Grazing Management to Avoid Soil Compaction

Grazing is a great and economical way to feed your animals. You should strive to maximize your grazing period and avoid feeding hay because one pound of hay dry matter costs about twice as much as grazed dry matter. Nonetheless, grazing when soils are wet can cause severe compaction and can set your pasture back. There are several keys to manage grazing during the Spring season to avoid soil compaction.

1. Build soil health. A healthy soil will have greater resistance to compaction because it has stable soil aggregates that maintain their consistency under hoof impact. Healthy soil will drain better so the animals can be on it quicker than on an 'unhealthy' soil. Practices that build soil health include using no-till practices for establishment of perennials and annuals, always having living vegetation and dead surface mulch to cover the soil, growing vigorous root systems, including several plant species in your pastures with different root architecture (tap rooted and fibrous rooted), and different root growing periods (spring/summer/fall). These practices will increase organic matter content, stimulate the soil to have a granular surface and blocky subsoil structure instead of platy or massive soil structure, stimulate fungal and bacterial activity and promote soil animals such as earthworms that create macro-pores in the soil. Healthy soil with high biological activity will also quickly bounce back from any compaction that is caused.
2. Monitor soil moisture conditions and graze quick-draining fields first. You can use a 'ball test' to determine if the soil is fit for the animals to be on it by grabbing a handful of surface soil and kneading it in your hand – if it forms a ball the soil is too wet to be on it. If soil conditions are marginal you should consider if there are fields on your farm that drain more quickly than others – you might have sandy or shale soil that drains quickly that might be ready sooner than limestone soil, or soil with seasonally high water table. Steeply sloping soils can also be problematic in wet times of the year. When you notice the animal hooves start skidding down the slope or create ridges it is time to move them to more level fields.
3. Graze pastures with tough root systems when conditions are wet. You will quickly notice the difference between tough rooted species like tall, chewing or red fescue pasture and annual cover crops that have a smaller root system. The perennial grass withstands compaction a lot better while you quickly bring up dirt when grazing the annuals when it is wet.
4. Graze to taller residual. If it is wet, it is important to rotate animals more quickly through the pastures than if soils are dry. This leaves more armor on the soil that lessens the impact of the hoofs on the soil, but also maintains greater vigor in the pasture so the roots never skip a beat. Leave at least 6" residual when it is wet and never graze your pastures closer than 3" to the ground.
5. Give the pastures time to heal. It is unavoidable that you cause some compaction when it rains frequently. However, if you have a healthy soil it will repair itself because soil is thriving with living organisms that tunnel and grow through the soil. One good thing is that grazing animals rarely cause compaction deeper than 4", and that compaction alleviation is much faster close to the soil surface due to high biological activity there. Exclude animals from the paddocks after grazing for periods of 20-30 days or more so the soil can heal.
6. Pull the animals off if you expect them to cause severe compaction. This is a means of last resort, but it is preferred over mudding up your field.

We see that successful grazers take care of their soil first, resulting in vigorous and productive pastures and subsequently healthy, highly productive animals.