• Feed costs are about 70% of the cost of raising livestock.

• Of this feeding cost 70% is the cost of winter-feeding.

• Feeding livestock on pasture is about 33% the cost of stored feed so the more days on pasture, the lower your feeding costs.

At the Ontario Forage Council’s recent Profitable Pastures meetings in Elmwood and Cobden, Dr. Ben Bartlett of Michigan State University provided farmers with a wealth of practical ideas geared to efficient pasture management and increased profitability.

Good fences make good neighbors and good pastures too! that the two most common problems of electric fences are poor end posts and an inadequate charge on the fence. The end posts of your paddocks are the foundation of the fence. Take the time to install them right, in fact 50% of the time installing the fence will be spent on them. The first meeting of an animal with an electric fence should be memorable. This will set the stage for a good lasting relationship. Three feet of ground for each joule of power on your fencer is required for adequate grounding. Invest in a digital voltmeter to help you monitor your fence.

Controlled grazing allows you to take responsibility for where and how your livestock graze. Good perimeter fences will keep your livestock at home. Good subdividing fences will help you to manage the livestock so that they graze the pasture in a more efficient manner. Grass growth is sunlight driven with 50% of the growth in the first 60 days and the next 50% of the growth in the next 120 days. We also have 180 days when grass doesn’t grow and have traditionally relied on stored feeds but ideas such as stock piling pastures or using alternate feeds such as turnips or corn stalks can reduce the more expensive days of stored feed. Taking the livestock to the feed as in a pasture system reduces costs while maintaining performance.

The growth pattern of grasses means that more pasture acres must be introduced as the season progresses or livestock units removed in order to harvest the feed in a timely manner throughout the season. The quote "Grass only grows 3 leaves at a time" is a very visual illustration of the need for timely harvest. By the time the fourth leaf appears the first leaf is starting to die. Harvest or grazing needs to occur to maintain the production and quality of the pasture. Birgit Martin illustrated this with her pasture research, which documented the quality and quantity of pasture on offer by the height of the sward. Ideal quality occurs in the 10-25 cm height. Quality deteriorates lower in the stand and as the grass grows taller. Controlled or rotational grazing allows you to bring livestock into the stand during this ideal stage and then move them on before they overgraze weakening the stand. The first bite helps; the second bite hurts the plant. Pasture is a perennial crop, which relies on its root reserves to regrow.

Livestock graze for a set time period each day. Cows will graze for about 8 1/2 hours each day and chew at 55-60 bites per minute. The influence that we can have on grazing is how large their bite size is. Grass that is 10-25 cm high is ideal for quality and to provide the most quantity into the mouth for each bite.

Subdividing pastures may increase animal performance by increasing the quality but it definitely will allow you to keep more animals on an acre of pasture over the season and makes it especially attractive this year.

Each of the speakers brought their own experience and understanding of pasture management for both cattle and sheep to the meeting. They sparked discussion and new ideas. Pasture is one of the few crops, which requires few inputs other than your management. It will pay you well for good management. Dr Bartlett described pasture as the "manageable meeting of livestock and forage to meet your goals." You have to clearly know and understand each of these aspects to achieve success.