“In this part of the world, it is a small ranch,” explains Ty Cleavinger, foreman of the Dammier Ranch. Composed of thirty sections located near the community of Wildorado in the Texas Panhandle, he adds, “This ranch was ...
“In this part of the world, it is a small ranch,” explains Ty Cleavinger, foreman of the Dammier Ranch. Composed of thirty sections located near the community of Wildorado in the Texas Panhandle, he adds, “This ranch was part of the first place that was bought off the original LS Ranch (established in the late 1800’s). A Mr. Gray from Chicago bought it around 1900. It’s had a few owners since then, but this has always been a cattle operation.”
With seventy-five miles of dirt roads snaking through 20,000 acres of pastures separated by barbwire fences, it takes a keen eye to keep up with the entire operation.
Broken into five large pastures that average 3200 acres apiece, there are an additional 3200 that are divided into traps. These traps range from eighty acres to over 1000 acres in size and are used to straighten cattle out in the fall or early spring. Ty explains, “Our rotation is in these traps.”
With suggestions from the local Natural Resources Conservation Service expert, Ty implements a rotational grazing management system, which involves moving cattle from pasture to pasture to avoid overgrazing. This allows the land to rest at certain times of the year.
Dr. Ted McCollum III, PhD., Extension Beef Specialist for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Amarillo, Texas, says, “Signs of a healthy rangeland include a diverse plant community, healthy plants, and presence of certain plant species.” He also checks for absence of soil movement, erosion, and the amount of litter or mulch that’s on the ground.
“Mulch can be a double-edged sword. Too much tends to stagnate the recruitment of new plants . . . too little affects the ability of the soil to capture moisture and also hold the soil in place.”
Desirable plants should be robust and healthy. The Texas Panhandle is short grass country and several important grasses are buffalo grass, sideoats gramma and blue gramma. Dr. McCollum says, "Sideoats is one of those species we use as an indicator species. It’s a palatable grass preferred by cattle and can be used to monitor and adjust grazing management within the year as well as indicate trends in range health over time."
Blue gramma normally grows in a bunch grass form. If there is overgrazing, the plant adopts a sod-bound appearance, where the plant spreads in a low growing system. Dr. McCollum calls this a defensive posture. “You see the sod-bound form on areas where grazing pressure has historically been high.”
The cattle will give you a sign
The most important aspect of maintaining a healthy pasture is to move the cattle periodically, allowing the grassland to rest. To determine when to move stock to another pasture, Ty checks fresh droppings. “Manure will tell you ninety percent of what you need to know on the condition of the grass and cattle. I look for green, loose manure. When it starts balling up, (the cattle) aren’t getting enough protein or enough of what they need. So you move them or supplement them with feed.”
A healthy pasture enables cattle to graze near their water supply as they steadily gain weight. They will lie down to rest around 10:00 a.m. when they’ve eaten enough.
Ty also checks their body condition and grazing habits. If they constantly graze instead of taking that morning rest, it’s time to change pastures.
Dr. McCollum agrees. “Observe differences in grazing behavior. If they’re scattering further across the rangeland, grazing more during the day, or grazing at odd times, this might indicate the cattle aren’t getting enough [forage]. They are spending more time hunting and searching for what they want to eat.”
If desirable plants are eaten to the ground, broadleaf plants may pop up in a pasture. At the Dammier Ranch, Ty looks for Russian thistles, tumbleweeds, cockleburs, and gourds as another sign of overgrazing.
Dr. McCollum suggests that ranchers move cattle to a different pasture periodically. Although the average rancher would call this process resting a pasture, Dr. McCollum says the correct term is deferring a pasture or deferment.
Are there pros and cons of pasture deferment? “Everything is pro about being able to defer, allowing those key plant species to recover being grazed,” explains Dr. McCollum.
He likes to see a deferment period of four to six weeks or even up to two months late in the growing season. Without grazing pressure, plants can rest and recuperate, storing root carbohydrates to prepare for winter. Then, they will be ready to break dormancy the next spring.
Ty says, “Let it rest as long as you can. It depends,” he says with a laugh, “That’s the biggest word we use. It depends on if you get your average rainfall. Usually we’ll let it rest from mid-February or the first of March, until June, if we can. We’re a stocker ranch and if it still hasn’t rained, we just don’t take in as many cattle to let that pasture rest.”
He moves cattle out of his section (six hundred forty acres) trap in June to allow grasses to reseed and won’t return stock to it until February.
In his pasture management plan, Ty considers each pasture as a separate unit. In some years, the north side of the ranch will receive more rain than the south side. The east side of the property has tighter, flatter ground, so it holds moisture better than the west side. The west side has a few creeks and the sandy terrain is rough, where a taller species of grass grows. And his cattle prefer to graze on the flat mesa-like escarpment known as the Caprock.
“The Caprock pasture is actually 3300 acres,” Ty explains. “The Caprock runs down the south side. It’s a long narrow strip. Better grass is on top, so we put five hundred head of cattle in there. All five hundred head grazed on top of the Caprock and that’s why it looks so short.”
Grass depends on rain. It will have a different growth rate depending on whether the area receives a slow soaking rain or a cloudburst, where the water rushes to lower ground in a flash flood.
Fire hazard
There are some disadvantages to deferring a pasture too long. Ty didn’t have to think twice when he said, “The first thing that comes to mind is fire. The more grass you have laying around, the easier it will burn.”
Wildfires are Nature’s way of clearing out old grass, mesquite and junipers. Dr. McCollum reports, “If we were to go back one hundred fifty or two hundred years, we would find junipers and mesquites out here, but they would be isolated to gullies, draws, or canyons where fire would not reach.”
Dr. McCollum explains, “A lot of people don’t want to mess with [deferment]. They have one pasture and they don’t want to defer or they can’t figure out how to work the entire scheme in. It’s not that big of a deal to sit down, lay it out, and follow through.”
Ranchers can get pasture deferment advice and planning from their local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices and state extension services. Dr. McCollum says that ranchers have paid for this service with their tax dollars and they need to take advantage of these programs. There are also private consultants who will develop rotation management plans.
“This is all we have,” Ty says quietly, “This grass makes us a living and so we have to take care of it. Our theory is that as long as you take care of the ranch, it will take care of you. You have to realize that this is your livelihood—you have to take care of it.”
