Grassland
Management Grassland
ManagementGrasslands provide many kinds of wildlife with food and cover. The greater prairie chicken, upland sandpiper and meadowlark are open grassland nesters. Rabbits, bobwhite quail, turkeys and pheasants also nest in grasslands, but prefer areas near woods or brush. Grasslands also help wildlife by controlling soil erosion.
Grasslands can be divided into three categories:
This chapter deals with the management opportunities on the nearly 13 million acres of grasslands in Missouri. The first section describes some general management techniques for pastures or grasslands. Not all of these techniques are suitable for every grassland. Specific management techniques for each of the three types of grasslands are given in the following sections.
A word of caution concerning tall fescue and its negative impact on wildlife habitat in Missouri: Since the late 1950s, more than 35 million acres have been planted to tall fescue in the United States. In many areas, the more aggressive fescue has replaced diverse native plant communities. When this happens, wildlife populations that depend upon a variety of plants can no longer thrive.
Livestock producers use fescue extensively because it is a hardy cool-season forage that is tolerant of a wide variety of management conditions and soil types. Fescue has become a vital forage for the livestock producers in Missouri. Cattleman also have recognized several diseases in cattle that can be attributed to continuous grazing on fescue with seed heads that are infected with an endophyte fungus.
Fescue is well suited for planting along highways, roadsides and idle areas for erosion control. As a result, however, most native wildflowers and grasses valuable to songbirds, mammals and insects in these areas have been replaced by fescue that is of little value to them. The dense, grassy sod that prevents soil erosion, however, inhibits the movement of some songbirds and quail that must be able to move freely through the vegetation to forage for seeds and insects. Fescue also covers any bare-ground areas that are important as dusting sites for rabbits, songbirds and quail.
Studies in Kentucky, Missouri and elsewhere show that fescue can cause nutritional problems for a wide variety of species, including cottontail rabbits, black-tailed jackrabbits, quail, prairie voles and white-footed mice. In fact, a Tennessee study concluded that endophyte-infected fescue had promise in reducing or eliminating burrowing mammals from orchards, tree farms and golf courses.
Fescue also is allelopathic, which means it has the capacity to exude toxins into the soil that kill or restrict the growth of competing plants. This allows it to invade prairies, old fields and sparse woodlands, thus eliminating the native plants that are more attractive to Missouri wildlife. Small shrubs or seeds planted in fescue sod have little or no chance at survival, due to its aggressive, toxic nature.
Management is usually necessary to keep grasslands productive. When grasslands are left idle, forage production is reduced as ground litter builds up. This buildup also harbors rodents and restricts the movement of wildlife, such as bobwhite quail and rabbits. Five methods commonly used in grassland management are grazing, haying, fertilizing, overseeding with legumes and prescribed burning.
Note: Remnant prairies may require special management practices. See Grassland Management Tips for more information.
Grazing
Grazing can be continuous or rotational. Continuous grazing is where all animals are placed in one pasture and allowed to selectively graze. Rotational grazing may be as simple as switching livestock between two pastures; or, if practical, livestock may frequently be moved among several pastures.
Grazing affects both the plants and the soil in pastures. Livestock are selective about the plants they eat. They tend to repeatedly graze some plants and ignore others. This weakens the more desirable plants and allows unwanted plants to thrive and multiply. Nearly all pastures have areas where livestock concentrate, such as around water, bedding grounds and feeding areas. If the pasture is continuously grazed, these areas become overused, resulting in pasture deterioration.
Continuous grazing reduces forage production and eliminates wildlife cover and food. Cattle trampling also destroys wildlife nests. Years of continuous overgrazing can change a grassland to a brushy area with undesirable plants. Grasses that are continually overgrazed will produce less and less forage in each successive year. Under certain management objectives and pasture conditions, however, continuous heavy grazing may be used as part of an over-all program to improve grazing distribution.
When land is rested - left idle between grazing periods - the vigor of the choice plants increases, giving them a chance to grow and multiply. This gradually increases the number of high-quality plants per acre. Improved forage increases livestock production, improves wildlife food and cover, reduces soil erosion and conserves water. Rotational grazing allows you to pasture more cattle together and also allows wildlife to use the rested pastures and areas adjacent to the fenced pasture.
Rotational grazing permits the use of forages when they are at peak production, protein content and palatability. It also helps the growth of legumes, such as clovers, and allows wildlife nests to survive, if the rest period is not too short. Rotating between pastures with native warm-season forages and those with cool-season forages increases productivity, but requires careful management.
A grazing system will work well only if the grass or forage is adequate to support the livestock numbers, so keep stocking rates in mind. If your main objective is to produce the maximum amount of forage from your grasslands, you may want to investigate the use of a management intensive grazing program. Here, the livestock is rotated among smaller paddocks at very short intervals. Contact your University Outreach and Extension or Natural Resources Conservation Service office for details.
Haying
One of the most important landowner-controlled factors in managing grasslands is the timing of hay cutting. Cutting too early may reduce production, but cutting too late will not allow grasses to replenish their root reserves before winter. This weakens a stand of grass. Wildlife cover also is reduced due to the lack of regrowth. Haying should be timed so that yields and quality are optimum. If wildlife considerations can become a part of the haying operation, cutting part of the hay field at different times of the year will increase habitat diversity.
Cutting height also has an impact on grasses. Clipping grasses too low will remove the point, or node, on the grass stem where new growth occurs. Regrowth of the grass will be slower because the "growth point" has been removed and the new leaves must now grow from the dormant buds located lower on the stem.
Haying has a dramatic impact on both the landscape and wildlife. With the ground bared, wildlife is vulnerable to predation, and the animals must move to adjacent areas for cover. If there is no room for these new animals, some will starve or be killed by predators.
Fertilizing
Both haying and grazing will remove nutrients from the soil. Fertilizer and agricultural limestone should be added to a pasture or hayland only after the soil is tested. See How to Take a Soil Sample for more information. If you are unfamiliar with soil tests, the results can be interpreted by your local University Outreach and Extension agronomist.
Remnant native prairies may or may not require that fertilizer or limestone be added. See Remnant Native Grasslands and Grassland Management Tips for more details.
Overseeding with legumes
Legumes, such as clovers and lespedezas, remove nitrogen from the air and add it to the soil, where it is then available for other plants. Improved livestock performance has been shown with the addition of a legume to a cool-season grass diet.
The success of overseeding an established pasture with legumes will vary. Consult the agricultural agencies in your area for the current recommendations on legume varieties, seeding dates and methods. Some grass/legume seeding mixtures that are beneficial to both livestock and wildlife are shown on the Plantings Beneficial to Wildlife and Fencing to Protect wildlife Food and Cover page. Remnant prairies usually will have native legumes present and will not require over-seeding under a good grazing, burning and haying program.
Cool-season grasses, such as tall fescue, smooth bromegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, orchard grass and timothy, begin growth early in the spring when the soil reaches 40 degrees F. Their growth slows during the warmest part of summer when the soil reaches 78 degrees F and resumes as the soil cools in the fall. Timothy and smooth bromegrass mature later than tall fescue or orchard grass. These grasses allow a later haying date of high-quality forage, while avoiding nest destruction that occurs with earlier haying dates.
Cool-season grasses have been popular with farmers because they are easy to establish, withstand heavy grazing and respond to heavy fertilization. Most of these grasses continue to be productive, but tall fescue can cause health problems in livestock. The problems associated with endophyte-infected fescue are still being studied.
Cool-season grasses are usually grazed to within 2-4 inches tall. Grazing below this height will result in lower production, increased soil erosion and less wildlife use.
These grasses are normally at peak quality and ready for cutting during the nesting season. If the usual cutting height of 1-2 inches is raised to around 4 inches, the disturbance to ground-nesting wildlife is reduced.
Cool-season grasses usually do better in higher pH soils. Soil pH can be raised by adding agricultural limestone.
Many landowners are rediscovering our native warm-season grasses and their value to forage systems. These grasses, such as native bluestems, switch grass, eastern gamma grass and Indian grass, also are good for wildlife. The growth pattern of these grasses is compatible with legumes and other broad-leaf plants that are important to both wildlife and livestock. See Establishing Naive Warm-Season Grasses.
When the soil reaches about 60 degrees F in the spring, the warm-season grasses begin growing. They grow best during the warmest months of the year, when the soil is about 90 degrees F. Although warm-season grasses have a shorter growing season, they make more efficient use of water and soil nutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium - than do other grasses.
Grazing
Native warm-season grasses should not be grazed closer than 8 inches high. Since warm-season grasses begin growth later in the year, they are usually not ready to be grazed until mid summer, when most of the ground-nesting wildlife have hatched their broods. Under a good management program (burning, rotation, etc.), however, native grasslands can be grazed earlier in the summer.
Haying
Native warm-season grasses are usually hayed in late June and July - after most of the broods have hatched. These grasses should not be cut closer than 5-6 inches to allow for rapid regrowth. The regrowth should not be grazed nor should a second cutting be taken. A second cutting will reduce the vigor of the plants, weaken the stand, and eliminate important winter cover and spring nesting cover.
Overseeding with legumes
Legumes may be overseeded on new warm-season grass plantings during the second year or after the grasses have become established.
Fertilizing
While studies have shown that native warm-season grasses are very efficient at removing nutrients from the soil, they do use large amounts of phosphorus (P) and potash (K). These elements should be replaced when hay is removed. These grasses usually do not require that as much fertility be added to the soil, as do the cool-season grasses. Studies also have shown that yields, crude protein, estimated net energy, digestibility and relative feeding values were increased in big-bluestem/Indian-grass hay when the grasses were fertilized with nitrogen. The major increases occurred at rates of 50 or 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre, with 50 pounds per acre giving the greatest return on the dollar. Nitrogen should be applied only in combination with prescribed burning to avoid problems with cool-season grasses and weeds.
Note: Fertilization of remnant native prairies is recommended only under certain conditions.
Prescribed burning
Burning is an important native-grass and remnant-prairie management practice when used under the right conditions at the right time. Fire releases nutrients, controls ground litter and some unwanted plants, stimulates seed production and helps improve plant diversity within the native grassland, which helps distribute grazing pressure.
Missouri’s native grasslands, or prairies, once covered nearly one-third of our state. These prairies were dominated by warm-season grasses and supported several hundred species of plants. Today, less than one percent of our original prairie remains. Most have been replaced by cropland or introduced warm-season or cool-season grasses. The small remaining tracts are referred to as remnant prairies and are vital to the survival of prairie chickens and other grassland wildlife.
Historically, these prairies supported some fire-tolerant shrubs and a few scattered trees. Currently, the trees that surround the remaining smaller remnant prairies can provide high launch points for avian predators, which may pose a problem for many grassland wildlife species.
Proper management will make your native prairie more productive and protect a valuable, dwindling resource. Experienced personnel can provide information about the special management needed on native prairies. If you have a tract of native prairie, contact the Wildlife Division of the Conservation Department for a management plan. The address can be found at the Missouri Department of Conservation Wildlife Management Services.
Prairie remnants, when grazed moderately, will provide excellent summer pasture. Start grazing these tracts about May 15, when the vegetation is 8-10 inches tall. Native prairie should be grazed no later than Aug. 15, and no lower than 8 inches high.
Native prairie remnants provide quality hay. Haying dates are more critical
in prairies, as they affect not only the yield and quality of the forage, but
also the types of plants that will persist.
Prairie remnants should not be fertilized or limed unless they are in excellent condition because the fertilizer may be used by undesirable weedy plants. Native prairies already contain several beneficial legumes and should never be overseeded in an attempt to increase productivity.
Prescribed burning
Studies show that prescribed burns in March and early April will favor forbs (broad-leaf plants), while late April or May burns will favor the production of grasses. A fire at the wrong time can be costly to both wildlife and forage production, but burning time should be varied to maintain plant diversity. Caution: Use fire with great care. Experienced personnel are available to assist in the planning of prescribed burns. Contact the Wildlife Division of the Conservation Department or your local NRCS office.
Grassland Management Tips:
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