We are getting into late July as I write this and our pasture is up to your chin and cattle performance is really good. The question is why and how?

Truth is that quality and performance in late July used to be unheard of unless you mowed hay in June and got a bunch of moisture and crabgrass growth in late July or August. This year there will be lots of crabgrass on ground that has been scratched. Crab grass is good stuff but requires lots of moisture and a little tillage in clay soil. Frost melts it down real fast.

Rotational grazing programs have a history of decreasing individual animal performance. The same is true of combining groups into much larger herds. The natural model has several answers to animal performance that are worth studying. They include:

History tells us that large ruminants spent the majority of their time (life) on forage that offered the best nutrition. Limestone-based, highly organic soil was the major key as was moisture and sunshine.

Cattle will always tend to overgraze the best plants if given the opportunity. The natural model successfully prevented overgrazing several ways.

There are three times every year that we really need good animal performance. They include:

As we study the natural model and the pasture and the soil it becomes evident or at least should be clear that we should make our decisions based on what the model is telling us. We need the cattle to perform at a decent level year round but we need them to perform at a high level before and after calving and breeding (16-18 weeks) and for about the same time period before sell or harvest. We need at least four months of quality plant growth or quality. There are few if any plants species that are high quality for 120 days.

Animal performance increases with these five things:

The truth is there is not two or three plants that are high quality for 16-18 weeks. But with 100+ plant species in pastures that are managed with boom-and-bust grazing life becomes rewarding. Yes, we can empty feed bags and feed bins, and silos to fill the cracks. The trouble is the lack of success with the material handling business most of us have spent years practicing in the past.

Our cattle need to perform in good health and reproduction to help our operations be profitable. Animal performance is very important. Study and plan plant diversity, pasture recovery, high animal density and rapid movement.