What does the word “stockpile” mean to you? Our understanding of the meaning is to “store away for future use.” We are old enough to remember that “stockpile” had the connotation of the Soviet Union and the United States manufacturing and storing bombs.
Rotational grazing a pasture permits stockpiling forage for grazing in the late fall and early winter. (Photo Credit: Keith Johnson)
Not a happy thought and thankfully the product stored was never used. More recently because of Covid-19, some families were stockpiling toilet paper. Some may have thought that the most-right word was hoarding! Within forage-livestock agriculture, the word stockpiling refers to growing forage in the pasture that can be used at a later time.
Late August is an excellent time to apply nitrogen for stockpiling forage growth. A blended fertilizer of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium can be applied if recommended by a soil test. (Photo Credit: Keith Johnson)
A properly managed rotational stocking system allows this to happen. Livestock can graze other paddocks (cells) in the late summer and early fall while approximately one-fourth of the acreage is restricted from the livestock so the pasture can grow forage to be grazed in the late fall and possibly the early winter. The following video provides some useful tips about stockpiling forage.
Stockpiling pasture for the winter from Phil Reid on Vimeo.
YouTube version will be available at BeefTips.info by early next week if closed captioning is desired.
