Manure deposition in a good indicator of where animals are spending most of their time. Watering areas, shade, salt blocks, and patches of especially desirable forage tend to be areas where a great deal of manure is deposited. If this occurs along streams, lakes, or other water bodies, this could have negative effects on water quality due to animals defecating or urinating directly into the water. While you cannot influence when or exactly where your animals defecate, you can influence where they spend their time.
It is important to note at this point that uneven manure distribution is not the underlying problem. Rather, by noticing it, you have picked up on an important clue about what is really going on?uneven pasture utilization. Most of the techniques described below should be viewed as ways to get your animals to graze a pasture in a more uniform manner. Making improvements in this has been shown to improve the vigor and productivity of pastures.
First, consider your water sites. Research has shown that cattle will use forage closest to water more heavily with a corresponding drop in use as the forage gets farther away (more than 800 feet) from water. If it is possible to establish multiple watering points throughout the pasture and then only allow the animals to utilize one of those at a given time, you can rotate the area of heaviest use around to different parts of the pasture. This should allow the areas around the vacated water sites to rest and recover. Providing fresh, clean water in a tank is preferable to allowing animals to drink from natural streams, ponds, or swampy areas.
Salt, mineral, supplement, and/or hay feeding should also be rotated to different areas for the same reason.
Fencing is another option to alter animal grazing patterns. By restricting access to only a certain portion of the pasture at a time, you can force animals to graze portions of the pasture that would otherwise be only lightly used. This also should allow forage in other parts of the pasture to recover from previous grazing. Using simple electric fences is a low-cost way to begin rotational grazing.
Monitoring your animal's behavior, how heavily they are utilizing the forage they have access to, how much regrowth has occurred in rested areas, and the distribution of manure are all good ways to keep track of the effectiveness of your efforts.
These comments apply to ruminants such as cows, sheep, and goats. Horses are not so predictable. They will graze in certain areas of the pasture and defecate in other areas. They will often choose one area for defecation and often return to that area even if the grass cover appears lush and abundant. Even after pasture management such as clipping or dragging, they may still return to the same area to defecate. Nevertheless, horse pastures should ideally be rotated, at which time pastures can be clipped or dragged. And fences, waterers, and supplemental feeders should be managed to ensure good forage quality and minimizing nutrient losses to surface waters.
For more information, see the University of Missouri publication Managed Grazing Systems and Fencing for Distribution of Beef Manure.
Author: Jill Heemstra, University of Nebraska Extension Educator
