Assessing Pasture Condition

How productive is your pasture?  Are there current challenges?  How would you rate the overall condition?  It is important throughout the grazing season that you walk your pasture(s) and evaluate the condition.  While you can come up with indicators to rate your pasture on, there are several helpful assessments available to assist you.  One of the more well-known assessments is called Pasture Condition Scoring (PCS) developed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  PCS is a systematic way to assess how well a pasture is being managed and resources protected.  It involves the visual evaluation of 10 indicators with a low score meaning the pasture has one or more challenges such as poor plant growth and/or weedy species invasion.  While a high score means the pasture is well-managed with productivity being sustained or enhanced.  Best time to evaluate a pasture is right before it is grazed.  The 10 pasture indicators (rated 1-5) that PCS uses is listed below:

·         Percent Desirable Plants

·         Plant Cover

·         Plant Diversity

·         Plant Residue

·         Plant Vigor

·         Percent Legume

·         Uniformity of Use

·         Livestock Concentration Areas

·         Soil Compaction

·         Erosion

In the PCS guide you will find very detailed descriptions for each of the indicators and a score sheet.  The PCS assessment is very thorough and highly recommended.  However, you can always simplify the process until you are ready for a more in-depth assessment.  In a recent horse workshop, we did a hula hoop activity to measure pasture condition.   Participants would randomly throw out the hula hoop in the pasture and measure the following within the hoop with a yard stick/grazing stick and by estimating:

·         Grass Height (avg. heights if they differ): ___________

·         % Bare Ground (estimate): ____________

·         % Desirable Species (fescue, etc.): ____________

·         % Weed Species: _____________

·         Other observations:

This activity led to great discussion among participants about pasture condition and also prepared them for what they should be looking for in their own pastures.  The main take away message is pasture management is not a passive activity.  You have to walk pastures and constantly evaluate how they are doing in case you need to adjust management.

Resource: NRCS Guide to Pasture Condition Scoring