Frequently Asked Questions: Grazing

The following FAQs focus on SNAPGraze and grazing practice changes viable for ESMC’s Grazing program.

Who We Are

For historical data for pastures, what data is required? Do producers need to include specific months pastures were planted and when they started planting the next crop? Or can producers just include which crops were grown in each year?

The more data the better. If producers only include the year for historical data, that is sufficient, but ESMC would like to know the planting date.

Some farms have silvopasture/forested paddocks in rotation; can those be modeled for historical and currently using paddocks?

Trees will need to be removed out of the paddocks when boundaries are included, but they will not be part of the system being modeled.

For historical rotational grazing, can producers give the average amount of time the cattle were on pasture?

Yes

If the producer was historically inconsistently and infrequently rotating the cattle is that considered rotational grazing? Would this producer even be considered eligible?

Yes

Is overseeding of existing pastures included in the historical seeding amendments?

It will be useful to have this recorded to understand the relationship with biomass production.

Will season be sufficient for when the pastures were historically seeded, or do producers need to include the exact month and year?

Including the season is sufficient data.

Does ESMC need the exact month and year for prescribed burns or can producers just state which season they did the burn?

ESMC needs the exact month and year.

What is the threshold for changes in herd size that producers should use to report a change of herd size?

More that 30% change in herd size should be reported.

Does the size of the pastures mean total acreage, total size of grazeable acres, or would this include ponds, rocks, trees, etc.?

It is total size of grazable acres. Producers cannot include a pond, or rocks, or trees. Those will need to be removed from the field boundaries when inputting them into the MMRV.

What if the size of paddock changes especially if a producer has temporary fencing? Can this be modeled?

If this is short term, it can be ignored in the modeling framework.
If this is long term, this would be difficult to model. ESMC may require new shapefiles to properly run the model on partial areas. ESMC would like to capture the average management practices during a year by area of interest.

Can producers have a mixture of permanent and non-permanent fencing?

Yes

Can producers with Geo-collars enroll? Note: this will likely be considered more fully at a later date because this is extremely rare.

Yes, but ESMC will need all the data as if the cattle were not wearing collars.

Will producers need to supply the exact date at which the cattle were moved to each paddock, or can it be a month estimate?

Yes, they need to supply the exact date.

If producers can’t get the exact date, can they still enroll?

No, they cannot enroll without an exact date. That is a requirement.

Is it ok to have a range for the stocking density?

Yes.

What does bale size measurement include?

Producers should enter bale size by weight.

How do producers enter number of bales? Is it fed out at a time? Or is it per year?

Producers should input when they make a paddock movement so if there was not enough grass in the paddock, then when they had to add a bale.

Why do producers need the date of bale feeding to cattle?

This is needed so ESMC knows that producers are not grazing what is on the field.

What bale composition data is needed?

The data needed is the main ingredient; find more information here.

Do producers need the fertilizer/pesticide name or is a broad description ok?

ESMC will have a common option list, and producers will have the option for “other” if those options are not included.

When using the volume spread for fertilizer and pesticides, does ESMC mean gallons of the mixture/solution or oz/rate used of herbicide, or both?

This is not required by SnapGraze. *Note: Sedley is discussing with the ESMC team whether we need it for any reason.

If we need it, the following work:

lbs/acres if solid
gallons/acres if liquid

Can producers supply the season for the prescribed burning (as it is weather dependent), or do they need the start and end date?

ESMC needs a start and end date as well as how long the burn is.

Is cropland grazing considered a practice change?

This is not a practice change that captures grazing management. The practice change of cropland grazing is associated with a commodity crop, not the animal that is grazing.