Episode 13- #1 Spring Grazing Mistake That Could Cost You All Season

Spring is here, the pastures are greening up, and you’re eager to get your livestock off hay and onto fresh grass. But before you open that gate—wait.

Grazing too soon is the #1 mistake ranchers make in the spring, and it could cost you all season. If you graze before your pastures are truly ready, you:
❌ Deplete root energy reserves, weakening plant recovery
❌ Reduce total forage production, forcing you to buy more hay later
❌ Decrease drought resilience, leading to pasture decline over time

So how do you know when your land is ready to graze? In this episode, we break down:
✔️ How grasses actually grow & why early grazing weakens them
✔️ What happens below the surface when you graze too soon
✔️ How to determine the right time to graze (without relying on a calendar)

👉 By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly what to look for to avoid overgrazing this spring—so you can set your pastures up for long-term success.

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Transcript

Christine Martin: 0:00

Welcome to the Regenerative Agriculture Thriving as a Modern Rancher, the podcast for ranchers and land stewards looking to build healthy land, profitable businesses, and a fulfilling life. Join us as we explore regenerative practices and holistic management to help you thrive in today's ranching world.

Christine: 0:20

Hello, spring is here. Pastures are greening up and we want to put the cattle onto that new grass, but don't do it. This is the number one mistake many ranchers do in the springtime that affects the rest of the growing season. If you do, you weaken your pasture's productivity and drought resilience, and it might cost you in having to purchase hay later on. In this episode, I'm gonna discuss what happens when you graze that new spring growth too soon and how it will affect your pasture's productivity. and likely your profitability. Let's dive in. By grazing too soon you are overgrazing the grass plants. By overgrazing, I mean a plant that is bitten in the growing season before it has had time to re establish leaves and root reserves. If graced too soon, the plant uses up stored energy without replenishing that energy, leading to weakened plants, reduced forage production, and the possibility of plant death. To understand why this is a problem, let's review how a grass plant functions. A grass plant is made up of two major components. The leaf area above ground that acts as solar panels capturing solar energy and photosynthesizing carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbohydrates that produce energy and provide nutrients to the living organisms. The roots below ground play a crucial role in the storage of energy and the movement of water and nutrients to support the grass plant. Grazing the green leaves reduces the volume of solar panels, which reduces energy production. In the growing season, the plant's first priority is to grow more leaves first. Using the stored carbohydrates in the roots and crown to provide the missing energy caused by the reduction of photosynthesis, the roots mobilize the energy to stimulate leaf growth. The resulting root die off feeds soil microbes, stimulating biological activity that releases nutrients into the soil. Once the green leaves begin to grow, Then there's an increase in solar panels, allowing for more photosynthesis capacity, producing more energy to support root growth. In the springtime, as soil temperatures warm up, where cool season grasses start growing at 40 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and warm season grasses start growing at 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the spring growth relies completely on root energy reserves. During dormancy, the grasses store those carbohydrates, that energy, in the roots and the crowns of the plants. When the conditions are right, soil temperatures warming up, and longer days, the plant mobilizing these root reserves to initiate early leaf and shoot growth before photosynthesis is fully active. And then as longer days start occurring, plants receive more sunlight. increasing photosynthesis. This signals grasses to begin leaf elongation and canopy extension. When we graze too soon, we deplete root energy reserves. In early spring, as I said, grasses rely on stored carbohydrates in the roots and crown to push out new leaves. If we graze too soon, the plant cannot restore these reserves, leading to weaker regrowth. Grazing too soon also stunts root growth and reduces water uptake. The first leaves that emerge in spring fuel new root growth. If these are removed too soon, the plant prioritizes regrowing leaves instead of expanding its roots. A shallow or weak root system develops, reducing water and nutrient absorption, and in dry periods, these plants will struggle to survive, even if soil moisture is available deeper in the profile. Grazing too soon also weakens plant structure and density, as it removes the first flush of photosynthetic material, slowing down plant development. With insufficient leaf area, that plant struggles to regrow efficiently and thicken its stand, leading to patchy pastures, meaning there's a lot more bare soil between the grass plant. Over time, plant density declines, creating bare soil, which invites weeds and erosion and degrades fundamental ecosystem function. Grazing too soon also encourages weed invasion. That early grazing weakens desirable grasses, allowing for weeds to come in to take their place, as weeds are Mother Nature's first line of defense to cover herself. Grazing too soon also reduces the total forage production for the year. Early grazing shortens the vegetative phase of the plant growth, reducing leaf area available for photosynthesis. This produces less energy, which lowers overall growth potential throughout the growing season. A pasture graze too early in spring can produce up to 50 percent less forage. over the full season. Grazing too soon also weakens soil moisture retention and the resilience to drought. Deep roots help build organic matter, which improves water infiltration and retention. Early grazing stunts that root development, so less organic matter is added to the soil. This then leads soil to hold less moisture, making pastures dry out faster. In the drought period, and less soil cover from weak plants exposes the ground to evaporation, worsening moisture loss. Plants weakened in the spring are more likely to die off in a drought, leading to shrinking plant stands, leaving bare soil exposed, increased erosion when rain comes, and a lower carrying capacity, meaning fewer animals can be supported per acre. So how can we graze smarter? We need to honor nature's operating system by allowing for adequate growth and recovery after grazing. So that the roots and energy can be replenished before grazing. Now how can you tell whether your pasture is ready to graze? The first thing you need to know is you need to understand the plant species that you have in your pastures. Do you have cool season grasses or do you have warm season grasses? Cool season grasses, as I said earlier in the episode, start growing when the soil temperature is between 40 to 50 degrees. 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Examples of a cool season grass are orchard grass, tall fescue, barley grass, and rye grass. Warm season grasses grow when soil temperatures are around 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. An example of those are little bluestem, switchgrass, Indian grass, Bermuda grass, Sudan, and sorghum. You also need to understand if your grasses are sod forming rhisome, stolen root grasses. Example of those are Bermuda, Kentucky bluegrass, and smooth brome. Or whether they're a bunch, deep fibrous rooted grasses. Example of those big bluestem, little bluestem, Indian grass, and orchard grass. By determining what plant species you have, you have a better understanding of the species growth pattern to determine its vegetative phase, which is the ideal grazing period. You also have a better understanding of the root structure in your pastures, which will help you determine when the pasture is ready to graze. A simple test to determine if your pastures are ready to graze is the pull test. If a plant pulls out easily. roots aren't strong enough yet for grazing. Another consideration to determine whether your pasture is ready to graze is determining the root condition given previous grazing management. As root health directly influences how quickly plants can regrow in the spring. if previous grazing management. led to overgrazed plants at the end of the growing season and then you fed hay during the dormant season, you'll need to allow for more time for the above ground solar panels and below ground roots to develop as you're likely starting with little residual leaves above ground and a small root system below ground. If previous grazing management was a severe grazing of stockpiled forage during the dormant season, you'll need to allow for less time than the Previous situation, but you'll need to allow time for the grass leaves to grow enough to maximize photosynthesis as little residue is available to jumpstart that photosynthesis. Management was topping off stockpiled forage during the dormant season, you'll need to consider how much residual canopy is preventing new grass growth and allow time for the new grass leaves to maximize photosynthesis. If residual is too thick, it can shade out new growth, delaying warm season grasses. The last consideration you need to keep in mind to determine if your pasture is ready to graze are your goals for your pastures. You must manage for what you want. If your goal for your pastures is to transition the pastures from annual grasses to perennial grasses. If your goal for your pastures is to transition from rhizome stolen grasses to bunch grasses. If your goal for your pastures is to remediate or regenerate some ecosystem functions. or to solve for erosion or any other landscape considerations. When to start grazing, your pastures will be determined by these goals. If you've noticed, I have not been very specific or given you a recipe for you to determine when your pastures are ready to graze. Because the real answer is, it depends. It depends on your goals for your pastures. It depends on the plant species of your pastures. It depends on the health of your pastures. It depends on your previous grazing management.

11:51

All of these considerations need to be taken into account and you'll be the best person to determine when is the best time to graze.

Christine: 12:00

The one thing that I want to remind you is that when we are working with nature and we're in relationship with nature, stewardship is a long game and more often than not, that patience pays off nature is designed for resilience, but only if we allow it to function properly when we graze too soon. We interrupt that natural recovery cycle and the consequences build up over time. Plants need time to rebuild energy reserves. Root system is the foundation of pasture health. We should not be managing for what is happening above ground. We should be managing for what's happening below ground. Grazing isn't just about putting animals in a pasture. It's about knowing when, where, and how long they should be there to create a win win for both the land and your livestock. Grazing should be a tool, not just a practice. How you manage your animals is a tool to help improve ecosystem functions to help shift the pastures to the goals that you want for those pastures. And observation is key. You must learn how to read your land, reading the plants that are growing. noticing the shift in the species that are growing and adjust your management accordingly. And we have to remember that in all of our management, we have to think beyond the short term fixes. What we're doing today. Has long term consequences. So we have to make sure that when we make any management decision, we consider those long term consequences and our long term goals when we work with nature. When we align ourselves to the natural recovery cycle, we end up with higher total forage production. We end up having to spend less money on input We improve drought resilience, and we also improve animal health and weight gain. Grazing intentionally means understanding that every decision you make today impacts the land, the livestock, and the profitability for the seasons to come. So before you open that gate this spring, take a step back, observe your pastures, look at plant regrowth stages, check root development, and make sure your land is actually ready. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd be ever so grateful if you left a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your feedback helps me bring you more of the content you love and helps others discover the show. And if this episode gave you something to think about, share it with a fellow rancher or land steward who could use this insight. Just take a screenshot, post it to your stories and tag me on Instagram at Regen Ranch Consulting so I can reshare.

Christine Martin: 15:14

Thanks for listening to Regenerative Agriculture, Thriving as a Modern Rancher. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe, share with fellow ranchers, and leave a review. Together we can regenerate our lands, our profits, and our lives. Until next time, keep thriving.