Manage Pastures for Continued Growth

One of the easiest ways to manage pastures for continued growth is to clip seed heads after the sheep have been moved on to the next field. One a seed head emerges, the plant focuses nutrients/energy toward producing seeds. This means that the nutritional quality of the plant will decrease as that plant matures. Plants such as orchardgrass lose quality very rapidly once the seed head emerges, while others such as bromegrass lose quality more slowly. Clipping the seed heads will keep the plants growing in a vegetative state and will mean higher quality forages for the sheep to graze. For more information on grazing management, refer to the Penn State Agronomy Guide at http://extension.psu.edu/agronomy-guide/cm/sec8/sec810l.