With the freezing temperatures and the snow cover, many forages within pastures have slowed growth or have gone completely dormant. Overgrazing your pasture now will impact its growth and health in the spring. Maintaining a minimum height of 3 to 4 inches of residual growth is recommended when going into the winter. Having more plant tissue available for growth in the spring will increase the growth rate resulting in the pasture being ready for earlier grazing when compared to an overgrazed pasture.
Overgrazed pastures will also be more prone to being torn up by hoof traffic in the early spring, when the ground is soft, due to the decreased plant material. This is especially important for pastures with horses since they have an increased tendency, compared to cattle, to rip out the plant with the roots when they graze.
Pastures with mixed legumes and grasses are more susceptible to overgrazing than all grass pastures. Tap-rooted legumes will be more susceptible to heaving with frost freeze cycles when overgrazed because of less soil insulation, and over time, a pasture with shorter above-ground vegetation will have reduced rooting density and root volumes.
All these factors will contribute to greater heaving risk of tap-rooted legumes. The Michiana area continues to be in a moderate to severe drought. Overgrazing will also lead to greater pasture plant mortality with these conditions.
If you haven’t already transitioned your animals onto hay, or started the transition, please consider doing so as soon as possible. A slow transition off of those pasture forages to a hay and grain diet will help reduce possible problems, especially with horses, while also reducing the amount of grazing being done on your pastures. Providing plenty of fresh water while making sure to break any ice on the surface, will also help with this transition since hay doesn’t contain as much water as grass, resulting in animals considerably increasing water intake.