News

Repairing damages to pastures

Pastures in areas where there was too much rainfall look pretty rough.

Purdue Extension forage specialist Keith Johnson says part of the damage came from grazing livestock on wet pastures.  “As a result we have situations where the hooves of these animals have caused some pretty severe damage to fields,” he says.

He tells Brownfield damaged pastures may not be able to recover and farmers should monitor them closely.  “If they’re not recovering well, than I think we look to the concept of a late winter overseeding of the right forage mix to meet our needs,” he says.  “In the process of doing that we need to look at the fertility program of that pasture.”

He says soil tests and proper fertilization this fall will help get pastures on the road to recovery for next year’s grazing season.