You are invited to attend an upcoming pasture field day on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 from 6-8:30 pm at the Western Maryland Research and Education Center (WMREC) in Keedysville.
This field day will focus on fall pasture planning and maintenance and is part of a larger MD/VA/WV Tri-State Pasture Education Series. See the attached flyer and agenda for more details. Registration is FREE and can be completed at https://mdpasturefieldday.eventbrite.com. Please register by Monday, August 12.
Questions or need special assistance? Please contact Amanda Grev at agrev@umd.edu or 301-432-2767 x339.
Sarah Potts, Dairy and Beef Specialist, University of Maryland Extension
As summer heats up, water becomes more important for cattle. An animal’s body is comprised of 70% water and adequate water consumption is required to maximize performance. It’s no secret that withholding or restricting water can decrease feed intake and reduce gains. Yet many producers often forget to assess whether or not their animals have optimal access to high quality water. An animal’s water requirement is met through consumption of feed and drinking. Many feeds, such as silage and grasses, contain a large proportions of water that help cattle meet their water requirement. Additional requirements are met through drinking.
Water Requirements and Intake
Water requirements vary depending on the physiological state of the cattle. Reproductive status, lactation status, rate and composition of gain, and amount of physical activity will affect how much water cattle need to consume. Lactating cows will consume more water, on average, than growing, finishing, or pregnant cattle (Figure 1).
Temperature will also affect water requirements, with higher temperatures increasing voluntary water intake for all cattle regardless of physiological state (Figure 1). For lactating cows, water intake will increase by over 23% when the ambient temperature rises from 60 to 80°F. Across a similar temperature shift, growing cattle will increase their water intake by 35%.
Figure 1. Water intake of various types of cattle across increasing ambient temperature.
Management factors, such as diet composition and physical access and palatability of drinking water, also affect how much water cattle drink. Because of their higher moisture content, diets that contain a high proportion of silage or pasture can reduce the amount of water consumed through drinking. Diets that contain high levels of protein, salts, or other diuretics will increase water intake through drinking.
Water Quality
Not only is it important for cattle to have access to sufficient quantities of water, the quality of that water is also important. Water quality is assessed by examining factors such as palatability, chemical properties (e.g., pH, dissolved solids, hardness, soluble salts, etc.), presence of toxic compounds, mineral content, and presence of harmful bacteria (e.g., coliforms).
The level of total soluble salts can provide some indication of water quality. Of the soluble salts, sodium chloride (NaCl) is often a major driver of the total soluble salts content in water. Other major contributors to the total soluble salts content include: bicarbonate, sulfate, calcium, magnesium, and silica. High concentrations of soluble salts can decrease water intake and ultimately reduce production. Total soluble salt concentrations less than 1,000 mg/L are ideal. Levels above 3,000 mg/L may start to impact production and water with total soluble salt concentrations over 5,000 mg/L should not be used as a primary drinking source for pregnant or lactating cows.
The concentration of certain minerals can also be used to assess water quality, with nitrate and sulfate concentrations being of most interest. Nitrate concentrations below 44 mg/L are considered safe for all types of cattle to consume. Over short periods of time, cattle can tolerate nitrate levels up to 221 mg/L with modest effects on production and health; however, concentrations above 221 mg/L can result in significantly reduced production and serious health problems. Cattle can generally tolerate sulfate concentrations up to 2,500 mg/L for a short duration (up to 90 days), although concentrations less 500 mg/L and 1,000 mg/L are considered ideal for calves and adult cattle, respectively.
Concentrations of other compounds are also used to assess water quality. The table below shows the recommended upper limits of several compounds.
Reference:
National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle, Eight Revised Edition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/19014
Amanda Grev, Forage Specialist University of Maryland Extension
As we move into the traditionally driest, hottest days of summer, we can expect growth rates of cool-season grass pastures slow dramatically and pasture productivity to decline. However, there are management practices that producers can implement to maximize plant growth during these hot, dry spells.
It takes grass to grow grass.
The key to having productive pastures is optimizing plant photosynthesis. Think of your pasture as a solar panel where green, growing leaves are energy producers. To maximize production, livestock need to be rotated off of a pasture in a timely fashion to ensure an effective “solar panel” or leaf area is left in the paddock following grazing. Most cool-season forages need at least 3 to 4 inches of post-grazing residual to effectively take advantage of photosynthesis for regrowth. In addition to providing a photosynthetic base for plant regrowth, the leaf material that remains after a grazing bout also shades the soil surface, keeping soil temperatures cooler and helping to reduce soil moisture loss.
Removing leaf matter affects the roots as well, as those roots rely on the leaves to supply energy from photosynthesis. The amount of live growth occurring below ground is roughly equivalent to the amount of live growth occurring above ground, and research has shown that the amount of above ground forage mass removed impacts root health. Up to 50 percent of the plant can be removed with little to no impact on root growth. With greater than 50 percent removal, root growth slows dramatically, and removing 70 percent or more of the above ground forage mass stops root growth completely. This is where the old rule of thumb “take half, leave half” comes into play. Leaving half of the leaf area on the plant has minimal impacts to the plant root system, enabling the plant to continue to absorb nutrients and moisture and recover quicker following grazing. If the take half, leave half rule is violated and pastures are grazed too low, plant root growth stops and root reserves are used to regrow leaf tissue, diminishing the vigor of the plant root system and the overall productivity of the plant.
Provide a rest period.
One of the most common mistakes in grazing management is not providing a long enough recovery period for pastures after g razing. Pasture forages require a rest period in order to maintain vigorous production. When a plant is grazed, the loss of leaf material means the plant loses its energy-producing center. The plants’ response is to rebuild that center using stored energy reserves. If the plant is given rest following grazing, new leaves will develop and will replenish this energy supply. Without rest, the plant is not able to replenish its energy supply and will continue to use the remainder of its stored energy to produce new leaves. As energy supplies are depleted, the plant will be unable to maintain production and will eventually die, leading to weak stands, overgrazed pastures, and the invasion of weeds or other non-desirable forages.
Maintaining flexibility in your system will allow you to balance the length of the rest period with the plant growth rate and is fundamental to successful grazing management. How long recovery takes will depend on a number of things, including the plant species, grazing pressure, and the time of year. As we get hotter and drier, grass growth rates will slow down and the days of rest required may be much longer than that required during the spring when rapid growth is occurring. Regardless, the rest period must be long enough to allow the plants to recover and grow back to a practical grazing height before livestock are allowed to graze again; for most grasses, this height falls in the 8 to 10 inch range.
To accommodate for this longer rest period, the rotation speed between paddocks will have to slow down. The basic rule is: when pastures are growing fast, rotate fast; when pastures are growing slowly, rotate slowly. Remember that the goal of the rest is to allow young green leaves to maximize photosynthesis.
Don’t ignore seed heads.
A plant that is producing seed heads is undergoing reproductive growth and not putting energy into leafy growth or tiller production. Clipping seed heads from these grasses will allow the plant to return to leafy or vegetative growth, which will increase forage quality and result in more total forage being produced over the course of the season. Clipping will also serve the added benefit of helping to control weed populations.
Seed heads can also be an indication of uneven grazing patterns in your pasture. If selective grazing is occurring, some plants are likely being overgrazed while others not enough. If this is happening, consider adding more divisions or paddocks into your pasture system. This means you will be grazing your animals on smaller areas, increasing the stocking density. A greater stocking density will reduce the amount of selective grazing that occurs, increasing forage utilization and reducing the need for pasture clipping.
While we can’t control how hot or dry summer will get, we can strategically manage the grass we have to help keep summer paddocks productive and growing.
