Aside from climatic conditions, forage management is probably the biggest limiting factor in achieving optimum stocker cattle performance. Even with best genetics and health programs, a poor forage system will not allow investments in these technologies to be reflected in improved gains. While optimum performance may also be the maximum, it is rarely the case. Optimum performance takes into account the cost of gain, as well as target animal performance to meet the market objectives. In a nutshell, the goal is to find the most profitable animal, which is not necessarily the most productive animal.

So where do forages fit in all this? Forage, consumed directly by the animal, represents the lowest cost feed source available if good utilization (waste minimization) is achieved and forage quality maintained. The trap producers sometimes fall into is the misconception that low cost equates to low quality. The fact is that forages can be grown in Mississippi that can achieve animal performance equal to the feedlots. The challenge here is managing the seasonal variation in supply and quality that can turn high quality forage in to poor quality roughage in a matter of days. This is also hampered by the fact that many of the “high quality” forage species are cool-season grasses and legumes, which currently restricts highly productive stocker cattle production on forages alone to the fall, winter, and spring months.

While it might be difficult to develop a forage system where forage quality is not a limiting factor at least for some of the year, new forage species are being evaluated that may certainly extend quality through “non-traditional” times of the year. Chicory and brown-mid-rib sudangrass research at MSU has so far indicated that stocker cattle can be kept growing at close to 2 lb/day during the summer and achieve spring growth rates between 3 and 4 lb/day. The introduction of novel endophyte tall fescue and grazing tolerant white clovers has also opened up an opportunity to stocker cattle on a perennial grass based system in the north end of the state. Tall fescue can both lengthen the growth period of quality forage production and remove or reduce the inherent risks of using annual forage crops. Stocker studies done with MaxQ tall fescue indicated that spring gains in excess of 2 lb/day were possible and gains close to 2 lb/day were achieved in the fall. Adding white clover to the pasture system can further significantly improve these gains.

Continuous vs. rotational grazing in stocker production systems.

 It is probably fair to say that most of the stocker cattle production in the southeastern U.S. is done in a continuous grazing management system on cool-season annual grasses (most notably annual ryegrass in Mississippi). It is also fair to say that the research data shows that there can be very little, if any, difference in per head performance between continuous and rotational grazing systems on annual ryegrass pastures. The main reason for this lack of difference in per head  performance is largely linked to forage supply being in excess of demand. That is, when forage growth exceeds that required by the animals, there is essentially a “free-choice” situation where no benefit is derived from rotational grazing. However, when forage is limiting, rotational grazing does have significant benefits to stocker cattle performance.

Numerous grazing studies have shown that rotational stocking can improve stocking rate by as much as 30 to 40% without reducing per head performance. The main reason for this improvement in stocking rate is a combination of improved plant growth and better forage utilization. In continuous grazing systems, there is frequently a lot of wasted grass as animals develop grazing habits where they graze certain areas and leave others to grow. Continuous grazing can also prevent effective control over the qualitative aspect of the forage. As forage grasses mature, the levels of crude protein and energy (TDN) fall to a point where they will start to limit animal performance. In a continuous grazing situation, there is very little control over forage maturity when forage growth exceeds the animal intake.

In a rotational grazing situation, grazing pressure can adjusted to keep forages in an optimum growth stage, that is, four to eight inches for most grasses and green and leafy, while surplus forage can be managed by cutting an area out of the rotation. Rotational grazing also prevents the pastures from getting too short. When forage height drops below the three to four inches mark, intakes drop due to the animals’ inability to consume as much in a given time period. Therefore, short pastures may reduce stocker cattle performance.

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