Mark Sip Grassland Management Project

2004 Report Sip Grassland Management Project
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The Sip management-intensive grazing system in Charles Mix County is based on a 231-acre pasture that has been divided into eight paddocks varying in size from 25 to 30 acres. On May 6, 2004, 154 yearling steers with an average weight of 745 pounds were turned out in the pasture –– a slightly larger herd than the 146 head grazed in 2003 and the 140 in 2002. While the average weight of all the steers was 745 pounds, 90 of the 154 head had been home raised and carried an approximate average weight of 780 pounds.
The steers were grazed for 99 days, until August 12, and made almost two complete rotations through the paddocks. Because the predominant forage species in the pasture are cool-season grasses, the grazing strategy is to make the first rotation in 30 days or less –– minimizing the extent to which the grasses head out and subsequently decline in protein and energy potential.
As a result of this strategy, the daily acreage allowance during the first rotation was approximately seven acres. During the second rotation, the daily allowance was reduced to approximately five acres. Consequently, stock densities during the first and second rotation were 22 and 31 steers/acre respectively, and the available forage was grazed much less evenly during the first rotation.
Over 90 percent of the rain occurring during the 2004 grazing season arrived during a three-week time period. The first rain, which provided over an inch of precipitation, fell during the last week of May and the last rain of this magnitude occurred during the second week of June. Then, no rains of .25" or greater occurred until the end of August, after the steers had been removed from the pasture. As a result, very little lush regrowth was available during the last few weeks that the cattle were on pasture.
At the end of the grazing season, the steers had an average weight of 889 pounds, with an average daily gain of 144 pounds each. The total amount of live weight gain produced per acre was 92 lbs and a total of 400 AUMs was harvested during the grazing season with each acre producing 1.73 AUMs.

The herd weight increased from 114,730 pounds (154 head) to 136,030 pounds (153 head), for a total gain of 21,300 pounds.