# Remedy for overgrazed pastures



## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

My horse pastures (which total about 3 acres) have gotten pretty overgrazed in the center areas. I tested the soil last year, it was pretty depleted but I did give it heavy application of dairy manure afterwards. This spring the grass is being real slow to take off. Would it jump start it if I gave it some urea?


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

As a student of Management Intensive Grazing, i would say there’s no excuse to overgraze anything. Also being a student of real life, I know it happens. Urea would give a little boost, but the best is multiple applications of nutrients a year and to give it some rest. What did the soil test look like? If deficient in some areas and high in other areas, that shot of urea and dairy manure could be tied up and not available for the grass to ise


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

12-24-24 is a bagged fertilizer that many places carry and it is a good boost for areas you described if you have a cyclone spreader.

Regards, Mike


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## Palmettokat (Jul 10, 2017)

Would dairy manure, in the amount you applied, supply all the nutrients the soil test showed it low in? If not the first thing I would do was bring the lows ones up.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

With the cool, late spring we've had, I wouldn't worry too much yet. A lot depends on the type of grass and if there is any root damage.

I hit mine with the same mix I use on my OG fields--150 lbs urea, 70 lbs MESZ, 220 lbs potash per acre.

Ralph


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

rjmoses said:


> With the cool, late spring we've had, I wouldn't worry too much yet. A lot depends on the type of grass and if there is any root damage.
> 
> I hit mine with the same mix I use on my OG fields--150 lbs urea, 70 lbs MESZ, 220 lbs potash per acre.
> 
> Ralph


Everything else is taking off though which is why I'm thinking about it. My Hay fields are humming along.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Last year we had record rainfall. Some areas needing reseeded. Do you have a stand. If there's nothing there nothing will grow but weeds


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Have you thought about rotational grazing? Eg bust up your pasture into small paddocks, with only one that is over-grazed.

Larry


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

r82230 said:


> Have you thought about rotational grazing? Eg bust up your pasture into small paddocks, with only one that is over-grazed.
> 
> Larry


 I actually have 3 pastures I rotate the horses through. But what happens, because horses are fickle animals, is they crap in the grass around the edges of the pasture. But then they don't eat that, probably for the same reason you don't eat in the bathroom. So they stick to the stuff in the middle and really go to town on it. In the summer, I'll keep them in a pasture for several days to a week at a time before they get moved to a different pasture. But what happens is fall comes, the grass growth slows down, I get greedy and want to string them along as much as I can on pasture so I can feed less hay (and have more to sell).


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Hayjosh said:


> I actually have 3 pastures I rotate the horses through. But what happens, because horses are fickle animals, is they crap in the grass around the edges of the pasture. But then they don't eat that, probably for the same reason you don't eat in the bathroom. So they stick to the stuff in the middle and really go to town on it. In the summer, I'll keep them in a pasture for several days to a week at a time before they get moved to a different pasture. But what happens is fall comes, the grass growth slows down, I get greedy and want to string them along as much as I can on pasture so I can feed less hay (and have more to sell).


That's where Management Intensive Grazing comes into play. Not sure on specifics for horses as far as daily requirements, but a few Tredaline posts, a spool of electric ribbon and give them just enough pasture that they clean it all up before moving to a new paddock. Couple hundred bucks and you could have enough rotating paddocks that they always have new growth and you'll stockpile more hay.


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## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

Buy one of those poop vaccums lmao


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

stack em up said:


> That's where Management Intensive Grazing comes into play. Not sure on specifics for horses as far as daily requirements, but a few Tredaline posts, a spool of electric ribbon and give them just enough pasture that they clean it all up before moving to a new paddock. Couple hundred bucks and you could have enough rotating paddocks that they always have new growth and you'll stockpile more hay.


That's exactly how I used to do it, and it works really well. The problem was they were always breaking it down and it was always a constant effort for me to keep up with moving the fences around and I'd get behind. Cattle are pretty respectful of those fences but horses like to use them as belly scratchers.


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## Draft Horse Hay (May 15, 2014)

How far down do you graze before moving on? How much do you leave going into winter? As I recall 4 inches was a number suggested or else you run the risk of depleting reserves in the plant and losing some of them. Also - what grass species do you have? Some (rye grasses for example) are easily established but short-lived especially under heavy pressure.

I'm with you on the horses, fences and grazing headache. I have some draft dinosaurs that will crush anything not electrified at a high level and they have one who is the designated fence tester who checks regularly to see if current is still high enough. Gotta love 'em.


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## Draft Horse Hay (May 15, 2014)

stack em up said:


> That's where Management Intensive Grazing comes into play. Not sure on specifics for horses as far as daily requirements, but a few Tredaline posts, a spool of electric ribbon and give them just enough pasture that they clean it all up before moving to a new paddock. Couple hundred bucks and you could have enough rotating paddocks that they always have new growth and you'll stockpile more hay.


 Going back a bit here but I wanted to also point out that in some places (here in the west) tread in posts, moveable netting etc become a booger to move once the ground dries out. The spikes don't pull out easily and will even bend when trying to step them in as you move your fence. Pretty sad when you have to take the cordless drill to make pilot holes for you portable fence posts.


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## SwingOak (May 19, 2014)

I try to give a pasture two days recovery for every day of grazing with my horses. It doesn't always work that way, and when grass is grazed so short they damage the crown the only option is to reseed. I also drag once a week to break up and scatter the poop and mow with a flail mower every 2-3 weeks, which also does a great job breaking up the poop.

If you have a horse on a pasture every single day they will eat the parts they like best, and overgraze those favorite places while ignoring the rest, which you've obviously noticed! They don't like to eat where they poop either. Different horses have different tastes, so I like to rotate different groups of horses through the same pasture. Horses are creatures of habit, but they all have different habits. So I try to break the cycle as much as I can.


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## Draft Horse Hay (May 15, 2014)

Horses will continue to graze the regrowth from the plants they already grazed down and leave the more mature stuff alone IF they have a choice. Cattle and sheep etc will do the same thing. They eat the really tasty young grasses and keep on them as they regrow --- so you end up with the patchwork of overgrazed spots and underutilized stuff they should have eaten and you now have to clip/mow.

That's where the MIG strategy comes into play. YOU decide what they get access to and when so their selectivity gets negated. Essentially you're keeping the stocking density high by limiting the area available to X number of animals. I've heard it called "sweep grazing" and other terms. We called it carpet bombing and you'd see cattle bunched in as if they were getting grouped up to transport. No room for being picky there. Leave for 7 days. Rest for 30. Go back for 5 days. Rest again for 30. Get 3 days more before season ends. Pasture looked way better than our other ones where we were doing continuous v rotational grazing at "high" and "low" stocking rates.


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