Instructions
Feed the cattle prior to letting them graze. Hay and dry grass are proven supplements to the pasture, since they serve as bulking agents. This practice limits the high concentrations of digestible alfalfa in the rumen. Fortify your feed with poloxalene, long established as a bloat preventative.
Introduce the cattle to the alfalfa by allowing them only 10 minutes a day for the first week. This gives the bovine digestive tract time to generate beneficial microbes for regular alfalfa ingestion.
Restrict the cattle from the pasture in the morning. Even the moisture from dew can increase the viscosity of fluid in the rumen, which in turn will stifle necessary belching. Bloat follows.
Survey the pasture on a daily basis. A full "stand" of alfalfa has about 30 healthy stems per square foot. Less than 20 stems that are intact signal damage. Wilting plants or brown coloration demonstrates frost damage and should by no means constitute a third or more of a given stand.
Construct or purchase paddocks to fence in cattle and control grazing. This practice will keep the cattle from frost-damaged stands and allows heavily grazed areas a period of recovery. Deep hoof impressions are an indicator that rotation is needed.
How to Pasture Cattle on Alfalfa After Frost
Alfalfa is viewed by ranchers as superlative forage and sometimes called "Queen of Forages." High in protein and fiber content, alfalfa is credited with maximizing meat on beef cattle and efficiently feeding dairy cows. It is also rich in vitamins and minerals. With all of its advantages, however, alfalfa has a downside as grazing forage. It can lead to bloat -- an unhealthy and sometimes fatal accumulation of gas in the bovine rumen -- unless the pasturing and grazing are managed correctly. A pasture that has been damaged by frost has a higher likelihood of causing bloat. Therefore, the rancher or dairy farmer is wise to follow established rules of thumb where alfalfa pasture grazing is concerned.