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Farming Systems                     Native
                                           Ecosystem

            Pasture Ecosystem




            Grazing and Invasives
Sue Ellen Johnson PhD. Director of Agriculture and Rural Economy
               Piedmont Environmental Council
Pastures are communities of individual plants
      Usually mixtures of herbaceous perennials and annuals

Pasture plant communities
    Seasonally dynamic (warm and cool season)
    Competitive
       Aboveground: compete for light, space
       Below-ground: compete for water, nutrients, soil

Plant community affected by:
    Livestock grazing, treading, manure and urine
    Human mowing, chemical application…
Goals for pasture:
   Fresh green (affordable) quality feed for livestock/horses
   Green space for animals to derive some nutrition and exercise
   Beautiful “pastoral” “bucolic” landscape
   Economic contribution to Piedmont farming systems
GRAZING GOALS ???
Productivity per acre fenced?
Productivity per unit of fertilizer?
Productivity per unit labor?
     Gain per animal?
     Gain per acre?

Profit per acre?
Profit per year ?
Profit per hour of labor?

Hobby and recreation?
Tax status?
Pretty pasture?
In pastures: Desirable and Undesirable Plants

Desirable : Palatable, non-toxic, nutritious, high yielding,
            competitive plants that can tolerate
            trampling and repeated defoliation (and regrow)
            Ideally persistent, resilient, easy to establish
    Naturalized non-natives
    Natives
    Exotics

Undesirable: compete with desirables
             Limit animal performance and land productivity
                      or adversely affect the environment
    Native and non-native weeds
          some of which are invasive
Pastures not the “native” Piedmont landscape
Mostly naturalized European plant species
maintained through human action (?)




Most pastures have diverse mixtures of plant species
Persistent perennials and naturally reseeding annuals
        Warm and cool season plant species
Piedmont Forages
           Warm season                   Cool season
           Grasses                       Grasses
           Bermudagrass                  Tall fescue
           NWSG                          Orchardgrass
                                         Kentucky bluegrass
Perennials Legumes                       Perennial Ryegrass
           Lespedeza                     Legumes
                                         Alfalfa
                                         White and Red clover(s)
                                         Grasses
           Grasses
                                         Annual ryegrass*
           Crabgrass*
                                         Bromegrasses
           Sorghum and Millet
                                         Small grains: Oats,
 Annuals                                 wheat, triticale, rye
           Legumes
           Lespedeza                     Legumes
                                         Crimson clover
                        * = naturally reseeding annual
Fescue
                                        Crabgrass

                         Orchardgrass




Bluegrass




                Soil level
Managing grazing to manage weeds and invasives

Basic good grazing management helps desirable plants
thrive and minimizes undesirable weeds and invasives
in Northern Piedmont pastures while increasing productivity
and profitability of a pasture enterprise

Desirable plants must thrive and compete, not simply survive:
Keep good, desired plants species competitive…
Maintain canopy between 4-8” to
    keep light from reaching the ground
    keep soil covered to manage soil temperature and moisture
Maintain canopy between 4-8” by
    Rotating livestock to new pastures – every 3 days
           once a plant is grazed allow it time to regrow
    Do not overstock or overgraze
For a competitive canopy:
    need 4x the leaf surface area relative to soil surface area

For each square foot of soil surface: 4 square feet of leaf surface area




   In pastures, leaves (not stems) should make up most of
   the canopy most of the time.
IF mowing pastures

Set mowers at 4” (minimum)
Maintain canopy between 4 and 8”

 Time mowing to rainfall
 Mow when desirable plants will
   rapidly regrow (before budding)
 Dragging?
 Equipment and tires transport weed seeds

Have a “sacrifice” pasture (or drylot) during high stress periods
Stress= drought or wet
Invasives (seed or vegetation)
1. Land in favorable site
2. Germinate or root
3. Outcompete other plants in that site
4. Reproduce
Grazing (mowing) heights affect pasture species composition




  Blaser VPI 1986
Grazing and Invasives
Spotted knapweed Centaurea maculosa

“Pioneer” species. Invades open, disturbed spaces.
Limit by maintaining dense 4” minimum pastures.
Buttercup Ranunculus spp
Native and exotic spp.
R. pennsylvanicus is threatened
All are weeds in pasture: unpalatable, toxic
Colonizes open, disturbed sites                                VT
Likes wet, compacted soils, low pH

Avoid grazing wet areas-hoof niches
Limit by maintaining dense 4” pastures
Shades out if shaded early in the season…




                                               j. riley stewart photo
Pasture micro-sites
  Plants (forages or weeds)
  fit into the micro-sites
  above and below ground.
  Depends on what seed is there.




Do NOT control a pasture weed without seeding something desirable in its place.
Time control to favor the desirable species as well as to eradicate the problem.
AVOID creating microsites - opportunities for invasives to invade
                Avoid “overgrazing”
           Do NOT graze below 3-4 inches
           Use pasture rotation or exclosure
Pasture Weeds and Forage Diversity
          16
          14
          12
          10
% weeds




           8
           6
           4
           2
           0
                     2 SP       3 SP          6 SP            9 SP
               Forage Diversity (# of forage types in the pasture)
                                                *Averaged over two years
 Soder et al. 2005
What makes a plant a pasture weed/undesirable?
  • Poor palatability
  • Poor yield
  • Propensity to spread- crowds out other species
  • Toxicity




  Think carefully before eliminating anything that is grazed.
  Any plant that is grazed (palatable) and is not toxic
  and is not spreading is tolerable in an average pasture.
Controlling undesirables/invasives in pasture

Scout [Know desirables from undesirables]
Control weeds at early growth stages- before they “take over”
Spray, burn, dig, mow, overseed, shade, graze…
Use spot control when possible.
Use plant competition to (shading and crowding, allelopathy)
limit undesirable plants.
Overseed an annual forage: sorghum, millet, rye, annual
ryegrass to reduce the vigor of some undesirables
Time and manage fertilization, seeding, grazing and
mowing to favor desirables.
Change soil (root) conditions:
               temperature and moisture
               fertility: nitrogen pH
Controlling undesirables/invasives in pasture

Make sure a desirable species will “replace” what you are
controlling (load the seedbank).

MUST change grazing/pasture management that resulted in
weed invasion in the first place to prevent recurrence!




                                                            WI
Desirable vs undesirable pasture species

  What plants are we talking about?
YES   NO   Mebbe
                                    Native?
                                    Invasive?
                                    Good pasture?




Nimblewill Mulhenbergia schreberi
YES   NO   Mebbe
                                    Native?
                                    Invasive?
                                    Good pasture?




Stiltgrass: Microstegium vimineum
YES   NO   Mebbe
                                 Native?
                                 Invasive?
                                 Good pasture?




Eastern gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides
Switchgrass

                                     Eastern gamagrass

NWSG Pastures- designated for warm season
NOT grazed during winter months
rotationally grazing May-September
Attentive management: 4-6” residual
Big bluestem, Indiangrass, Eastern Gamagrass, Switchgrass,
Buffalo grass
YES   NO   Mebbe
                                 Native?
                                 Invasive?
                                 Good pasture?
                                 Locally invasive?
Johnsongrass Sorghum halepense
To eliminate palatable species:
 continuously graze
Allow unrestricted access.
Crabgrass   Digitaria sanguinalis



                YES     NO      Mebbe
Native?
Invasive?
Good pasture?
Stickweed or Wingstem or Yellow Crownbeard: Verbesina occidentalis

                                                  YES       NO       Mebbe
                               Native?
                               Invasive?
                               Good pasture?
                               Locally invasive?
Kentucky Bluegrass
                                                   Poa pratensis


Foxtail (Setaria spp. )




                                YES   NO   Mebbe
                Native?
                Invasive?
                Good pasture?
Weeds = management problems
Goosegrass Eleusine indica




Undesirable: low yielding,
marginal palatability;
indicates compaction
                               Broomsedge Andropogon virginicus

                               Undesirable: unpalatable; indicates low pH
Burr clover

  “Sericea” Lespedeza cuneata




                                  http://www.cottoncrc.org.au/files/ed326f7a-
                                  15f4-4f74-9c8f-
                                  994401342942/Burr%20medic.jpg




                YES      NO     Mebbe
Native?
Invasive?
Good pasture?                                 Hop clover Trifolium campestre
Crown vetch Coronilla varia




                      YES             NO       Mebbe
      Native?
      Invasive?
Ryegrass
      Good pasture?
Lolium perenne
Lolium multiflorum




                        J. Koivisto
                                               Hairy vetch Vicia villosa
YES   NO   Mebbe
                                 Native?
                                 Invasive?
                                 Good pasture?

Tall fescue Festuca arudinacea
Grazing and Invasives
Grazing as a means to control invasives




Mixed species grazing and invasives
7:30 am
Pigweed stems stripped bare of leaves after 20 hours high
                 density goat stocking
Grazing and Invasives
X
    Diverse pasture mixtures more competitive with weeds




                                 Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule)
www.anr.ext.vt.edu/lawnandgarden/turfandgardentips/pdfs/nimblewill_bermuda_id.pdf




     www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/
   http://www.caf.wvu.edu/~forage/tutorial/



     www.extension.umn.edu/forages/pdfs/Native_Legumes.pdf




     http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicweeds/weed_manageme
     nt/show_wman.php?id=10 pigs
Extras
Pastures that are also hayed:
      Invasives may be more challenging.. because

Hay Market is
     Less tolerant of species diversity-mixed hays
     More opportunities for invasives…
How desirtbale plants disapper form pastures
    How undeairtbale palnts apread in pstures
    Baic graing management




Warm season and cool season plants.. Two plant canopy populations…
What not to plant because of it’s invasive potential…
Careful with hay :
          Seeds it may introduce
          Hay feeding sites create invasion sites
Pasture invasives: are they spreading?
Are they an economic (or health )liability ) visual or ecological problem?




                                            If ypu finmd one
                                            invasive: :
                                            Flame
                                            Herbicides etc
In an established forage field

               Light: energy for photosynthesis


Plants
Leaves: site of photosynthesis
Stems: support and position the leaves to capture sunlight
Roots: anchor the plant, move water and nutrients into the plant

 Water: carries the nutrients to the plant roots and into the plants
      forage plant at max growth rate is 90% water (10% DM)

  Soil: physically support the plant and hold nutrients and water

  Nutrients: combined with carbon from photosynthesis to build
      plant tissues, move into the plant with water
Managing Grass-Legume Mixtures
A 30-50% stand is a good legume stand.




            20% stand
                                                     WI


                                         70% stand




                                 WI
Regrowth from
                   leaf blade
     Pre-graze                   Post-graze




3”




                                           Regrowth
                                          from stolon
In addition to photosynthesis, canopy is important for
managing soil cover and consequently soil temperature
 and soil water which effect which species grow in the pasture.
Growth Stages and Growth Rates
New shoots
or seedlings      Vegetative   Reproductive

                 Rapid
                 growth
                                Slower
Slow                            growth
growth




               Time or age
Different livestock species   Different grazing objectives…

M
i
n
i
m
u
m

h
                                      Minimum leaf area…..
e
i
f
h
t
Grazing and invasives
How to think about pasture plants and weeds


  Ecological Niche
  Opportunities
  Displacement
  Replacement
  SEEDBANK
Nimblewill,
stiltgrass, goosegrass
Fescue orchard grass alfalfa red clover white clover ryegrass
Sericea

Tolerable
Purpletop.. Johnsongrass

 Undesirabkels…
Mint (s)
Buttercup, burrs,
Burr clover, hop clover
thistles                          problems beyond the pasture
                                           Pastures as invasive reservoir
Natives for pastures
                                                  Invasives as pasture indicators
NWSG summer grazing

Natives that are problematic in pastures
Yellow crownbeard - wing-stem…
Do ck(s)
Undesirable natives?
                                               Tolerable?
                 Sericea     Mints
Clovers        Lespedeza’s                       Stickweed


          Vetches




Species useful; or tolerable in a “native friendly” pasture…
Grazing and invasives
 How to think about pasture and pasture plants
 What are undesirable or invasive pasture species (weeds)
 How to manage grazing to prevent/avoid undesirable or invasive
     pasture species
 How to control undesirable or invasive plants in pastures with grazing




                           WI
Grazing and Invasives
Don’t plant invasive problems; don’t create niches




   Prevention of invasives:
        What grazing systems result/favor invasives?


   Control and eradication of invasives

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Grazing and Invasives

  • 1. Farming Systems Native Ecosystem Pasture Ecosystem Grazing and Invasives Sue Ellen Johnson PhD. Director of Agriculture and Rural Economy Piedmont Environmental Council
  • 2. Pastures are communities of individual plants Usually mixtures of herbaceous perennials and annuals Pasture plant communities Seasonally dynamic (warm and cool season) Competitive  Aboveground: compete for light, space  Below-ground: compete for water, nutrients, soil Plant community affected by:  Livestock grazing, treading, manure and urine  Human mowing, chemical application…
  • 3. Goals for pasture:  Fresh green (affordable) quality feed for livestock/horses  Green space for animals to derive some nutrition and exercise  Beautiful “pastoral” “bucolic” landscape  Economic contribution to Piedmont farming systems
  • 4. GRAZING GOALS ??? Productivity per acre fenced? Productivity per unit of fertilizer? Productivity per unit labor? Gain per animal? Gain per acre? Profit per acre? Profit per year ? Profit per hour of labor? Hobby and recreation? Tax status? Pretty pasture?
  • 5. In pastures: Desirable and Undesirable Plants Desirable : Palatable, non-toxic, nutritious, high yielding, competitive plants that can tolerate trampling and repeated defoliation (and regrow) Ideally persistent, resilient, easy to establish  Naturalized non-natives  Natives  Exotics Undesirable: compete with desirables Limit animal performance and land productivity or adversely affect the environment  Native and non-native weeds some of which are invasive
  • 6. Pastures not the “native” Piedmont landscape Mostly naturalized European plant species maintained through human action (?) Most pastures have diverse mixtures of plant species Persistent perennials and naturally reseeding annuals Warm and cool season plant species
  • 7. Piedmont Forages Warm season Cool season Grasses Grasses Bermudagrass Tall fescue NWSG Orchardgrass Kentucky bluegrass Perennials Legumes Perennial Ryegrass Lespedeza Legumes Alfalfa White and Red clover(s) Grasses Grasses Annual ryegrass* Crabgrass* Bromegrasses Sorghum and Millet Small grains: Oats, Annuals wheat, triticale, rye Legumes Lespedeza Legumes Crimson clover * = naturally reseeding annual
  • 8. Fescue Crabgrass Orchardgrass Bluegrass Soil level
  • 9. Managing grazing to manage weeds and invasives Basic good grazing management helps desirable plants thrive and minimizes undesirable weeds and invasives in Northern Piedmont pastures while increasing productivity and profitability of a pasture enterprise Desirable plants must thrive and compete, not simply survive: Keep good, desired plants species competitive… Maintain canopy between 4-8” to  keep light from reaching the ground  keep soil covered to manage soil temperature and moisture Maintain canopy between 4-8” by  Rotating livestock to new pastures – every 3 days once a plant is grazed allow it time to regrow  Do not overstock or overgraze
  • 10. For a competitive canopy: need 4x the leaf surface area relative to soil surface area For each square foot of soil surface: 4 square feet of leaf surface area In pastures, leaves (not stems) should make up most of the canopy most of the time.
  • 11. IF mowing pastures Set mowers at 4” (minimum) Maintain canopy between 4 and 8”  Time mowing to rainfall  Mow when desirable plants will rapidly regrow (before budding)  Dragging?  Equipment and tires transport weed seeds Have a “sacrifice” pasture (or drylot) during high stress periods Stress= drought or wet
  • 12. Invasives (seed or vegetation) 1. Land in favorable site 2. Germinate or root 3. Outcompete other plants in that site 4. Reproduce
  • 13. Grazing (mowing) heights affect pasture species composition Blaser VPI 1986
  • 15. Spotted knapweed Centaurea maculosa “Pioneer” species. Invades open, disturbed spaces. Limit by maintaining dense 4” minimum pastures.
  • 16. Buttercup Ranunculus spp Native and exotic spp. R. pennsylvanicus is threatened All are weeds in pasture: unpalatable, toxic Colonizes open, disturbed sites VT Likes wet, compacted soils, low pH Avoid grazing wet areas-hoof niches Limit by maintaining dense 4” pastures Shades out if shaded early in the season… j. riley stewart photo
  • 17. Pasture micro-sites Plants (forages or weeds) fit into the micro-sites above and below ground. Depends on what seed is there. Do NOT control a pasture weed without seeding something desirable in its place. Time control to favor the desirable species as well as to eradicate the problem.
  • 18. AVOID creating microsites - opportunities for invasives to invade Avoid “overgrazing” Do NOT graze below 3-4 inches Use pasture rotation or exclosure
  • 19. Pasture Weeds and Forage Diversity 16 14 12 10 % weeds 8 6 4 2 0 2 SP 3 SP 6 SP 9 SP Forage Diversity (# of forage types in the pasture) *Averaged over two years Soder et al. 2005
  • 20. What makes a plant a pasture weed/undesirable? • Poor palatability • Poor yield • Propensity to spread- crowds out other species • Toxicity Think carefully before eliminating anything that is grazed. Any plant that is grazed (palatable) and is not toxic and is not spreading is tolerable in an average pasture.
  • 21. Controlling undesirables/invasives in pasture Scout [Know desirables from undesirables] Control weeds at early growth stages- before they “take over” Spray, burn, dig, mow, overseed, shade, graze… Use spot control when possible. Use plant competition to (shading and crowding, allelopathy) limit undesirable plants. Overseed an annual forage: sorghum, millet, rye, annual ryegrass to reduce the vigor of some undesirables Time and manage fertilization, seeding, grazing and mowing to favor desirables. Change soil (root) conditions: temperature and moisture fertility: nitrogen pH
  • 22. Controlling undesirables/invasives in pasture Make sure a desirable species will “replace” what you are controlling (load the seedbank). MUST change grazing/pasture management that resulted in weed invasion in the first place to prevent recurrence! WI
  • 23. Desirable vs undesirable pasture species What plants are we talking about?
  • 24. YES NO Mebbe Native? Invasive? Good pasture? Nimblewill Mulhenbergia schreberi
  • 25. YES NO Mebbe Native? Invasive? Good pasture? Stiltgrass: Microstegium vimineum
  • 26. YES NO Mebbe Native? Invasive? Good pasture? Eastern gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides
  • 27. Switchgrass Eastern gamagrass NWSG Pastures- designated for warm season NOT grazed during winter months rotationally grazing May-September Attentive management: 4-6” residual Big bluestem, Indiangrass, Eastern Gamagrass, Switchgrass, Buffalo grass
  • 28. YES NO Mebbe Native? Invasive? Good pasture? Locally invasive? Johnsongrass Sorghum halepense
  • 29. To eliminate palatable species: continuously graze Allow unrestricted access.
  • 30. Crabgrass Digitaria sanguinalis YES NO Mebbe Native? Invasive? Good pasture?
  • 31. Stickweed or Wingstem or Yellow Crownbeard: Verbesina occidentalis YES NO Mebbe Native? Invasive? Good pasture? Locally invasive?
  • 32. Kentucky Bluegrass Poa pratensis Foxtail (Setaria spp. ) YES NO Mebbe Native? Invasive? Good pasture?
  • 33. Weeds = management problems Goosegrass Eleusine indica Undesirable: low yielding, marginal palatability; indicates compaction Broomsedge Andropogon virginicus Undesirable: unpalatable; indicates low pH
  • 34. Burr clover “Sericea” Lespedeza cuneata http://www.cottoncrc.org.au/files/ed326f7a- 15f4-4f74-9c8f- 994401342942/Burr%20medic.jpg YES NO Mebbe Native? Invasive? Good pasture? Hop clover Trifolium campestre
  • 35. Crown vetch Coronilla varia YES NO Mebbe Native? Invasive? Ryegrass Good pasture? Lolium perenne Lolium multiflorum J. Koivisto Hairy vetch Vicia villosa
  • 36. YES NO Mebbe Native? Invasive? Good pasture? Tall fescue Festuca arudinacea
  • 38. Grazing as a means to control invasives Mixed species grazing and invasives
  • 40. Pigweed stems stripped bare of leaves after 20 hours high density goat stocking
  • 42. X Diverse pasture mixtures more competitive with weeds Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule)
  • 43. www.anr.ext.vt.edu/lawnandgarden/turfandgardentips/pdfs/nimblewill_bermuda_id.pdf www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/ http://www.caf.wvu.edu/~forage/tutorial/ www.extension.umn.edu/forages/pdfs/Native_Legumes.pdf http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicweeds/weed_manageme nt/show_wman.php?id=10 pigs
  • 45. Pastures that are also hayed: Invasives may be more challenging.. because Hay Market is Less tolerant of species diversity-mixed hays More opportunities for invasives…
  • 46. How desirtbale plants disapper form pastures How undeairtbale palnts apread in pstures Baic graing management Warm season and cool season plants.. Two plant canopy populations…
  • 47. What not to plant because of it’s invasive potential… Careful with hay : Seeds it may introduce Hay feeding sites create invasion sites
  • 48. Pasture invasives: are they spreading? Are they an economic (or health )liability ) visual or ecological problem? If ypu finmd one invasive: : Flame Herbicides etc
  • 49. In an established forage field Light: energy for photosynthesis Plants Leaves: site of photosynthesis Stems: support and position the leaves to capture sunlight Roots: anchor the plant, move water and nutrients into the plant Water: carries the nutrients to the plant roots and into the plants forage plant at max growth rate is 90% water (10% DM) Soil: physically support the plant and hold nutrients and water Nutrients: combined with carbon from photosynthesis to build plant tissues, move into the plant with water
  • 51. A 30-50% stand is a good legume stand. 20% stand WI 70% stand WI
  • 52. Regrowth from leaf blade Pre-graze Post-graze 3” Regrowth from stolon
  • 53. In addition to photosynthesis, canopy is important for managing soil cover and consequently soil temperature and soil water which effect which species grow in the pasture.
  • 54. Growth Stages and Growth Rates New shoots or seedlings Vegetative Reproductive Rapid growth Slower Slow growth growth Time or age
  • 55. Different livestock species Different grazing objectives… M i n i m u m h Minimum leaf area….. e i f h t
  • 56. Grazing and invasives How to think about pasture plants and weeds Ecological Niche Opportunities Displacement Replacement SEEDBANK
  • 57. Nimblewill, stiltgrass, goosegrass Fescue orchard grass alfalfa red clover white clover ryegrass Sericea Tolerable Purpletop.. Johnsongrass Undesirabkels… Mint (s) Buttercup, burrs, Burr clover, hop clover thistles problems beyond the pasture Pastures as invasive reservoir Natives for pastures Invasives as pasture indicators NWSG summer grazing Natives that are problematic in pastures Yellow crownbeard - wing-stem… Do ck(s)
  • 58. Undesirable natives? Tolerable? Sericea Mints Clovers Lespedeza’s Stickweed Vetches Species useful; or tolerable in a “native friendly” pasture…
  • 59. Grazing and invasives  How to think about pasture and pasture plants  What are undesirable or invasive pasture species (weeds)  How to manage grazing to prevent/avoid undesirable or invasive pasture species  How to control undesirable or invasive plants in pastures with grazing WI
  • 61. Don’t plant invasive problems; don’t create niches Prevention of invasives: What grazing systems result/favor invasives? Control and eradication of invasives