Successful beef producers are always looking for ways to keep cattle healthy and productive without breaking the bank. Fortunately, many farms and ranches have some woodlands. For centuries, cattle have been turned out in the woods to forage or to access shelter from extreme weather. With proper management, the benefits of grazing woodlands can be maximized without damaging the value of timber.
David Mercker, a forester with the University of Tennessee Extension, sees both benefits and disadvantages to grazing woodlands.
“It all hinges on not overgrazing it,” he says. With overgrazing, soil compaction can occur, leading to an inability for the soil to absorb rain. When that happens, Mercker says, “Rather than permeating the topsoil, rainwater remains on the surface and is quickly carried off.” Soil and nutrients go with the runoff, lowering the productivity of the land and mimicking drought conditions for plants.
Overgrazing can also make conditions less desirable for wildlife, says Mercker.
“Fundamental requirements for wildlife survival include food, habitat and water. Woodland grazing affects each of these components and may reduce wildlife diversity and abundance,” he says. As with many agricultural practices, the key is planning. “Seasonal, rotational or low-intensity grazing minimizes the effect on the environment when compared to year-round or long-term intensive grazing,” Mercker emphasizes.
Image by Michael Blazier.
Another issue to consider is the presence of poisonous plants in woodlands. Tree species such as poplar are well known to be palatable and safe for cattle, but cherry and oak are notorious for causing health problems and even death. Spotted water hemlock, common where Mercker lives and works in Tennessee, is extremely toxic to cattle. Although cattle often avoid poisonous plants, they may be more likely to ingest them in times of feed scarcity, according to Mercker. With varying habitats and species across North America, beef producers should check with their local extension before grazing woodlands.
Mercker has worked with beef specialists at the University of Tennessee to help producers manage grazing woodlots. He also sees the benefits of grazing woodlands in an appropriate way. Producers can gain additional forage from their land, increasing cattle health and improving the bottom line. Cattle can experience less weather stress – from heat, cold and rain – when given access to woods.
Mercker remembers decades ago when producers often just turned cattle out into the woods without much management. “We’ve come a long way,” he says.
Michael Blazier is a professor and dean of the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Over the course of his career, he has worked on multiple projects related to grazing cattle in woodlands. Blazier makes a distinction between silvopasture – which often involves planting forage such as bermudagrass or bahiagrass into thinned woodlands – and timber grazing, which often uses fire to stimulate the growth of native forages. In either case, grazing woodlands allows farmers and ranchers to sell more products.
“You’re diversifying the products you are selling,” says Blazier. The cattle are sold each year, and in favorable conditions in the Southeast, timber can be harvested every five years, improving the financial sustainability of the operation.
Another big advantage of grazing woodlands is that it allows for nutrients to be spread more evenly.
Image courtesy of Louisiana Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative.
“There’s a more even distribution of shading,” says Blazier, noting that cattle in trees tend to congregate less in one spot in hot weather. “There are no nutrient hot spots.”
Blazier also sees the use of fire, combined with managed grazing, as beneficial to cattle, trees and land. The fire stimulates native forage growth while recycling nutrients from manure.
“The cattle are filling the ecological niche that buffalo used to fill,” he explains.
Blazier does acknowledge that there are some challenges associated with grazing woodlands. One challenge is that the system is more complex and requires more complex management.
“You have to have a comfort level with managing cows and trees and grass,” says Blazier.
In addition, some herbicides used to control broadleaf weeds can have negative effects on the trees. Other herbicides are more appropriate in these management systems. Blazier also notes that some cattle breeds might not do well in a system that relies heavily on grazing woodlands.
“For certain breeds, they don’t thrive in that sort of situation,” he says.
Grazed woodland – either timber grazing or silvopasture – might also require fewer heads per acre. “That level of shading is going to pull down forage amount,” Blazier says.
Careful planning of seasonal or rotational grazing in wooded areas will increase that land's long-term health and productivity, as well as that of the cattle grazing it. Image courtesy of Louisiana Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative.
A lower stocking rate may be offset by a smaller amount of inputs required in a grazing system that incorporates grass and trees. “Their [the producers employing either timber grazing or silvopasture] overhead is so low,” says Blazier.
Some producers interplant pecans and end up with three products: cattle, pecans and, eventually, a harvest of high-end pecan wood products. Such a system adds even more complexities. Blazier notes that food safety may be an issue with a nut crop, requiring the acreage only be grazed at certain times of the year.
Overall, Blazier sees a bright future for grazing cattle in woodlands. “It’s a nice symbiotic relationship,” he says.
Jaime Garzon, an assistant professor and forage educator at the University of Maine, sees some pitfalls in grazing woodlands with cattle. Garzon emphasizes that cattle evolved to thrive on grasslands, a fact that limits the amount of feed a producer can expect to get from woods. He says that woodland grazing can succeed in places like Maine, but developing a silvopasture management plan is key.
“In Maine, this is done in two ways: opening spaces within the woods that will be planted with shade-tolerant grasses or establishing trees spaced out in an already established pasture,” he says. “In both methods, the shade the trees provide to the animals is taken advantage of, especially in summer.”
Another potential problem cattle can cause in the woods is overgrazing of young trees – limiting the number of replacement trees for future years. Blazier says this problem can be overcome by setting aside spots that are periodically not grazed, allowing for young trees to thrive.
“You can plan for regeneration in certain places,” he says.
Whether it is called timber grazing or silvopasture, grazing woodlands can be a useful tool for any beef producer, especially when approached with careful thought, planning and management.
