Mark Sip Grassland Management Project

2005 Report Sip Grassland Management Project
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The Sip’s 215-acre management-intensive grazing system, located in Charles Mix County, is comprised of eight paddocks varying in size from 17 to 36 acres each. During the first week of May 2005, 160 yearling steers were turned out to begin the grazing rotation through the paddocks. Of those 160 head, 72 had been home raised and carried an average weight of 831 pounds. The remaining 88 head weighed an average of 700 pounds each. All together, the steers weighed an average of 759 pounds each. The steers were grazed for 71 days, until July 13, and made almost two complete rotations through the paddocks. Because the predominant forage species in the pasture are cool-season grasses, the Sip’s 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 six acres. Then, during the second rotation, the daily allowance was reduced to approximately five and a half acres. Consequently, stock densities during the first and second rotation were 29 (160 steers * 39 days/2nd rotation / 215 acres) and 28.4 (160 steers * 32 days/1st rotation / 180 acres) steers/acre respectively, and the available forage was grazed much less evenly during the first rotation.
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.
	About 75 percent of the rain occurring during the 2005 grazing season arrived between the last day of May and the 11th of June. The first rain, which provided 1.75 inches of precipitation, came on the 12th of May, shortly after the cattle had been let in to graze, and the last rain of any magnitude occurred during the second week of June. On the 21st of June it rained .3 inches and after that no rains of .25 inches or greater occurred until September, after the steers had been removed from the pasture. As a result, the cattle had little opportunity to graze on lush regrowth during the last few weeks they were on pasture.
At the end of the grazing season, the steers had an average weight of 825 pounds, with an average daily gain of .93 pounds each. The total amount of live weight gain produced per acre was 49 pounds. A total of 320 AUMs was harvested during the grazing season with each acre producing 1.49 AUMs.

The herd weight increased from 121,432 pounds to 132,065 pounds for a total gain of 10,633 pounds. Individual steer gains during the 2005 grazing season were the lowest that ever occurred on this site and the sale weight of the cattle off the pasture has typically been 875 lbs or greater. The primary explanation for this situation is that the cattle experienced substantially more shrink than they had in previous years. The cattle were loaded out of the pasture at about 3:00 in the afternoon on July 13 hauled to a sale barn, stood overnight, and not sold until about 6:00 in the evening on the 14th. In previous years, the cattle were weighed and/or sold within six hours of being loaded out of the pasture.