Make grazing go smoother with these tips and gadgets

<p>TIPS FROM VETERANS: Jason Tower is superintendent of the Southern Indiana Purdue Ag Center near Dubois, Ind. He explains how to make best use of various types of fencing equipment.</p>

<p>FENCE FAULT FINDER: Ever had your electric fence short out and spent hours trying to find where the problem was? This fault finder could be the answer to your problem, quickly helping you identify where the fence is working and where it isn’t. Available from many fence equipment manufacturers, almost all are universal and work with all brands of fence chargers.</p>

<p>TANK SLED: Have a livestock tank you need to move from one paddock or location to another? This homemade sled makes the job a whole lot easier. Just hook a chain onto the back of your tractor or four-wheeler and you’ll have the tank to its new location in short order.</p>

<p>BATT LATCH: If you practice Management-intensive Grazing and have to move your animals multiple times per day, or you just do regular rotational grazing and want to be gone for the weekend, this batt latch can be a real time-saver. It’s solar-powered. You can program it for up to 30 days out and set it for the specific time you want to open a new paddock. Then at the designated time, the latch disconnects from the spring gate, and your cattle or other animals can go to the side of the fence where the grass really is greener!</p>

<p>KNOW YOUR SOILS: Good forage management starts with knowing what type of soils are in the pasture, so you can match plants to productivity levels of soils. Andrew Brown, with the Natural Resources Conservation Service based in Fountain County, Ind., explains the value of soils, plus how to use the Web Soil Survey provided by NRCS.</p>

<p>TEMPORARY GROUND STAKE: For remote, temporary locations with portable fencing, this quick ground rod does the job nicely. The attached driver makes it easy to install and remove the rod.</p>

<p>HOSE-FED LIVESTOCK TANK: Underground lines for getting water to different paddocks are nice, but they don’t fit all situations. For those who are just getting started in rotational grazing, or who need a less-permanent solution for getting water to livestock, a hose can be a good and flexible solution — especially if it’s laid in the fencerow. Host farmer Rodney Hufford says he’s currently running three-quarter-inch garden hose a half mile. He says it takes a while and requires a bigger tank, but it works adequately for him. Plus, hoses are cheap.</p>

<p>NOSE PUMP: <span style="background-color:white">Lots of folks use streams, springs and ponds to water livestock in pasture. This can be convenient and easy, but it’s not always the best for animal health or for preventing bank damage and erosion. Nose pumps can be quick to install, portable and relatively inexpensive.</span> <span style="background-color:white">Nose pumps work when the animal pushes a lever with its nose. Each press of the lever draws about a quart of water into the trough from a water source. One pump can serve about 20 cow-calf pairs.</span></p>

<p>OLD-FASHIONED YARDSTICK: A yardstick works great for determining when your forage has been grazed down to 4 inches and it’s time to rotate your animals to the next paddock. It’s cheaper that an official grazing stick, and if you want to make it easy, you can even paint the bottom 4 inches red! Wielding this helpful tool is Rodney Hufford, host of the grazing school in northern Indiana.</p>

<p>WHO CAN IDENTIFY THIS PLANT? It’s easy if you have the iNaturalist app on your mobile device. Just take a picture of the plant or weed, and the image-recognition technology app will identify it for you. “Whether it’s forage plants or weeds, it’s really important to know what kinds of plants you have in your pasture,” says Keith Johnson, Purdue University Extension forage specialist.</p>

<p>RATE YOUR PASTURE: By using materials online, you can identify forages and rate the condition of your own pasture without having Keith Johnson visit your farm. However, if you need him, he is accessible by phone or email to answer pasture-related questions.</p>