In Alternative Grazing in Crop Fields

BOISE, Idaho—With fall pasture in high demand after a summer of fires and drought, alternatives such as grain fields may start looking good to Idaho cattle producers.

Indeed, grazing cattle in grain fields is "the norm" in the southern Plains states, says Brad Brown, University of Idaho extension crop management specialist at Parma. "But the practice is a little bit uncommon for our area." He thinks it could be expanded, especially in newly planted fall grain in Idaho’s warmer valleys. "By the middle of November, enough wheat will be up in the Treasure Valley that producers could open their fields to grazing if they wanted to," he says.

In addition, rather than plowing under the volunteer grain that sprouts after harvest, farmers at lower elevations could make it available to ranchers. Throughout Idaho, grain stubble, corn stalks, hay crops too short to harvest, or other crop "aftermath" could also provide needed feed for livestock returning early from range.

To help Idaho’s crop and livestock producers make connections this year, the University of Idaho Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology has developed an electronic clearinghouse located at Web site http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/pasture. Farmers and ranchers can contact the UI extension educator in their county to list their names, phone numbers and other pertinent data on the interactive Web site. They can also call coordinator C. Wilson Gray at 208/736-3622, write him at pasturelist@uidaho.edu or enter the information themselves.

Brown says fall grazing in established wheat should have "minimal" impact on crop yields. "I’m convinced we can do some fall grazing without much effect," he says. The income from grazing may more than offset any losses to next year’s crop." Cattle should be removed, however, before grain heads emerge from crowns in spring. "If you’re still grazing after that, your production will be considerably affected," says Brown.

Brown adds that furrow irrigators may need to reestablish their corrugates after the cattle have left.

Larry Robertson, UI extension crop management specialist at Aberdeen, says grain growers may also need to increase their fertilizer applications minimally to compensate for any topgrowth that has been removed. They should also be aware of the potential for losing stands if livestock sink into wet fields.

Nevertheless, Robertson considers opening fields to grazing economically "advisable." "Normally, we see more of it done on dryland wheat, but it’s the irrigated producers who could really benefit from it. They could alter their planting dates to make the system work."

Though not nearly as nutritious as newly sprouted grain, wheat and barley stubble can "go a long way" towards meeting the energy requirements of beef cattle in late fall, says Carl Hunt, University of Idaho beef cattle nutritionist. Hunt estimates that it can provide 90 percent of a cow’s energy needs and that the rest can be met with "fairly marginal amounts" of supplementation.

Stubble fields are likely to be shorter in protein than energy, Hunt says, but cattle producers should be able to compensate with a 22 percent or higher protein supplement.

Fortunately, late fall is the time in beef cattle lifecycles when the animals need the lowest amounts of both protein and energy, Hunt says. Cows are in mid-pregnancy and calves have been weaned. "Timing-wise, it’s very convenient."

The electronic pasture clearinghouse is co-sponsored by the UI Cooperative Extension System and the Idaho Cattle Association.