Overgrazing pastures and rangeland has detrimental consequences on cattle, forage, soil and producers’ bottom lines.

When it comes to better pasture maintenance and increasing the overall richness of the soil, have you considered the idea of integrating multispecies livestock into your grazing program?

Improving plant biodiversity on your ranch will often increase forage supply, forage quality, and soil health, along with carbon capture potential. Increasing plant biodiversity often comes in the form of interseeding or overseeding desirable grasses and/or legumes to change the composition or productivity of a forage base. Forbs can also be of interest but are not considered here.

It would be easy to be lured into the idea that more grass means more livestock and profits. Caution is warranted to prevent falling into a “green fever” trap.

Encouraging animals to disperse and utilize the full range can be a pain this time of year, but necessary for the health of the range plants. 

Herd rebuilding or expansion must start with enabling grazing land to support the additional animals over the long term.

Using cattle to graze standing forage can significantly reduce feed costs and aid in decreasing the cost of production.

Nebraska producers Brock and Heidi Terrell and University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL) extension educator Mary Drewnoski helped address whether strip grazing is worth the additional time and labor when utilizing cover crops in the fall season.

Traditional annuals and more exotic cocktail cover-crop mixtures can make great forage for cattle on a temporary basis, but over the long haul, a good stand of perennial pasture can be the best choice.

Soil health is our objective. If it isn’t, it dang sure should be. Always.