Pasture lands are diverse types of land where the primary vegetation produced is herbaceous plants and shrubs.
Benefits of Incorporating Conservation on Your Land
As a landowner or farm operator, you face many decisions when managing the natural resources on your land. When it comes to improving your pastureland, good management and the right conservation practices makes it possible to have lush, green pastures, clean water, and healthy animals.
Pasture management is managing the forages grazed and/or browsed by livestock by maintaining cover, providing adequate rest after grazing, and using stop-grazing heights to maintain live green leaves during the growing season. Good management also includes following the recommended stock density rate and rotating based on forage availability and livestock nutrition needs. Well-managed pastures not only provide food for your animals, they absorb rainfall, filter runoff, and reduce erosion.
Following a grazing management plan can improve nutrient cycling and increase soil organic matter, which can make your pasture more drought resistant. Other benefits often include a longer grazing season, greater forage production, and a more nutritious food source that improves animal health, milk production and weight gain.
There's a Program for That
Through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service provides financial and technical assistance to implement conservation practices that address natural resource concerns on private lands. EQIP supports the needs of all agricultural operations, offering ideas, science-based solutions, and guidance for successful and sustainable conservation farms.
Below are some of the more popular conservation practices that Iowa farmers install to treat resource concerns related to grazing land operations as outlined in their conservation plans.
Popular Iowa Grazing Practices
Brush Management
Brush Management includes removal, reduction, or manipulation of non-herbaceous plants. This practice helps to:
- Manage noxious and invasive woody plants
- Restore desired vegetative cover to protect soils, control erosion, reduce sediment, improve water quality, and enhance stream flow
- Improve forage accessibility, quality and quantity for livestock
- Protect life and property from wildfire hazards
Fence
Fence is a practice that may be applied on any area where farmers need better control of animals. Fences are typically used to facilitate better management.
Considerations include:
- Livestock management, such as handling, location, adequate watering and feeding facilities
- Soil erosion potential when constructing a fence on steep slopes
- Improved forage quantity and quality to meet livestock demand
- Wildlife movement needs
Pond
Ponds serve as an excellent source for livestock drinking water. Keeping animals from entering a pond helps maintain higher water quality, which minimizes bacteria and disease. Fencing off ponds and pumping water to tanks, troughs or other watertight locations throughout a pasture will provide the healthiest and most environmentally friendly livestock drinking water alternative.
Other pond benefits include:
- Fish and wildlife
- Recreation
- Erosion control
Prescribed Grazing
Managing the harvest of vegetation with grazing and/or browsing animals often attained through a rotational or mob grazing system where pastures are divided into four or more pastures or paddocks with fencing. Cattle are moved from paddock to paddock on a prearranged schedule based on forage availability and livestock nutrition needs.
Improves or maintains:
- species composition and vigor of plant communities;
- quantity and quality of forage for grazing and browsing animal health and productivity;
- surface and subsurface water quality and quantity;
- riparian and watershed functions;
- quantity and quality of food and cover available for wildlife.
Watering Facility
Watering Facilities are a permanent or portable tank or trough to provide an adequate amount and quality of drinking water for livestock and or wildlife.
How it helps:
- Provide access to drinking water for livestock and wildlife to meet daily water requirements.
- Access to water helps improve livestock distribution to pastures.
- Providing easily accessible water to meet daily livestock needs keeps livestock healthier.
- Portable tanks prevent livestock from creating trails to watering facilities. This helps reduce compaction and soil erosion, and keeps pastures in better shape.