Pig Pasture Before and After

Well, kind of. I have 2 main pastures of 6 or so acres each broken into paddocks which I've been rotating chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cattle with rest times varying from 1-2 months between animal impact for the last few years. My experience so far has shown me that rotational grazing done correctly with the proper carrying capacity and rest times works just as good or better than the books and articles said it would. I have not done any vaccination or worming and was able to get cattle through my first winter grazing with no hay or supplemental feed other than what was attached to the ground.

The difference it has made to the grass in these few years has been amazing to me. The more fertile of the 2 fields went from a broomsedge dominated, 30% bare ground with blackberry, black cherry, and johnson grass to a much more uniform sward with lots of plantain, white clover, a bit of alfalfa, rye, and fescue starting to fill in where the broomsedge was thriving. I have only rotated animals through, mowed a few times per year, and spread a seed mix of clover, fescue, radish, and wildflower once last year. In the less fertile of the 2 fields, I lightly disced and broadcast seeded Korean lespedeza, annual rye, fescue, radish, white clover, and a bit of wildflower and eastern gama. I let this field rest from mid March until just recently to let the new plantings get established and or go to seed before grazing it quickly starting mid June. I normally would be against tillage but in this situation, I needed to get something growing that the animals would graze to get them to spend more time in the areas that need animal impact (grazing, rooting, trampling, fertilizing). The Korean lespedeza came up like crazy on really poor soil and cows and pigs really enjoy it. Plus, it is a warm season legume which is high in protein, fixes nitrogen, looks like a taller more bushy clover, and will shelter the more tender cool season seedlings until the cooler weather.

In the video I show where the pigs were rooting recently and explain why the impact may be alarming to a new farmer. I compare this area to the other field that has had time to rest and explain why what looks like a disaster when it first happens actually ended up being beneficial in my system.

To sum up for those that may not want to watch a video: In poor pastures with woody plants or certain grass species with tuberous rhizomes, pigs will initially root deep to eat the roots of these plants causing what looks like catastrophic damage to a pasture. As these rooted up areas grow in either naturally or with introduced seed, the holes create sheltered, wetter micro climates which end up allowing more palatable species a chance to establish. With the removal of the entire root system of the less desirable plants, the quicker establishment of better herbaceous plants stops the return of the less resulting in better pasture if the proper rest time is allowed. The more palatable, thicker mix encourages the hogs to graze rather than to root as the goodies are on top of the ground and the thicker sward makes rooting harder. The rain and settling smooths the pasture over time but leaves enough texture to stop and soak water and act as a invisible passive water harvesting and erosion reduction feature on the landscape.

Your results may vary of course and each farm will have its own unique management style, fertility, productivity, carrying capacity, and rest times but if you can get the formula right, your pastures will improve quickly.