Forage Management

Learn to Effectively Manage Forage Resources

• On farms or in natural landscapes.
• For both livestock and other animals.
• To maintain sustainability of landscapes.

Forage resources are essential food sources for many species of livestock and wild animals. They include a variety of plant materials and species and require efficient management to ensure continued health, availability, robustness and sustainability. 

This is an experiential learning-based course. Throughout your studies you will have the opportunity to network with and learn from a variety of industry professionals. Establishing real-world relationships and confidence is key to career success. 

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Scope and Nature of Forage Resources
   • Introduction
   • Terminology
   • Types of Forage
   • Types of Forage Lands
   • What different Animals Eat - Avian, Monogastric, Ruminants, Pseudo Ruminant
   • Managing Forage Ecosystems
   • Over grazing
   • Continuous vs Rotational Grazing
   • Ecosystem Health
   • Weed Types
   • Weed Populations
2. Grassland Species and Ecosystems
   • Different Ways to Feed Animals
   • Different Fodder Systems
   • Different Fodder Plants - grasses, legumes, roots, wildflowers, forbs
3. Fodder Trees & Shrubs
   • Definitions
   • Advantages & Disadvantages of Fodder Trees
   • Using Fodder Trees
   • Harvesting Foliage - pollarding, coppicing, browse blocks, leaf fall, silvopasture systems
   • Criteria for plant selection
   • Financial considerations
   • Considering Tree Species - Acacias, Bamboos, Beech, Black locust, Carob, Honey Locust, Pome Fruits and many more
4. Forage Establishment
   • Natural area Grazing
   • Seeding
   • Soil - soil biome, rhizosphere, autotoxicity
   • Weed Management
   • Biodiversity -riparian zone, birds
5. Forage Management
   • Regenerative Grazing Management
   • Improving Soil Quality
   • Strategies for Soil Improvement - crop rotation, tillage, zero tillage, fertility testing, soil compaction, soil cover
   • Fertiliser Management
   • NPK
   • Using Legumes
   • Irrigation Management
   • Animal Management
   • Animal Access Management - hedges, wire, barbed wire, electric fence, stone walls, banks/rises, gates, digital fencing tech.
   • Controlled Burning
   • Pest and Disease Management
6. Forage Quality and Use
   • Understanding Quality - palatability, intake, digestibility, nutrients, anti-quality forage, animal performance.
   • Composition and Analysis- moisture content, crude protein, fibre, energy, minerals, relative feed value, etc.
   • Cutting
7. Forage (animal) related disorders
   • Recognising ill health
   • Seasonal and Conditional Disorders -bloat, acidosis, nitrate poisoning, prussic acid, grass tetany, phytoestrogens, etc.
   • Overgrazing
   • Parasites
   • Worms
   • Species Related Disorders - fescue toxicosis, endophyte toxins, ryegrass staggers, anti-quality components, phenolic compounds.
   • Seasonal and Conditional Disorders - plant poisoning.
   • Disorders Associated with Stored Forages
8. Preserving Forage as Hay & Silage.
   • Making Hay - curing, weather factors, etc.
   • Mowing
   • Conditioning
   • Swathe Manipulation to Speed Drying
   • Hay Storage and Preservation
   • Phases in Silage Fermentation
   • Silage Storage
   • Silage Management

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Discuss the nature and scope of forage plants eaten by animals, both in captivity and in the wild.
• Identify the comparative characteristics of grasses and other low growing fodder plants from different natural and created habitats, including grasses, legumes and forbs.
• Identify the comparative characteristics of grasses and other low growing fodder plants from different natural and created habitats including a range of trees and shrubs.
• Explain how forage plants may be established effectively in a managed pasture.
• Explain how to manage a landscape to optimise forage production in a way that is sustainable, both economically and environmentally.
• Explore factors that impact the quantity and quality of forage produced by a landscape and the effect on productivity of forage production.
• Identify common problems that can arise in livestock and other animals as a result or the forage/fodder they eat.
• Harvest and store forage plants for feeding animals after a period of storage.

Managing Forage Ecosystems

Maintenance of natural ecosystems are critical for sustainable agricultural practice, high production outputs and efficiency. Healthy ecosystems maintain natural cycles that are beneficial for agriculture such as pollination from insects, clean water, sediment control, and nutrient and waste recycling. Without these natural cycles taking place, it would be virtually impossible to create sustainable farms and fertile crops. Agricultural property and native biodiversity can coexist with effective planning and animal and landscape management.

Effective planning can be accomplished by considering and researching the following factors:

• Pasture history - Understanding previous production, soil type, weather, grazing periods, utilisation intensity and rest periods will give you a comprehensive understanding of the land capabilities and what it would be suitable to. This can help plan for animal capacity, water usage, and grazing. 

• Sustainable animal capacity - It is important to understand how the land has coped and what productivity was like previously on the land. Calculating what an appropriate number of animals for a property to support, i.e., carrying capacity, can promote sustainable and productive practices. This can help with preventing overgrazing, having substantial levels of feed, and ensuring maximum productivity of both the land and animals. It is important to remain vigilant if there are any triggers that may indicate that there are too many animals on the property.

• Grazing season - Grazing rotations, animal numbers, forage harvested, order of rotation should be planned out to assist in efficient land and animal management. 

• Tools and recording systems - Keeping a record somehow is critical to identify and address any issues in productivity or land and animal health. There are many agricultural digital tools to assist with tracking but even simpler digital tools such as excel spreadsheet or google drive is effective for staff and management to track data. 

• Flexibility - Being conscious of the fact that there are factors out of your control and can help you be prepared to combat them. It is important to have that flexibility in case there is something that does not go according to plan such as a weather event or drought. 

Avoiding Overgrazing 

Overgrazing is where animals intensively graze an area to the point of slow to no environmental recovery. Consequently, over time soil nutrient levels deplete, land structures are weakened, there is a loss of biodiversity, and increase in the likelihood of parasite ingestion. Overgrazing is common in poorly managed farms and nature reserves, deforestation, and areas where wildlife or animal’s movement may be restricted. 

Continuous grazing vs rotational grazing

There are two main types of grazing systems used to manage forage and pastures. The type which is used depends on several factors, including resources and producer goals.

Continuous Grazing 

A method of forage management where pastures are not sectioned by fences and livestock are free to graze the property for extended periods of time. This management technique is often favourable on farms with appropriate stocking density, beef cattle, dry cows, bred heifers, or when there is large forage availability with no desire to increase the livestock population. It is not suitable for livestock producing milk (dairy farms) as they often require consistent, high nutrient forages which is often not achievable on crops having little rest periods. This method is advantageous in that there is less labour, management, and expenditure on fencing or staff. Although there is less labour required, there is also less control on grazing overall. This can lead to inconsistencies in grazing intensities across the property. Continuously grazed crops do take substantially longer to recover from overgrazing or unexpected scenarios such as drought. Often, only areas and soils which can withstand high grazing pressure are also suitable for a continuous forage grazing system. 

Rotational Grazing  

Property is sectioned off into multiple paddocks where pastures are established, then exposed to livestock for feed for a set period. Once this time has elapsed the next paddock is exposed, and the previous paddock is sealed off to rest. This is a sustainable method which allows for easy stock movement, constant feed rotation while ensuring pastures are not destroyed, rather carbohydrate stores are renewed, growth is encourages and productivity is improved. It is a desirable system for most producers as they can cater it to their needs. This method is advantageous in that it allows for improved livestock productivity, milk production, manure distribution, vegetation recovery, increased farm net value, and potential reduction in machinery cost and supplementary feeding. This system is disadvantageous in that more fencing is required, paddocks must always allow livestock access to water, and more physical and time labour. To overcome this, often cattle waterers are placed in fields or piping is installed to move water to areas where it is required. However, this can be quite costly. This system relies on consistent balance between production and forage use.

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