GRAZING STICKS AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR WOMEN MANAGING LIVESTOCK AND PASTURES
Animal Science
Amie Schleicher
Field specialist in livestock
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI EXTENSION
ROCK PORT
Abstract
GRAZING STICKS AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR WOMEN MANAGING LIVESTOCK AND PASTURES
Schleicher, A.*1
1Field specialist in livestock, University of Missouri Extension, Rock Port, MO, 64482
An understanding of forage physiology and growth is critical to managing pastures for productivity and persistence in a grazing livestock operation. Since 2013, the Pearls of Production: Women in Agriculture program has provided an opportunity for women in livestock production in Missouri to participate in interactive and hands-on training on livestock and forage production—from women, for women. One of the areas of emphasis at Pearls of Production has been forage production and management. I have led the forage-focused breakout sessions since the program began, and an interactive tool I have used to demonstrate critical pasture management topics is a grazing stick. A grazing stick is a four-sided yard stick, with units of measurement (inches) on one side, and a variety of pasture-management related information and calculations on the other three sides. The ruler side allows a producer to measure the height of forages in a pasture, which is important because turn-in decisions are sometimes made based on forage height, and forages have a minimum grazing height which should be managed for in order for the plant to regrow and persist. A cooperating agency generously provides a grazing stick for each participant. In the session, I instruct students on how to read and use the grazing stick, then ask them to practice taking measurements in a pasture where our session is located and use those measurements to calculate the number of days of grazing available on the pasture. In 2024, via the program evaluation, participants indicated a 73% increase in their understanding of the concepts presented in the session, and 100% would recommend the session to others. Participants planned to use the information to calculate the number of head or number of days of grazing on a pasture, measure forages to prevent overgrazing, monitor grazing heights, and better utilize pastures.
Authors: Amie Schleicher
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Amie Schleicher Field specialist in livestock, University of Missouri Extension, Missouri, 64482