By Jim Mimiaga
The Cortez Journal
Range specialist Lindsay Jones, of Ignacio, shared information on how to improve your pasture.
She’s a graduate student at Colorado State University researching livestock forage.
“Grazing is the cheapest source of nutrients,” she said. “Every day grazing is money saved.”
Optimizing pasture yields takes planning. Undergrazing a pasture is inefficient and forces livestock to overeat and get fat, a waste of protein. What happens is the animals, especially horses, gorge on the best plants, she said.
“That allows other valuable forage in the field to grow too much, losing their palatability and nutrients,” she said.
Uniform grazing is ideal. Livestock excrete 70 to 90 percent of what they eat, which helps fertilize the soil and plants.
“High stock density does not equal overgrazing if done properly,” Jones said.
Ag land should be divided into pastures and livestock rotated throughout to allow healthy regrowth for each pasture.
She recommended grazing when forage is 8 inches tall, and ending at 4 inches. Pastures should be left alone five to seven days before regrazing.
“It might seem like its a waste to leave that four inches, but the most important thing for regrowth is leaving enough room for some leaves,” Jones said.
Ninety percent of the plant’s reserves are in that 4 inches, added CSU ag extension specialist John Rizza.
Managing pastures during summer months is challenging because regrowth is more difficult, and needs more time between grazing.
“Don’t use a calendar for grazing rotations,” Jones said. “Observe the livestock and condition of your pastures.”
Irrigation should occur once livestock are taken off a pasture.
Another effective technique is to occasionally let a pasture grow through its entire cycle.
“Letting it go to seed and then knocking it down is really beneficial,” Rizza said.
Other suggestions: Conduct soil tests every three years to see if nutrients are needed; lure livestock to lesser-used areas of the field with mineral blocks and water; take an aerial photo to organize pasture fencing.
“We have good water-management technicians who will come out to your farm for testing and to provide information, and it is all for free,” Rizza said.
Lyons offers trailriding tips
By Jessica Gonzalez
The Cortez Journal
The Four Corners has an abundance of horseback trails, so a trail riding clinic by one of the most respected trainers in the country was certainly a hit on Friday.
John Lyons’ session “Preparing your horse for the trail,” emphasized his tactic of using consistent cues, which are unique to each individual rider and often subtle.
The session was one of six Lyons has scheduled at this year’s expo, ranging in topics from “The Unbroke Horse” to “Having fun back into riding your horse.”
In Friday morning’s session, he stressed developing a cue system and advised riders not to look for a one-fits-all solution to leading a horse.
“Don’t duplicate someone else’s cue system – the horse doesn’t need it,” said Lyons.
Horses eventually learn their riders’ idiosyncrasies, much like dance partners do, he explained.
“It’s like dancing with your wife. It’s not that you’re a good, she’s just figured out your weird movements. ... That’s what your horse does.”
Lyons stressed that the key to trail riding was in preparing how you want your horse to react and carry itself when trouble arises, through daily groundwork.
“Envision the worst possible scenario: You’re out in the backcountry, and the buddy horse has run off, and a bear is chasing you, and your horse wants to leave too. I’m training for that moment,” said Lyons.
He also advised riders in a stressful situation like that to reserve the thought process, and envision yourself on the ground, calmly leading your horse in training exercises.
“I envision I’m on the ground, and the horse is picking up that ‘This is what I want you to do,’” he said. “Everything with groundwork has to do with what I’m going to do in the saddle.”
Experts talk water supply
By Jim Mimiaga
The Cortez Journal
Today’s snow will soon be used to irrigate farms, but it won’t be enough for a bumper crop.
Water managers at the Ag Expo explained water issues through the lens of a drought that’s lingered in the region since 2000.
In some ways, things have worked out as they should, said Eric Kuhn, of the Colorado River Conservation District.
“Our reservoirs have done what they are supposed to do by storing water for when we really need it,” he said. “The worry is how long the drought will continue.”
Colorado is a headwater state, but shares its water under the Colorado Water Compact.
Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico – the upper basin – are allocated 7.5 million acre-feet a year from the Colorado River. California, Arizona, and Nevada – the lower basin – receives 7.5 million acre-feet.
Lake Powell and Lake Mead store and deliver water for the lower basin.
Trends show there will be less water in the future. Tree-ring data show that between 760 AD and 2005, wet periods and dry periods each last 30 years.
“We could be faced with another 15 years of drought based on that trend,” said water engineer Steve Harris.
Population adds to the stress. Currently, the Colorado River Basin serves 35 million people, and irrigates 5.5 million acres.
“The future shows it going to 80 million people and 4.6 million acres of farmland,” Kuhn said.
Optimizing irrigation is critical during the dry spell, said Abdel Berrada, a local ag researcher for the Yellow Jacket station.
Switching from side rolls (70 percent efficiency) to center-pivot irrigation (90 percent efficiency) is ideal, but costly.
Reducing nozzle sizes on side-rolls sprinklers is can save water, and watering at night to avoid windy days also works but increases labor.
“It’s a balancing act,” Berrada said. “Runoff is the biggest problem in this area, so it is best to minimize it.”
Irrigators depending on McPhee may only get half their full amount this year. For alfalfa, less water means just one or two cuttings, instead of three.
One strategy is to focus on irrigating the first crop for maximum yield and skip the second cutting when it is too hot. Then if there is enough water, start irrigating for another cutting in late summer and hope for some assistance from the monsoons.