In Port Williams, Kings Co. the pastures at David Acton’s farm look green and healthy in late September, during one of the driest summers in Nova Scotia. Acton has been farming beef cattle for 30 years and after poor pasture growth and rising feed costs, he started to implement rotational grazing into his management practices 20 years ago.
Implementing rotational grazing practices can help improve soil health on your farm. It provides a rest period that allows grasses and legumes to recover and regrow, minimizes soil erosion by preventing overgrazing, and maintains root reserves and increases productivity to store more carbon in the soil. Nutrients from the manure is also more evenly distributed throughout the pasture, improving organic matter. Grazing systems can look different across farms depending on herd size, available grazing acres, and pasture composition.
The first step for Acton was dividing the large pasture into smaller paddocks using electric fencing. “It was a bit of work at first, figuring out the timing and the layout,” said Acton “But after the first season, I started seeing the improvements in soil health and cattle productivity.” He also mentioned the purchases of fertilizer and lime have reduced in the past few years.
Acton has 32 head of cattle with approximately 35 paddocks on 30 acres. Depending on the size of the paddock, cattle will move to a new section every 24 to 36 hours. “I usually close off the paddock they’ve come out of but might leave it open for the day so the cattle can go back into it and lounge.” Acton goes on to say that livestock will graze the high-quality grasses first, alfalfa, Kentucky bluegrass, therefore the longer they are in a pasture, the feed quality declines, and at a certain point, the remaining forage will be so fibrous that it will limit feed intake. Shorter stays on pasture will increase forage intake that is also higher in quality.
After several months of drought, the pastures will still provide sufficient forage to sustain the cattle through November. Acton believes this is due to adopting rotational grazing into his pasture management years ago.
The source of water for the cattle is piped from the drilled well to five different tubs located in pasture laneways. The farm owner is interested in applying to the On-Farm Water Management Program through the Department of Agriculture, to expand the pipeline or drill another well to ensure his livestock have access to water, certainly after the dry year we just had.
Perennia’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF) also provides funding (75%) to farmers interested in adopting rotational grazing methods. This includes infrastructure, creation of grazing management plans, technical assessments, and/or engineered designs.
When asked what advice he would give to other farm owners thinking of implementing rotational grazing, Acton commented “It takes 10-15 minutes out of my day to open the gate and move cattle to a new paddock. The cattle get used to the process; I don’t need to chase them out of fields. The information is out there; there is no excuse when you understand the benefits.” The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) program is committed to helping farmers identify and assess environmental risk on their farm. Contact our office today to speak to one of our coordinators, call 902-893-2293 or email efp@nsfa-fane.ca. Additional resources are available on the EFP Website.