Tom Scott Grassland Management Project

2002 Project Report Scott Grassland Management Project
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The Tom Scott management intensive grazing system is located on 315-acre tract 11 miles north and 4 miles east of Redfield near the James River in Spink County. The system was established during 2001. Tom began this year's grazing April 27, 2002, with 72 head of yearling heifers and 205 head of bred Angus and Angus cross cows ranging in age from four to ten years. They calved on the system May, June, and July.
	The Scott management intensive grazing system is alfalfa/grass mix. Eighty acres of the system is an established seeding of alfalfa and smooth brome with an invasion of some native plants. The remaining 235 acres were converted during 2000 by seeding a mixture of 40% grazing alfalfa, 20% orchard grass, 20% intermediate wheatgrass, and 20% meadow brome grass. The grazing system consists of three 80 acre paddocks and one 75 acre paddock. The grazing period for each paddock is one week. The 72 yearlings were rotated one paddock ahead of the cows to take advantage of early season forage growth.
The system was monitored by an intern during the grazing season. Monitoring included forage weight and height, fecal collecting, and water samples.
	The perimeter fence for the system consists of four permanent smooth high tensile wires, alternating positive and negative charges on the wire. A pipeline of 160 psi black PE pipe lays down the center of the half section. WEB rural water feeds the pipeline to 11 quick couplers along the one-mile pipe to fill five portable tanks.
This year, 2002, was a very dry year in northeastern South Dakota. The average forage height was 6.5 inches compared to 17.5 inches last year. The average green weight in and out of the system was 31.29 grams and 10.25 grams compared to last year's average of 133.66 grams and 70.61 grams. The 2002 average dry weights in and out were 10.14 grams and 2.92 grams compared to the 2001 dry weights in and out of 36.89 and 22.99 grams, respectively.
Due to the extremely dry conditions, the yearlings were removed from the grazing system June 19, 2002. The cows were able to stay on the site until September 15, 2002. The fact that this 315 acre system could sustain 205 pairs for 4.5 months and 72 yearlings for roughly two months with no substantial decrease in body condition or weight with very little precipitation is proof that the management intensive grazing techniques work. As with any operation, some problems were encountered this year. Three cows and two yearlings were lost to bloat. Due to the extreme heat during the summer calving, several calves were lost to dehydration or abandoned and made bucket calves. Calf crop percentage was 94%. The dry conditions made the ground in the pastures very hard and caused some foot rot problems with a few cows. Next year, an earlier and shorter calving period will be implemented to avoid the heat. The cowherd will be culled to relieve some the pressure on the grazing system.