.
Growing clovers (like the arrowleaf, gland, kura (or Caucasian), strawberry and white varieties) with pasture grasses greatly enhances cost-effectiveness in forage or livestock production but in some instances are considered undependable in their ability to reseed – check with your seed supplier to see which variety may work best for you.
“The late maturity annual clovers allow could help compensate for the increase in fiber and decrease in nutritive value (protein) of grasses late in spring,” Lemus said.
With the warmer weather lasting further in autumn, there may still be time to get clover seed in the ground if you’re aiming to enhance your pastures’ cool season grasses for your grazing livestock.
Interested in learning more? Find information of AFGC’s upcoming meeting at afgc.org/annual-conference.
by Courtney Llewellyn
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