A recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) found producers can take advantage of cover crops for moderate grazing by cattle, while leaving the organic matter within soil unharmed, reports Drovers CattleNetwork.
“Conventional wisdom holds that grazing would remove the nitrogen and carbon otherwise left on the soil in the cover crop plant residue,” the report says. “Allowing cattle to tread on the soil could also compact it, preventing air and water from passing through the soil to reach plant roots. But if grazing wouldn’t harm the soil, it might encourage more growers to try using cover crops.”
The seven-year study set up a model that stocked cow-calf pairs four acres per head, on a variety of no-tilled and tilled cover crops planted during the off-season for winter and summer grains. Soil samples were collected at depths of one foot.
To read the full ARS report, click here.