Things happen fast
The southern plains are known for strong cool season forage. It’s a blessing through the winter and early spring for our native grazers, but as the transition sets the game for a long summer, the management of pastures and knowledge of plants can help you understand what’s going on. Bison in history would have moved through the southern plains feeding on grasses such as Texas Bluegrass which is now extirpated, and many other plants still commonly found. These ‘native’ cool season plants would have existed with manners in a functional system. Today we have things like rye grass, cheat grass and other exotic grasses that become invasive. They are good forage if you already have them, but use them hard this time of year with intensive rotational grazing to make way for the summer grass and keep your buffs on quality nutrition.
Another real good reason to rotate pastures – is worms. Pasture rotation is the #1 best way to mitigate internal parasites in any grazer, but especially bison. This is the time of year that life abounds, even the life that causes problems like internal and external parasites. On the ‘fly front’ which I hear a lot about this time of year, I personally recommend learning about the other ‘non-fly’ winged league of natural world heroes that broad spectrum insecticides kill. You just might learn that you want them around to help cut your fly control costs instead of killing them. Personally I enjoy learning about how to cause my whole system to work for me – then look for the results, but with an understanding of what’s going on.
