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We have some meadowland and allow our neighbors to run a few cows on it. Elk come at night and jump over the fence leaving souvenirs. Are both of these activities good for the land?
We have some meadowland and allow our neighbors to run a few cows on it. Elk come at night and jump over the fence leaving souvenirs. Are both of these activities good for the land?
The Elk were here before we were. I have 10-12 deer in my pasture every day. They graze with my horses and it doesn't cause problems.
As long as the cattle owner doesn't put more cattle on the land than it can support, (that is called over-grazing), life is good.
Call your county Ag person and ask him approximately how many cattle per acre is acceptable for your area.
You can ask all of us and get a bunch of different answers. It depends on your land, how lush the grass, etc. which is why you need to call your Ag person
Cattle certainly help pasture. I bought 40 ac a few yrs ago that had laid fallow for 10 yrs or so. Loaded with weeds, getting overrun with wild rose. I let the neighbors put their beef cattle out there and within one yr the weeds became much less prevalent and no new wild rose were popping up.
Besides eating weeds, their hooves help aerate the turf.
Cattle don't really "fertilize" their pasture: they just leave behind nutrients they took out of the soil in the first place. It's the legume/ N-fixing bacteria symbiosis that adds usable N to the soil.
As mentioned above, proper stocking rate is important so the pasture isn't over-grazed. Rotational grazing may be appropriate.
One reason the normal course of ecological succession didn't turn The Great Plains into forest is because the young shoots of the poplar tree, one of the first woody plants to usually gain a foot-hold in pasture, are a favorite delicacy of bison. By devouring any of those pioneer plants that appeared, the bison helped prevdnt their favorite habitat, grassland, from becoming forest.
Beyond that: Here in the West, the type of soils we have tend to compact, get a crust. Cloven hooved animals break up that crust, letting air, moisture, seed in.
Done with a bit of sense, domestic grazing and encouraging wildlife to travel prairie and plains, does indeed improve the land and plants for all species.
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It really depends on level of grazing and slope.
If hillly and muddy they can destroy it in short order.
Too dry and over graze and everything dead.
Improve means more grass production per square area so in general if grazing is done correctly the natural fertilizers help grass production
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