During the winter, we bale graze our pastures. As temperatures begin to warm, we shift feeding to a designated sacrifice area near the barn. This area handles heavy traffic from our goats and sheep while spring pastures recover, dry out and grow.
The downside is that once the animals move out to pasture, the area tends to regrow with weeds instead of our intended perennial pasture mix. Goats will eat the weeds, but it’s not ideal for long-term pasture quality.
To improve this, we tried planting an annual cover crop using our Kasco Plotter’s Choice no-till drill. The mix included radishes, turnips, brassicas, and beets. Our goals were to:
- Break up soil compaction
- Rebuild soil nutrients
- Extend our grazing season with late-season forage
We used the same seed mix my husband uses in his whitetail deer food plots. Since goats and deer have similar dietary preferences, this turned into a joint farm project.
This project was recently featured in No-Till Farmer magazine’s “Best of the Web.” You can watch the full video below.
Watch the vlog: No till cover crop in sacrifice bale grazing area
Cover crop project timeline
- Early August: We mowed the sacrifice area close to the ground to reduce weed growth and improve seed-to-soil contact. Then we drilled in the cover crop mix, adding oats as a nurse crop.
- Mid-August: After a dry spell, we finally got some rain and started to see the seeds germinate.
- September: We let the cover crop grow while grazing our herd in the woods and hayfields. The planted area remained undisturbed.
- October: The goats and sheep grazed the mature cover crop.
- November: The cover crop continued producing. Turnips and beets pushed above the soil and provided additional forage.
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