Newcountry Asked: "How do you determine how many sheep to buy to keep the foliage cleared? I'd considered this in the past. I'm just curious... "
I'd don't mind chatting about sheep at all, but don't think for a minute that I know anything about them, except for what I’ve read. The number of sheep, or other livestock, that can be supported on an acre of pasture depends on several factors. The biggest variable is the weather. An extended drought, for instance, can really cut into the carrying capacity. A good place to start is the Soil Conservation Soil Survey Data /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif, some of which is available online at:
http://soils.usda.gov/survey/online_surveys. The soil survey for your particular location is very valuable by providing information on slope, depth to bedrock, permeability, agricultural productivity, etc. I’ve got CaB and KnD type soils, with the last letter indicating the slope (B is 3-8% slope; D is 15-25% slope). I don’t recall, but I think that each acre can support about 3-4 AUM (animal units per month). An animal unit is basically 1 large animal (cow/horse) or five smaller animals (sheep/goats). So a 5-acre pasture should be able to support about 15-20 sheep during the growing season. Now, don’t think that means you can do this all year round like my neighbor, whose 5 horses (hayburners) have eaten his grass down to the roots. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Of course, the quality of the forage is also important. Legumes (clover/alfalfa) provide more nutrition than “grass”. Another factor is how the pasture is grazed. I’ll use my neighbor as an example again. He’s overgrazing his 4-acre pasture with 4 horses. What happens is that the horses search out and eat all the high quality stuff first (red/white clover), then they move on to the less palatable forage. As soon as the clover regrows just a little, the horses chew it down again. The net effect is that the best forage is weakened and ultimately eradicated and the weeds (low quality forage) prosper… especially when you don’t mow them before they go to seed. You probably think I’m nuts when I talk about mowing pasture, but it is necessary for weed control and to keep the pasture at the proper height (different livestock will eat different height forage, that’s one reason for grazing several types). My neighbor had weedy, poison ivy infested land like mine, but after several years of periodic mowing and proper pasture management they now have a large proportion of clover. Anyhow, the point I was trying to make regarding my neighbor’s pasture management is that he would get a higher yield (be able to support his horses with less supplemental feed) by splitting his pasture into two or three sections. By limiting their pasture size, they will need to graze all the forage, even the less palatable stuff. Once the first section is grazed down, they get moved to the next section to allow the forage in the first section to recuperate and build up its reserves. This is called Intensive Grazing. It requires more work on your part, but you get better yields per acre. The ideal situation would be to have the barn in the middle of a pasture divided into 4 sections, with a door opening into each section. Incidentally, square pasture is generally grazed better than rectangular ones, where the far reaches get grazed less intensively than those nearer the barn. Does this answer your question? If not, then drop another post and I’ll give it another try. Do you have any livestock on your land? I'm planning on starting a small flock of Icelandic Sheep next Spring (If I can get the fence up in time).
