Do you know what your stocking rate is? Let me rephrase that: Do you know what your real stocking rate is? Many people follow just a general rule of thumb that was developed years ago. The truth is that cattle will not always graze on every acre that is available. You could have the scenario where certain areas are being overgrazed while others are not being used at all. This is where determining your grazeable acreage will help.
Things like the brush density, rock coverage, accessibility and other factors will have an impact on how many acres that the herd will use. Determining these factors will give you a more accurate measure of what your stocking rate is. There are many ways that you can look at these but the best way will always be walking the property and looking at them from ground level.
To begin this evaluation select several areas throughout your place. In order to get a fairly accurate reading try to select different types of terrain. Here are some things to look for:
Brush Density
In this evaluation you will be looking at how much brush there is on your place. Cattle will not go to areas where there is thick brush cover. You can get an aerial view of the pasture but it may not give you the most accurate results. The cover may actually be thicker in certain areas than how it looks from the air. So this means that you will have to walk.
In the selected areas that you have chosen walk a straight line and assign a brush density rating every twenty steps that you take. Rate the density on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being hardly any to 5 being very thick. Repeat this process in the other test areas to get your overall rating.
Rock Cover
Here is where you will determine just how rocky the pasture is. studies have shown that cattle are less likely to graze an area with a lot of rocks on it. The thing to remember is that if it is uncomfortable for a person to walk on it then it will be uncomfortable for the cattle as well.
In the same areas that you selected for brush density walk a straight line and every 20 feet place a PVC guide on the ground. The amount of rocks that fill the inside area will tell you the percentage.
You can make this guide out of any scrap PVC pipe that you have laying around. The outside dimension will be 29″ and it should be divided into 4 sections. This will make it easier to determine the percentage.
Slope
The slope is determined by the change in elevation of an area over a 100ft distance.
Like most animals, cattle prefer traveling areas of least resistance. They prefer either flat areas or broad, gently sloping areas. So if it is too steep then they will be less likely to travel to these areas. Ecological site descriptions will give you a good idea of what the slope is in your area.
Water
Water is the necessity of life for us and it is no different for cattle. The distance that they will have to travel will have an impact on which areas they will graze. Generally cattle will not travel more than 1 mile from any water source. So if you have areas that are farther than that from water then you may want to put some more troughs out.
I talk more about the importance of water here.
Grazeable Forage
What plants they will or will not eat also plays a factor in your grazeable acreage. You will need to identify some of the major plant species, especially the grasses.
Grasses like Texas Grama and Kleberg Bluestem are unpalatable for cattle so they will not go to the areas where there is a lot of them. If you have an abundance of plant species such as this you will have to plan on removing them and planting something that they will eat.
Accessibility
Even if a certain pasture is perfect it won’t get grazed if they can’t get to it.
Certain areas may be surrounded by thick brush, heavy rock cover or on a steep slope. Be sure to mark down any areas like this down on your sheet so you can correct it.
With these areas creating roads or opening up trails to this part can make them more accessible making them better to be utilized.
What do I do with my grazeable acreage results?
Now that you have the results it is time to come up with a plan. It is often possible to increase the amount of grazeable acreage through proper planning. Taking the time to estimate your grazeable acres could help you out by showing some new management measures that you can take.
In the areas with a high brush density you will need to remove or at least thin out what is in those areas. This will open up more of the pasture and make it better utilized. Things like rock cover and slope may be a little more tricky and may require paying for some dozer work.
Seeding your rangeland with more desirable grass species is another option if you need it. This will draw the cattle into more areas making better use of your land.
Your local NRCS and County Extension Office is another valuable resource that you can use. If you do not want to pay for a plane the NRCS office can give you up to date aerial photos of your place for no charge. They can also assist in developing any management plans to improve your place.
The Texas AgriLife extension service has a paper that goes into more detail about this and it also comes along with a worksheet that you can use. You can find it by clicking here.
Review
Finding out your grazeable acreage is a useful management tool to determine your proper stocking rate. Some things to look for when finding this out is:
- Brush Density
- Rock Cover
- Slope
- Water
- Forage
- Accessibility
