The 2009 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium is once again going to hit the road!  After four years on the road and back into Columbus for the 2008 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium, the 2009 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium will once again hit the road for this annual shepherd’s event!  This year’s Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium will be held on December 12, 2009 at the Ohio Department of Agriculture Bromfield Building, 8995 East Main Street, Reynoldsburg, OH  43068. The primary educational portion of the symposium will be conducted on Saturday December 12, 2008.  The primary focus of the 2009 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium will be health management programs that will help our sheep producers stay profitable in the future.  The 2009 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium will be in conjunction with the Small Ruminant Health Symposium and will cover information on the small ruminant species, sheep and goats.

The main speakers of the day will include Dr. Richard Erhardt, Small Ruminant Specialist, Michigan State University.  Dr. Eharhardt will be discussing several health preventative programs as they relate the health maintenance of the small ruminant animal.  We will be offering other topic areas and speakers as well that should be of interest to our sheep and goat producers as well.  Speakers such as Dr. Dale Duerr, DVM from Tuscarawas County, will discuss the “Development of a Flock and Herd Health Plan”, Dr. Bill Shulaw and Dr. Hayes, of ODA will taking a look at ewe and lamb mortality, and we are going to offer tours of the ODA facility and programs such as an update on the USDA Scrapie program..

“These are topics that make a symposium unique, it may be the only time you have a chance to see the programs and the tours of the facilities that we have planned,” states Roger A. High, Executive Director of The Ohio Sheep Improvement Association.

The Ohio Sheep Improvement Association Annual Meeting will also be held.It will be the first item on the agenda prior to the program beginning.  During the OSIA Annual meeting, the election of a new OSIA officer team will be held.

OSIA members will be receiving registration packets in early November.  Please pass the information along to other sheep producers in your area, as we would love to have another attendance breaking symposium.  We will also have the tradeshow, so if you need to purchase anything, it should be available.  And of course, the silent auction will be held to raise money for the Ralph Grimshaw Memorial Scholarship Fund.   If you would like more information about the Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium, please contact Roger A. High at (614) 246-8299 or by email at rhigh@ofbf.org.

Reproductive performance is an important factor in determining profitability in the sheep flock. Most breeds of sheep have seasonal breeding patterns and the majority of flocks in Ohio are spring lambing.  In this scenario, the peak fertility of the ewe is from late September through November.  The breeding season will extend somewhat beyond peak fertility for the late spring lambing system and begin somewhat before peak fertility for the late winter lambing system.  Some management attention given to the ewes and rams prior to the breeding season can pay dividends in terms of increased conception and lambing rate.

A primary consideration regardless of the lambing production system and timing used is nutrition of the flock.  The nutritional status of the ewe and ram at breeding is probably the primary factor that influences reproductive performance.  The nutritional status of the flock is also a factor that a flock manager has a lot of control over.  Evaluation of the body condition of the ram and ewe before breeding can tell the manager whether nutrient consumption should be increased or decreased.  Based on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being very thin and 5 being fat, the goal should be to have the ram and ewe enter the breeding season somewhere around a 3.5 body condition score.

One practice that is helpful with ewes that are below the target body condition score is to provide them with a diet high in energy that allows them to gain weight.  This practice is termed flushing and should be done 2 to 4 weeks before breeding.  The high energy diet can be provided by supplementing a high energy grain such as corn at a rate of one-half to one pound per ewe per day, or by providing a high quality pasture. Flushing can result in an increased lambing rate and a decreased number of open ewes.

One caution that is generally given if ewes are to be flushed using a high quality pasture is to keep them off pastures with a high content of legumes (clovers and alfalfa) and use grass pastures.  The reason given is that these legumes contain estrogen that leads to infertility and decreases the conception rate and pregnancy of the ewes.  Does this caution mean that ewes must graze pure grass pastures? Legumes typically help to boost the energy content of a pasture sward and generally are considered as a positive to improve pasture quality. What does high content of legumes mean?

Clovers and alfalfa contain compounds known as phytoestrogens.  In clover species the specific compounds are isoflavones.  These isoflavones exhibit estrogen like behavior in sheep, while cattle do not seem to be affected by them to the same degree.  I reviewed some of the scientific literature about this topic and it appears that sheep are more susceptible to the effects of isoflavones because as they are metabolized in cattle they are rapidly excreted in the urine, whereas in sheep they are not rapidly excreted and remain in their system longer.  In addition, the estrogen receptors in sheep appear to be more sensitive to these compounds as compared to cattle.

There are also other factors that influence the level or concentration of phytoestrogens in legumes.  The specific variety is one such factor.  Improved cultivars have been found to have lower phytoestrogen contents.  Environmental factors such as drought can increase the phytoestrogen content.  Finally, soil phosphorus levels can influence the amount of phytoestrogens in legumes.  Legumes grown in soil phosphorus deficient conditions have contained higher phytoestrogen concentrations as compared to legumes grown in non-deficient soil phosphorus conditions.

Still, the question remains, what is considered a high level of legumes with regard to this condition?  In the literature that I reviewed, the legume stands that produced a negative effect upon reproductive performance were either pure stands or predominantly legume stands.  I had a sheep farmer raise this question with me back in 2008 as he wondered about including clover in a grass pasture.  I wrote an email to Dr. Shulaw asking him about this issue.  He sent me some of the literature that I reviewed and summarized in this article and he also wrote, in part, “At this point in time, unless ewes are grazing pure stands of clover near breeding season I don’t have much evidence to make me concerned about infertility.”  As I am out and about on sheep farms and looking at pastures it is rare that I ever see a pasture that contains more than 35 to 40% clover.  The bottom line is that unless you have a pasture that is well over 50% clover, it should be fine to use in a flushing pass before the breeding season.

Some attention should also be given to the ram(s).  In addition to making sure that they are in good body condition, it is recommended that a breeding soundness exam (BSE) be conducted prior to breeding season.  The BSE consists of a physical examination, a reproductive tract examination and a semen evaluation.  Waiting until after the breeding season to discover a problem with your ram that shows up in the form of an extended lambing season or open ewes is costly.  Contact your veterinarian to schedule a BSE.  It is money well spent.

Finally, I need to close with a word about internal parasites.  One practice that use to be recommended was to deworm all the ewes and rams in the flock before the breeding season.  This practice is no longer recommended due to the resistance that parasites have developed to chemical dewormers.  Deworming all ewes and rams at one time is a method that will select for resistance.  Instead, deworm with a chemical dewormer based upon individual animal need.  This can be determined by using the FAMACHA eyelid color scoring system.  Those animals scoring a 3 or higher on this 1 to 5 scale should be dewormed with a chemical dewormer.  Animals scoring a 1 or a 2 should not be dosed with a chemical dewormer.  For more information about parasite control and use of the FAMACHA system, contact a member of the OSU Sheep Team.

The breeding season is upon the majority of flock owners in Ohio.  Some pro-active management action can insure that it is a successful and profitable breeding season.

Most know that for the past seven years, we’ve spent much time in Fairfield County investigating the virtues of oats as an annual forage when they are planted during mid to late summer, or even into early fall. While we’ve harvested from 2 to 5 tons, and consistently realized average yields of 3+ tons of dry matter from oats planted in July and August after a harvested wheat crop, it’s also apparent that yield and quality can vary greatly as planting date, nitrogen fertilization, and perhaps even oat varieties differ from each field planted.

For those looking to grow a cost-effective alternative forage crop yet this summer, and who have wheat stubble available, we offer these observations and recommendations based on experiences since 2002:

Optimum planting date for oats from the perspective of yield is the first week of August. Early August plantings also result in the highest total amount of TDN produced per acre. Later plantings will be slightly higher in quality, but not enough to offset the yield advantage of early August planting. While being more conducive to a mechanical harvest in early Fall, planting in early July reduces both yield and quality. The earlier oat plantings also exhibit more susceptibility to rust.

Regardless the planting date, or variety, no-tilled seeding rates of from 80 to 100 pounds of oats have consistently resulted in optimum forage yields.

Optimum nitrogen application rate is 40 to 50 pounds per acre. This application not only produces the highest yields, but at current values of nitrogen, it’s also the most cost effective rate. Higher rates of nitrogen actually appear to depress yields based on our 2008 plot results.

Bin run oats originating in Canada out perform, but possess similar quality at harvest as certified Armor oats.

The optimum combination of productivity and quality of August planted oats arrives 60 to 75 days after planting. Oats planted in July mature more quickly and thus, rapidly decline in quality beginning 50 to 60 days after planting.

Oats harvested 50-60 days after planting and while still in the boot stage of maturity will offer regrowth that may be grazed or sometimes even mechanically harvested a second time.

A weed control application of glyphosate is a necessary and cost effective practice prior to oat planting.

An additional advantage observed when using oats for an annual forage crop is the opportunity to capture the total tonnage produced with a single harvest cutting if grazing is not an option. It’s also important to note that the 3+ ton yields resulting from oats planted in early August after wheat and straw harvest, which have been experienced consistently in Fairfield County, exceed the average yields of the perennial hay crops produced in Fairfield County and also Ohio, on average, over the same time period.
If you’ve yet to attend any of our field days to see for yourself the results of summer seeded oats, this web link has photos and data of several of the past years’ efforts at the alternatives described above: http://beef.osu.edu/beef/graze/wntrgraz.htm.

In Ohio it is possible to graze year round. Of course grazing in winter does take planning. Summer is the best time to plan for fall and winter grazing. Why? Because many of our options have tasks associated with them in summer. By planning ahead it is possible in Ohio to have adequate quality, grazable forage for most of the winter. Depending on the class of livestock and their stage of production it is possible to need to feed for weeks in winter as opposed to months.

The cheapest option for fall grazing is crop residue, specifically corn residue. Corn residue can be an excellent grazable feed for about sixty days after the combine leaves the field. Fence and water are usually the biggest challenge to utilizing this feed resource. The variety of temporary fence and water options available can overcome that challenge. Grazing corn residue in fall can also take pressure off of your pasture fields and allow you to stockpile more forage for winter grazing. Check out the Factsheet “Grazing Corn Residue”, ANR 10-02, http://ohioline.osu.edu/anr-fact/0010.html for more information.

Stockpiling tall fescue is a relatively inexpensive option and can be done with existing pastures. To start stockpiling make the last clip or grazing anytime from the end of July through September. Generally, the earlier start the more you will have, but the lower the quality. The opposite is also true: the later you start, the higher the quality, but lower yield. After the last cut/graze add 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre. The addition of the nitrogen will add from 1000-2000 pounds of forage. If you have a large amount of clover, over 40%, then research shows little additional response to N applications for stockpiling.

After applying the nitrogen then delay grazing those fields until November through February. Quality will start to decline after Thanksgiving, but it is a slow decline. Usually the quality of stockpiled tall fescue will be still good enough for a ewe in good condition into February. Check out the Factsheet “Stockpiling Tall Fescue for Winter Grazing”, AGF-023 http://ohioline.osu.edu/agf-fact/0023.html for more information.

Orchardgrass can also be stockpiled. Research conducted at OARDC Jackson Branch showed that orchardgrass will have protein around 12% into February. Orchardgrass will weather rapidly after prolonged cold temperatures, so yields will be reduced the longer you wait to graze.

Brassicas are also options to extend the grazing season. Turnips are the most common brassica used in Ohio. Turnips can be planted from mid July through early August. Most cultivars will reach maximum yield in 90 days. To get a good crop of turnips, you need two pounds of seed and fifty pounds of nitrogen per acre. Either no-till or conventional seeding will work. The hardest part is the low seeding rate and a small seed. Mixing the seed with the fertilizer helps. Tops and bulbs can both be grazed, with the tops being the higher quality feed component. Brassicas are very low in fiber, feed low quality hay to help slow its passage through your livestock. The crop should remain available to livestock until temperatures fall below 15 degrees. Check out the Factsheet “Brassicas for Forage”, AGF-020-92 http://ohioline.osu.edu/agf-fact/0020.html for more information.

Winter rye is an option that can produce a high quality crop for grazing in December and March. It is very high in quality and will be the first to green up in the spring. This is a good option for livestock with high nutritional needs. For early spring grazing do not over-graze rye in December. Winter rye can be planted from the middle of August through the middle of September at 90-100 pounds of seed per acre. When rye is 2-4 inches tall, 50-75 pounds of nitrogen will stimulate growth and additional applications in early March will increase production. Check out the Factsheet “Winter Rye for Extending the Grazing Season”, AGF-026-00 http://ohioline.osu.edu/agf-fact/0026.html for more information.

Spring oats planted from July through September will grow more feed in the fall than winter rye but won’t have the spring growth. Optimum planting is the first week of August and you can grow an average of 6,000 pounds of dry matter per acre. Plant bin run oats originating in Canada at a rate of 80 to 100 pounds per acre. Fifty pounds of nitrogen will be beneficial. Like stockpiling tall fescue earlier planting will increase yield but quality will be lower than a later planting. The next article in this newsletter dives deeper into this option.

Standing corn can also be a viable option for winter grazing. Yes, in Ohio most people would consider this crazy. The profile of the plant and the fact that a lot of its nutritional quality will be in the grain make it an attractive option. It will be less likely to be ungrazable because of excessive snow and or ice. Of course you will need to get your ewes started on grain before grazing this crop. Research at OARDC has shown an acre of standing corn can feed 20 ewes for 70 days. Check out the Factsheet “Using Corn for Livestock Grazing”, ANR-11-02 http://ohioline.osu.edu/anr-fact/0011.html for more information.

For all of these forages the grazing management needs to include strip grazing. Strip grazing or limiting access with temporary fencing will increase utilization of the crop and decrease the amount wasted.

As a supplement to the OSU Extension fact sheets mentioned above there is also a new publication “Extending Grazing and Reducing Stored Feed Needs”, a Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Publication 8-01, available at http://forages.osu.edu/Library/ExtendingGrazing.pdf . All of the above resources are also available from your local OSU Extension offices.

Fall is one of the most crucial time periods for our cool season pastures. The most important activity a livestock producer should be doing to help the pastures survive winter and remain productive next year is to avoid over-grazing.

Why is fall a critical time for our cool season perennial forages? The grass plants in your pasture are perennial plants. They survive from year to year. One way perennial plants survive is to develop buds located at the crown of the plant and store energy in the form of carbohydrates to be used by those buds when they start growing.

Leaf tissue that grows in the fall will die over winter. Next years growth comes from the buds developed the previous fall. The buds and roots of the plant are the parts that remain as living tissues over the winter. While not growing they are respiring and burning energy. If carbohydrate reserves are not adequate then the plant can die before spring. If the plant survives but carbohydrate reserves are low, then initial spring growth is slow and the overall vigor of the plant is reduced.

In the fall, we have short day, long night periods with temperatures above freezing to about 70 degrees F. It is that combination that triggers buds to be initiated and formed on the crown of the plant. In the cooler temperatures leaf growth is slower while photosynthesis does not slow down. This increases the reserve carbohydrates in the plant, which is then used for bud and root development. In the spring new growth comes from these buds. Initial spring growth draws upon carbohydrate reserves stored in the roots and or crowns of the plants. Those buds and stored carbohydrates start next year’s growth.

Healthy leaf tissue is needed for this to happen. Overgrazing removes too much leaf tissue. A grass plant with too little leaf area after grazing has to use carbohydrate reserves from the roots to re-grow. If the plant does not grow enough leaf tissue to gain carbohydrates before it is grazed again then the plant will continue to deplete its carbohydrate reserves. In fall the growing season will eventually come to an end and the plant will not have a chance to recover. Plants struggling to grow leaves will not develop buds. Overgrazed pastures that go into the winter with low carbohydrate reserves are very slow to green up in the spring and exhibit slow growth rates once they do green up.

Overgrazing is not caused by having too many animals in a field. It occurs when you keep animals in a field too long or bring the animals back before the forages have recovered. The length of time is determined by plant growth and how much is there at the start of grazing. The animals should be removed before plants they initially grazed start to re-grow. They also should be removed before they eat all of the leaves. Viable leaves need to remain after the plants are grazed. Plants should also be given enough rest between grazing events. This will allow enough leaf area to be re-grown before the animals are allowed to graze that field again.

Overgrazing can be avoided by paying attention to forage residual, grazing time and rest. You should leave at least 1200-1500 lbs. of DM per acre or 2-3″ of green forage when you pull animals from a field. You should remove the animals before the forage starts to re-grow. The pasture should recover to above 2400 lbs. of DM acre or 6-8″ before turning the animals into a field.

As I begin to embark on this subject, I can’t help but think I should have changed the title to, “Where are the resources available to improve your sheep operation?” Maybe I should begin by explaining what type of resource I am talking about. Natural resources are well, natural if you will. Financial resources come in many shapes. I suppose most people would consider a financial resource as a bank or a lending institution, I know my children would place me in this category, as well I as did my father when I was a youngster. Some would consider a financial resource as an investor or a broker which puzzles me a little, why do we call the person we invest and entrust with our money a “broker”? Shouldn’t they be called a multiplier? Anyway, I feel the most important resource to improve your sheep operation comes from other sheep producers. Whether it is at an official meeting, evening educational program or at Ohio Sheep Day, one cannot under estimate the value of talking with other like minded producers.

One thing that comes to mind when I mention the value of these programs is the efforts of Ohio Sheep Improvement Association (OSIA). This organization is the united voice of all Ohio Shepherds whether it be club lamb, purebred, commercial, breeding stock, or lamb feeder. Without the Ohio Sheep Improvement Association, there would be no legislative voice for Ohio sheep producers, no Buckeye Shepherd Symposium, and without this organizations’ financial support, it would be difficult for OSU Extension to have Ohio Sheep Day and the District programs that take place around the state during the winter.

There are many levels of resources available to Ohio shepherds that are in place because of Ohio Sheep Improvements Association (OSIA). There is $1,000.00 of scholarship funds available yearly through the Ralph Grimshaw scholarship program. There is support for our Ohio youth by working with the Ohio FFA Foundation to sponsor the Ohio FFA Sheep Proficiency award. Educational programs such as Ohio Sheep Day, Buckeye Shepherd Symposium, District programs, Make It with Wool contest, The Ohio Sheep Producer newsletter, ASI newsletters, the list goes on with much, much more. And you, as an Ohio Shepherd can tap into these resources by joining Ohio Sheep Improvement Association to help make sure they are here for our future. For a small fee of $30.00 for individual, or $35.00 for a farm membership you get all these benefits listed plus reduced fees to participate in educational programs. Members also receive membership to The American Sheep Industry as well when joining OSIA.

Last, but certainly not least is the positive impacts OSIA has through legislative work at the state and national level to help protect our industry from special interest groups seeking to take sound, scientific backed management practices away from shepherds. Legislative work is funded and backed by membership numbers within OSIA. Two things have an impact when talking with legislators, financial impact on the area represented by them as well as how many people (potential voters) are being represented by the association. It dose not matter if you have 5 or 500 head (remember the average size flock in Ohio is about 26 head!). OSIA is there to represent you but we need your membership to do that. This is where you come into the picture by joining to help OSIA represent all sheep producers in Ohio.

Visit our web site at www.ohiosheep.org or call The OSIA at 1-614-246-8293 to join. If you join by April 20th you/your farm will be represented in our member directory for free that is distributed to all members in OSIA. Please help the Ohio Sheep Industry and do your duty as a shepherd to help protect your flock by joining today.

The Ohio Sheep Improvement Association
280 N. High St.
Columbus Ohio 43218
1-614-246-8293

Bill and Susan Shultz will be scanning their 2009 lamb crop on Friday, June 20, 2009 at their farm in DeGraff, Ohio. They have contracted with Bonnie Bradford, a skilled technician, to do the scanning of loin eye and back fat as she has done the past three years for the Shultz’s.

For any sheep breeder who is interested in scanning their lambs, the Shultz’s are willing for you to bring your lambs to their farm during the late morning on the 20th. Due to health concerns all lambs will need to be unloaded, processed and reloaded onto the truck or trailer as there will be no penning of animals at the site. The procedure for scanning is that a weighing scale will be available, and personnel will be available to shear each lamb between the 12th and 13th rib to provide adequate contact for the scanner. Bonnie charges $5.00 per head for scanning. For best results, lambs should weigh between 120 and 180 pounds.

If you are interested in scanning lambs please contact Bill or Susan at bunkerhillfarm@gmail.com and they will schedule you in for the morning of June 20th.

The time of year is quickly approaching when keeping pasture plants in a vegetative state is probably the hardest for forage producers. Managing pasture growth early in the growing season is important to maintain high quality and high quantity forage production throughout the spring, summer and fall. A “spring flush” occurs in cool season grasses because the optimum temperature for growth occurs and the most important nutrient, water, is readily available. Growth distribution of cool season grasses and most legumes are greatest in the spring when air temperatures are 70-85 degrees.

Start moving animals through your first paddocks when soil conditions permit and the plants are a few inches tall. Rotate livestock through paddocks or fields at a pace which gives them just enough time to graze the tops off the forage. Move on to the next field and let livestock graze the same way. This will help stagger forage growth, keep more plants in a vegetative state and reduce seed head formation as the season progresses. This is a good strategy, but being able to keep ahead of grass growth when the temperatures warm and the growth explosion occurs is easier to say than it is to do.

In the first rotation each spring livestock preferences are not very noticeable, but as grasses and legumes grow, livestock preferences for certain forages begin to show and uneven grazing patterns appear. Problems arise in many paddocks across Ohio because fescue is mixed with orchardgrass, bluegrass, ryegrass and clovers. If allowed, cattle will eat other grasses and clovers to the ground and leave the fescue standing. Using heavy stocking density on small paddocks at this time may help, but moving livestock frequently will be necessary to make this approach work. After the first or second week of May, in our area, if you have fescue plants that have been refused to this point, they will not likely be grazed in the next rotation or in the remainder of the summer rotations. If large amounts of un-grazed fescue persist in the paddock, clipping or bush-hogging should be considered as an option. This will stop seed-head production, reduce shading of other plants and may allow more favorable grass/legume growth in the paddock. Remember, taking proper care of the forage plants is the key to high quantity and high quality forage production throughout the year.

Soil that is too wet can complicate grazing management too. When livestock repeatedly trample wet soil, the soil aggregates are broken down, and air spaces in the soil are reduced. This process is called pugging. Care should be taken so pugging does not take place over large portions of your grazing area. Severe pugging can decrease forage growth for weeks, maybe months, so fencing livestock onto a heavy use pad or using a smaller sacrifice area to feed hay in, may be the best option if conditions like this exist. Paddocks that are well drained or those that are predominantly fescue are good choices to use early. If minor pugging does occur, plant production will not decline very much. It may even boost production of clovers because opening the soil can stimulate new plant growth if viable clover seeds are present.

Forages in early spring pastures are extremely lush. Plant material is only about 15% dry matter while crude protein is generally high, possibly 25-30%. Hay or supplemental feed should still be provided during the early rotations to be sure adequate dry matter is in the animal’s diet. Cattle producers, be sure to supply free choice mineral mixtures with adequate amounts of magnesium (12-14% Mg in the mineral mix) at this time of year and move the minerals along to each new paddock. This reduces chances of grass tetany in livestock that are grazing fast growing grass-dominated paddocks.

As rotations continue into mid and late May, more volume of forage should be growing in each paddock. Cool season grasses attempt to reproduce in the spring by shooting seed heads. If plants are allowed to flower and set seed, the quality of forage and production may be greatly decreased the remainder of the growing season. Regulating livestock consumption in each paddock to keep grass in a vegetative state should be the manager’s objective.

If legumes are the predominant species in a paddock, do not turn livestock into the forage while plants are wet. Bloat may occur. Wait until the surface moisture dries and feed hay before livestock enter these paddocks to reduce chances of bloat.

It is important to look ahead and monitor forage growth in your paddocks. Often, livestock cannot utilize all the grass produced in each paddock by the second or third rotation; therefore as a manager we must make decisions of how to handle the excess grass growth. What should we do if we have extra grass accumulating in the next paddocks? Selected paddocks could be made into hay and those paddocks brought back into the rotation later, but the grass should really be cut no later than the boot stage to keep these plants in a vegetative growing state. The problem with this strategy is, if we mow paddocks when we should, to keep plants in their maximum vegetative stage, (mid May) we usually cannot get the grass dry to make the hay. Clipping or bush-hogging some forage a few days apart in early May could be advantageous, even if it cannot be baled for hay. This will keep plants vegetative and highly productive so uninterrupted rotations can continue the next time around.

Many managers do however, leave those unneeded paddocks grow until haymaking weather arrives, usually June, and then make the hay from the forage that was not needed or could not be grazed at the proper height/stage. Be careful not to set aside too many paddocks if you choose this method because you may find yourself in a deficit situation for forage the correct grazing height as you make your next rotation in late June. Re-growth from set aside fields may not be ready to graze again until mid July depending on temperatures and moisture availability.

Wise use of fertilizer in the spring is also an important part of pasture growth management. Do not heavily fertilize all of your pastures early in the spring. If you need more pasture early, only fertilize a few of your paddocks. Late May or early June is a better time for fertilization. This will have several benefits. First, you are not adding to the excess growth problem most managers have in the spring. Second, you will be feeding the forage plants at a time before warmer and dryer weather is about to begin. The plants can use the nutrients at this time to maximize productivity before the “summer slump” occurs in late July and August. This provides additional growth at a time when it will be needed by the livestock and quality of this forage should still be very high. The type of forage and amount of forage produced in your paddocks is directly related to your pasture management practices.

Look at your paddocks and project in your mind what you think they will look like 2-3 weeks in the future based on the growing conditions. Then match your projected growth with what you actually observe at that later date. Doing this on a regular basis throughout different stages of the growing season helps one become a better grass manager.

Summary: If we use our livestock to harvest the forage we want them to harvest, at the time it needs to be harvested, better forage quality will be produced and greater quantity can be generated. The plants, the animals and you will be rewarded for properly managing the “spring flush”.

It is amazing that graziers say their focus is on the forage but they don’t measure it.
Most graziers use measurements related to animal production, like the reading from the bulk tank or the weight of animals on the auction sale receipt. These are good items to keep track of because they relate directly to income but they are not timely enough to help graziers make grazing decisions in their operations.

Measuring and recording the forage performance can be useful in making several grazing decisions. Of course the measurements you take should be in the context of the objectives and goals of your operation. Taking measurements just as an exercise makes no sense. Taking measurements that relate back to your objectives and goals can help you monitor progress and improve your operation.

There are lots of ways to measure forage such as, pasture sticks, falling plate meters, rising plate meters, electric pasture probes, and even the tedious method of cutting. With little expense, graziers can consistently determine how much forage is available by simply walking their paddocks.

One problem with measuring forage is that it is a dynamic, living community of plants that is highly variable. To overcome the variability, many samples must be taken in order to accurately estimate how much forage is there. This can be time consuming and tedious. Usually 20-30 samples are recommended per pasture or paddock. The second problem is that the amount of forage available is always changing; animals are consuming leaves and plants are growing. To account for this constant change, measurements need to be taken on a regular basis, usually every seven to ten days.

The most accurate method used to determine the amount of forage available is cutting. Cutting is simply to take a known area, usually a one or two foot square, cut all of the forage in that area, dry it down completely, weigh the sample and convert it to pounds of dry matter per acre. Taking samples in this manner does take time. Most people use it to calibrate some other faster method of measurement. In managing your operation, accuracy is not as important as consistency. Faster methods can give consistent and fairly accurate results.

The easiest measurement of forage we can do is height. There seems to be some common confusion about using plant height to measure forage. Do livestock eat inches of forage or do they eat pounds of forage? Actually they eat pounds. To make it simpler, we take water out of the equation and say pounds of dry matter. Since the primary function of forage is to be used as feed, then converting its measurement into feed terms makes sense.

Two factsheets from West Virginia University; A Falling Plate Meter for Estimating Pasture Forage Mass and Estimating Pasture Forage Mass from Pasture Height are good references for graziers on measuring forages. Rayburn & Lozier do a good job of discussing using a ruler, a falling plate meter and a rising plate meter. (http://www.caf.wvu.edu/~forage/foragelstcenter.htm) Any of those tools could easily give you consistent information that is accurate enough to use in your management.

If you make time to determine average pounds of dry matter per acre for each paddock once a week, it would reward you with huge dividends. It will tell you how much forage you have in each paddock, which in itself is useful information. You will quickly see which paddocks need to be grazed next. If growth has stopped, you can quickly calculate how many days of forage you have left to graze.

Doing it on a weekly basis also allows you to calculate more useful information. Two consecutive weekly measurements can be used to calculate how fast the forage is growing. You can determine if you to a need to change your management because growth has either increased or decreased. Looking at a years worth of data you could calculate how much forage you actually grew and if you can carry more animals. It can help you identify the top yielding paddocks and the lowest yielding paddocks. You can determine ways to make the lower yielding paddocks produce more. Using measurements next year will help you determine if what you tried actually worked.

Measuring pastures and using the data is not the most exciting topic in grazing management. But it is one of that will make you effective in your management.

In the previous article we described the basic signs and causes of mastitis in ewes. Mastitis caused by bacteria can be acute or chronic. Acute mastitis often results in obvious signs in the ewe such as being off feed, feverish, and depressed along with changes in the milk. Chronic bacterial mastitis may not result in obvious signs or changes in the milk but may lead to loss of secretory tissue and scarring in the udder with reduced milk production. We also discussed the so-called “hard bag” syndrome caused by the virus that is considered the cause of ovine progressive pneumonia (OPP). In this syndrome, the ewe is often not visibly ill and the producer may not realize that she doesn’t have much milk until the lamb(s) is starving or grow(s) poorly. A common characteristic of flocks that are infected with the OPP virus is the presence of excessive numbers of orphan lambs.

It is not always easy to determine whether ewes that don’t seem to have enough milk have nutritional problems, chronic bacterial mastitis, OPP, or some other condition. Generally speaking, when several ewes in the flock that appear to be healthy, well fed, and in good body condition have firm or swollen udders and unthrifty lambs, mastitis should be suspected. Bacterial mastitis often affects only one half of the udder, although both halves can be affected. The milk may be off-colored and have flakes, but it may appear normal. The udder may or may not be swollen or hot.

If the OPP virus is the primary cause of a firm, swollen udder, both halves are usually affected. The udder is not hot to the touch, and it may not be really hard. Often it may actually appear normal, but there is very little milk in the udder. The ewe often has no signs of illness.

When more than the occasional ewe seems to be milking poorly, udder problems are suspected, or too many lambs are starving or unthrifty, it is time for some diagnostic work and help from your veterinarian. This situation is a flock problem, and examining several ewes is most helpful in determining what the problem might be. Laboratory culture of milk samples from typical ewes is useful in determining whether bacterial mastitis is present. Staphylococcus infections in sheep seem to be the most common bacterial cause of chronic mastitis and udder damage leading to reduced milk production.

Infections during the dry period can cause damage to the udder, and frequently the bacteria are gone by lambing. If typical bacteria are isolated from milk samples from several ewes, it may indicate that the primary problem is bacterial. Often these result from unsanitary environmental conditions where the ewes are housed or damage to teat ends from trauma or soremouth (orf) virus. Damage to the teat end makes it easier for bacteria to get into the udder to cause mastitis. Improving the sanitation in the ewes’ environment and careful management of their nutrition at weaning time can reduce this problem. Treatment of the udder at dry off with dairy cow mastitis preparations has been used on some farms. However, there are no FDA-approved products for sheep, and this practice can result in drug residues. It should only be done in consultation with a veterinarian. Lastly, it is questionable whether this practice can be economically justified as a routine practice.

While sampling the ewes for bacterial mastitis, it is usually a good idea to collect blood samples for testing for OPP virus infection. As this blood test detects antibodies to the virus in the blood, it can tell us whether the ewe is infected. Because infected ewes are infected for life, the presence of test-positive ewes indicates the virus is present in that ewe and on the farm. However, a positive blood test does not tell us that the firm udder we are seeing has been caused by the OPP virus. It only indicates the infection is present, but infected ewes in an infected flock often have no visible signs. If most ewes with hard udders are test-positive for the OPP virus and few of them have bacteria in the milk, it is very likely that OPP virus is the culprit. In many flocks, a close inspection of the flock will reveal other signs of the presence of OPP virus. These include thin ewes that tire easily and ewes with swollen, painful joints.

We have used another technique to help determine whether these udder problems are caused by the OPP virus. Your veterinarian can use a biopsy tool (we use the TruCut biopsy needle) to get a sample of udder tissue. This sample can be placed in formaldehyde and sent to a laboratory where it can be microscopically examined for changes that are characteristic of the OPP virus infection. The ewe’s teat should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and the biopsy needle can be inserted through the teat canal and on into the udder tissue for taking the sample. A sample from a single ewe may not be diagnostic of the flock problem, but samples from several ewes will usually provide evidence for OPP infection as the cause of “hard bag” if the virus is present. Often a problem flock will have several cull ewes that have had these udder problems and which can be sampled.

It is possible to find both bacterial mastitis and OPP virus infections in the same flock; perhaps even in the same udder. However, if enough samples are taken it is usually possible to sort out the real troublemaker. In assisting several veterinarians working with flocks with hard udder problems, we have frequently observed the following when OPP virus is the main problem: high rates of test-positive ewes on random sampling – usually 60% of ewes or higher; microscopic changes in udder tissue that are compatible with OPP virus infection; and the presence of other signs of OPP virus infection such as some thin ewes and some cases of swollen, arthritic joints. Post mortem examination of some of these cull ewes may provide additional evidence for OPP virus infection.