Rangeland and pasture management

Figure 1: Comparison of rangeland (left) and irrigated pasture (right). The rangeland picture is during the adequate-green season and the irrigated pasture picture is during the inadequate-dry season (note the dry rangeland in the background). Photos/courtesy Theresa Becchetti.

Introduction

Seasonal rangeland cycle in California

Livestock production on California rangeland requires balancing seasonal forage availability/ quality with livestock requirements and often supplemental feed to match livestock's changing physiological needs. Generally, as forages ages, palatability and nutritional quality decrease.  The following seasons describe how forage availability/ quality change throughout the year. Actual timing of described seasons varies based on location, geography, type of rangeland (e.g, annual rangeland) and current weather patterns. You can look at the Livestock section of this page and find the species you are raising to see their nutritional requirements that you need to match with what the forage can provide.

Inadequate-green season (Oct - Jan): Forage is green and good quality, but there isn't enough quantity yet to sustain livestock. Supplemental feed may be necessary.

Adequate-green season (Jan - Jun): Warming conditions in late winter or early spring allow for rapid forage growth. Forage is green with adequate nutrition. Supplemental feed generally isn't needed in the adequate green season if you are properly stocked. Wet years will increase the window in which forage is adequate.

Inadequate-dry season (July - Oct): Forage is dry; there may be a lot of it (if it wasn’t grazed in the other seasons), but protein content is lower. Some classes of livestock can be maintained on this forage, but others may perform poorly if they don’t also get supplemental feed like a protein tub or alfalfa (more expensive). Therefore, during this season, small acreage landowners may need to provide supplemental feed or move their livestock to irrigated pasture.

Table 1. Crude protein and crude fiber content of different forages on annual rangeland at different seasons or stages of maturity. Adapted from UC ANR publication 8546 - Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series Part 7: Livestock Production.

Land management resources

Understanding a few basics of grazing and land management will help you meet your goals for your property and livestock. To understand the basics of rangeland forage quality in California's Mediterranean climate, you can start by reading these articles: Annual Rangeland Forage Quality - UCANR 2001 Publication 8022 and Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series Part 7: Livestock Production – UCANR 2020 Publication 8546.

It is also important to know which plant species are desirable and which are undesirable (weeds) and their proportions in your paddocks. Check out the UC ANR Videos - Weeds section below to learn about weed basics.

Once you have these basics down, you can read this article to understand how you can convert a dry rangeland system into an irrigated pasture (with a focus on forage for horses): Establishing and Managing Irrigated Pasture for Horses - UCANR 2012 Publication 8486.

Then, because drought is a common occurrence in California's Mediterranean climate, it may also be helpful to read this article to understand how to adapt your irrigated pasture management in drought conditions: Managing Irrigated Pasture During Drought - UCANR 2015 Publication 8537.

Stocking rate and carrying capacity

One important grazing management principle is matching the stocking rate of animals to the carrying capacity of the land, so you can minimize the amount of supplemental feed you need to purchase.

Stocking rate can be seen as the "demand" on the system, or how much feed is needed. It is the based on the number, size, and class of animal, where the animals are in their production cycle, and the time spent grazing. Carry capacity can be seen as the "supply" of the system, or how much feed can be produced. Carrying capacity of a piece of land can vary if you are considering annual versus seasonal supply. Seasonal carrying capacity includes the adequate green season only and will have a higher number of animals per acre compared to annual, which also encompasses the inadequate green and dry seasons. Carrying capacity between two pieces of land is controlled by soil temperature, forage mix, and precipitation.

In order to match stocking rate to carrying capacity, you can use historical records, talk to those with more grazing experience in your area, clip and weigh forage, and most importantly - train your own eye (by tracking how many days a paddock can feed a certain number of animals at a certain time of year). An example of calculating a stocking rate can be found in this document - how to determine how many animals your land can support .

Overgrazing occurs when the stocking rate exceeds the carrying capacity of a paddock. Overgrazing can occur when animals are left too long in the same paddock and they re-graze the same vegetation or when animals are brought back to the same paddock too soon. In both cases, the forage has not had time to recover and regrow from the previous grazing event. Overgrazing can and does happen with just one animal in a paddock. When land is overgrazed, it can lead to bare soil, which creates problems like erosion, compaction, introduction of weeds, issues with local water quality and other land degradation. Overgrazing on small acreage is a big risk; it is easy to do and difficult to recover from, so it takes care to avoid overgrazing.

Improving paddocks

After a few seasons/years of assessing forage production, it is time to reflect if your paddocks are accomplishing what you would like! If not, there are different management decisions you can take to improve the forage in your paddocks.

Once you know what plants are in your paddocks and how much they are producing, you can assess whether nutrient addition or seeding different plants will help. Inputs of fertilizer or compost on paddocks can increase forage production for livestock. Additionally, you can seed preferred plant species to further increase forage production. The table below has common species that can be used to improve your paddocks, split by rangeland and irrigated pasture species.

When deciding what rangeland species to plant, consider the average yearly precipitation you receive in your area of California. If you receive more than 18 inches per year, you will have more options of forages to plant compared to lower rainfall areas. When deciding what irrigated pasture species to plant, consider if you would like more forage in mid-summer (aka warm season species) or fall/spring (aka cool season species). Also, if you are going to invest in seeds, make sure to seed with a purpose or goal in mind and understand that you may need to pair it with weed control or other management practices to see any changes in plant community composition.

* perennial species

Table 2: Plant species commonly seeded on rangeland (lower or higher rainfall) and irrigated pasture (cool and/or warm season) in California.  Higher rainfall locations (more than 18 in of precipitation per year) can support a greater variety of species than lower rainfall (less than 18 in of precipitation per year), with some overlap with species from lower rainfall locations.

You can seed plants by 1) broadcast seeding them with a hand-powered broadcast spreader, a push broadcast spreader or tractor-powered broadcast spreader or 2) drill seeding them with a tractor-powered seed drill. Rates of single species drill seed application range from 5 - 20 lb/acre (depending on seed size). For common mixes, typical drill seed rates will be between 15 - 20 lb/acre. According to the NRCS, rates for broadcast seeding are typically 150% that of drill seed rates. Ensure Tall Fescue is endophyte free and clover seeds are inoculated. 

Fencing

Interior fences (of internal pastures, paddocks, pens, coops, etc.) subdivide your property into smaller sections for grazing in rotation or housing or grazing different kinds of livestock at the same time. Interior fence can be either permanent or temporary. Interior fences are not held to the same legal standards as perimeter fences.

Perimeter fences establish property lines and can be backup protection in case your livestock get out of any interior fences. Perimeter fence should be permanent. Most counties in California are “closed range”, meaning it is the livestock owner’s responsibility to keep livestock enclosed with “good and substantial fence” around their property perimeter. “Good and substantial” fence is defined by the state estray ordinance as “three tightly stretched barbed wires securely fastened to posts of reasonable strength, firmly set in the ground not more than one rod apart [one rod is 16.5 ft], one of which wires shall be at least four feet above the surface of the ground.” Any other kind of fence of height, strength, and capacity equal or greater than the above-described fence is also considered “good and substantial”. Although this is the legal requirement for commercial operations on rangeland, and originated with beef cattle operations in mind, your perimeter fence will likely have to be of greater strength than these requirements to ensure you contain your livestock from getting out on roads, other people’s properties, or otherwise causing a nuisance in your community.

When deciding what kind of fences to use, you will need to assess what species you are trying to contain with each. For example, barbed wire fence is effective at containing cattle but not effective at containing goats, sheep, chickens, and small livestock. Therefore, when deciding how to fence your property, it may help to think through: What animals are you keeping in and what predators are you keeping out? For example, coyotes can jump a 4’ fence and squeeze through a 4”x 6” hole; mountain lions can climb a much higher fence. Will the animals challenge the fence or respect it? How will your interior fence requirements differ from your perimeter fence requirements? How many interior pens/paddocks will you need? Do you want your interior fences to be permanent or temporary and more flexible? The pictures and tables below can help guide you in your fencing decisions.

Different fence options

Figure 2: Different fences. Photo/courtesy iStock (#1-7, 9), Sequoia Williams (#8), Theresa Becchetti (#10-12).

Table 3: Comparing permanent and temporary fences

Table 4: Fencing recommendations for different livestock

More information about using electric fencing can be found by reading this 2019 UC ANR Livestock Protection Tools Fact Sheets- Electric Fence. You can also watch demo videos of setting up electric netting and polywire electric fence.

Chain link is good at containing most livestock, as well as keeping deer out, though can be expensive for larger areas. Sixteen-ft corral panels can contain horses, cattle, llamas, and alpacas, but can be expensive as well. Combining welded pipe or wooden fences with no-climb fence is one way to retrofit existing fence to contain smaller livestock, as seen in the below image. Another example of combining types of fences is adding a few electric strands on top of another type of fence, as seen in the image below.

Figure 3: Examples of combination fences. Photo courtesy Theresa Becchetti (#1), iStock (#2), Sequoia Williams (#3).