Get The Most Out of Your Pastures This Summer
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There’s no off season when it comes to pasture management, especially when we’re pushing for stocker cattle daily gains, says Andrew McCrea of McCrea Family Farms in Maysville, Missouri.
“When you want to get more pounds of beef from that pasture, you hate to leave portions of it unutilized,” he says.
Here are some ways to ensure your pastures — and the cattle grazing them — are productive this summer.
- Implement strategies for rotational grazing. Consider cross-fencing to facilitate cattle movement based on the level of forage production and allow a rest period for the previously grazed pasture. This can increase utilization and increase per-acre production.
- Treat perennial weeds. Early summer is the time to treat many perennial weeds, including Canada thistle, tall ironweed and western ragweed. Undesirable weeds can leave your grass competing for valuable nutrients and leave your herd hungry.
“We deal with ragweed and thistles most often in our pastures,” McCrea says. “If left untreated, these weeds will undoubtably disrupt forage consumption throughout the summer and can cause bigger problems the following year.”
NovaGraz™ herbicide, the latest pasture solution from Corteva Agriscience, comes in handy for McCrea when treating pastures containing annual lespedeza. NovaGraz herbicide enables cattle producers to preserve white clover and annual lespedeza while providing enhanced broadleaf weed control.
“We will use a wider range of Corteva Agriscience pasture products this year than ever before,” McCrea says. “We’ve gotten better at matching the right product to the pasture, and NovaGraz is the perfect fit for our pasture filled with annual lespedeza.” - Suppress seed heads in fescue-based pastures. Reducing or eliminating seed heads can help decrease the incidence and severity of fescue toxicosis.
“In our fescue pastures, we’re not set up to do rotational grazing, so we’re going to use Chaparral herbicide for seedhead suppression this year,” says McCrea. “If we suppress some of that fescue seed head, especially in the grazing areas farthest from the feed troughs, the cattle will be able to graze more evenly across the pasture.” - Resist the temptation to treat brush and woody plants too early. While you’re treating broadleaf weeds, it may be tempting to treat brush and other woody plants as well. But it’s important to take time to ensure undesirable brush and woody plants are fully leafed out and actively growing.
Learn more about year-round pasture management and watch videos from McCrea's farm at Corteva.us/McCreaSummer25.
Visit NovaGraz.us/ByTheNumbers for more information on NovaGraz herbicide and find your local Corteva range & pasture specialist at RangeandPasture.com/specialist.
White clover and annual lespedeza exhibit some initial injury (such as lodging and loss of vigor) but recover. Chaparral™ has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with Chaparral and to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. Consult the label for full details. Chaparral and NovaGraz™ are not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions.