It may be winter but there are actions you can take right now and through the winter can have a huge impact on your farm’s productivity next spring.
How do you manage your pastures in winter?
Decisions you make now can have a huge impact on the timing and amount of forage you have next spring. The key principle is to allow most of your pasture to rest and recover over the winter, and for many small to medium size properties this is accomplished by the use of a sacrifice area.
What is a sacrifice area and should you use one?
A sacrifice area is a relatively small part of your property that you will keep your livestock in for an extended period of time when grazing conditions are poor. This could be in the heat of summer when your fields are dry and they need a longer recovery period to prevent overgrazing, but most commonly in the Pacific Northwest they are used during the wet season when the days are short, gloomy, and not conducive to plant growth. The word “sacrifice” refers to the loss of productivity you will see in that area during the next growing season, as in, you are “sacrificing” that paddock for the benefit of the rest of your property.
Many producers that don’t utilize sacrifice areas just open all their fences for the winter and allow their animals to find whatever forage is available. If you have a massive property, this may not cause too much harm, but for most people who have limited space, this method can have long-lasting negative effects. When forage is heavily grazed (i.e. most of the above-ground material is removed), the plants will slough off a significant portion of their roots because they no longer have enough photosynthetic capacity to support them. When the days start getting longer and temperatures start increasing in the late winter and early spring, those grazed plants are at a significant disadvantage and need much more time to get to a stage where they can be grazed again. If this is done year after year, you will likely have impaired productivity during the entire growing season.
But if most of your pasture was left with a forage height of at least 3-4”, those plants will be ready to take advantage of those first warm days and you will be able to start your grazing season earlier and be the envy of all your neighbors who are still spending lots of money feeding hay.
Are there drawbacks to using a sacrifice area?
Utilizing a sacrifice area may seem like a silver bullet for early spring productivity, and it is, but it can cause some management headaches. If you are in a very wet area, like in much of western Oregon, mud can certainly be an issue. The ideal positioning would be in a well-drained, top of slope, maybe rocky location to minimize surface runoff, limit erosion, and reduce mud accumulation. But most people don’t have that Goldilocks location on their farm, so mud can be a big problem, especially for cattle producers. This could be mitigated by having two or three sacrifice areas if space is available, or by modifying the ground surface. This could include the use of geotextiles, sand, hog fuel, decomposed granite, or similar materials that either absorb or facilitate drainage. Your local soil and water conservation district is often a good resource for designing a system (they may even help you pay for it!).
Your animals will also not be excited to be in the same paddock day after day, especially if they are used to frequent pasture rotations during the growing season. But they will get used to it, and just keep reassuring them that the extra growth in the fields they will see next year will be worth it.
How large should it be?
Like every good question, the answer to this one is, “it depends.” Obviously, the type and number of animals you have will make a difference, but in general you want it large enough that they can walk around and get some exercise while not feeling overly crowded, but small enough that you are allowing most of your property to be untouched. For each individual property, it will likely be a bit of trial and error, but in general, a sacrifice area that is 1-2% of your total grazing area is a good starting point.
Should the same sacrifice area be used every year?
Again, it depends. If you have an engineered area (geotextile, sand, or similar), then yes, you would generally use that as your sacrifice area every year. It is a little less certain when you are using a portion of your regular pasture. One school of thought says to use the same area every year and permanently give up on any real productivity in that paddock. Another says to move your sacrifice area every year to spread out the impact. It’s not uncommon to see a surge in growth in future years, as there was a concentration of nutrients in the form of manure and urine added to that area that will help the plants recover and then thrive. Some producers will use the opportunity created by the high impact to refurbish that pasture by disking and re-seeding, or running hogs through the area.
What other considerations do you need to think about?
If you are keeping animals close to a barn, or other structure, make sure that you have gutters that are working properly to keep as much water off the sacrifice area as possible.
Make sure your fences are in good condition, ideally with at least one strand of electric fence. The temptation to break out will be strong, especially when the first growth of the year starts growing on the other side of the fence and they’ve only been eating hay for two months. You may need to periodically remove manure accumulations, so make sure you have the ability to get in there with your tractor and that you have a place to put it.
Don’t put your sacrifice area near a waterway or other sensitive ecological zone. Not only are those areas much more likely to get muddy, but you also want to be a good steward of your landscape by not contaminating our creeks, rivers, and wetlands.
Do you have more questions or thoughts about this? If you are an OPN member, you can access the collective knowledge of our membership by posing your questions in our forum.
