Impacts of winter hay feeding on pasture soils and plants

In temperate regions, feeding livestock year round on pasture is usually limited by weather conditions and livestock must be fed hay, or other stored feeds, at least part of the year when pasture forage runs out. On many farms, hay must be fed during winter and hay feeding is typically confined to pastures that are sacrificed for this purpose. The concentrated use of pasture during winter hay feeding could negatively impact subsequent forage production from soil compaction and possibly create water quality degradation from manure runoff. In 2008, we initiated a field experiment to address how winter hay feeding on pasture might have affected forage and soil variables in VA, USA. Variables were compared between 12 paired pastures each with and without hay feeding sites. Forage accumulation, forage mass, nutritive value and plant species composition along with soil penetration resistance, soil respiration and soil nutrient concentrations were monitored for 2 years. The presence of winter hay feeding sites in pastures had neutral to positive effects on forage productivity and forage nutritive value. Hay feeding pastures were not weedier than control pastures as we predicted, and they did contain more white clover through the grazing season (P<0.05), which may have benefited forage production and nutritive value. As expected, soils from winter hay feeding pastures were more compacted compared with pastures without winter use. Soil compaction did not negatively affect forage production or soil respiration, however. By the end of this study, soil P, K and organic matter concentrations were 59%, 55% and 10% higher, respectively, in hay feeding pastures compared with control pastures. Our findings suggest that well-managed hay feeding in winter could benefit pasture forage production. Moreover, strategic placement of hay feeding sites around farm could be used as a management tool to improve land productivity though nutrient inputs and introduction of legumes into pasture.