In a year characterized by severe drought, producers have faced difficult decisions throughout the growing season. One of the most pressing is determining how much feed will be available for the upcoming winter. When dormant-season grazing of perennial pastures is limited, producers may turn to annual forages, crop residues, or drylot feeding to meet winter feed needs. 

In some areas of the state, growing conditions for corn and annual forages have limited not only crop and forage yield, but in extreme cases, prevented planting. To delay drylot feeding with limited grazeable forages, strip grazing annual forages and crop residues may provide an opportunity to extend grazing days and reduce winter feed costs.  

Study Overview 

In a 2025 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report article, Aquino, Drewnoski, and Fernandes evaluated how frequently forage should be allocated to cattle swath grazing sorghum-sudangrass. The objective was to determine the impact of allocation frequency on animal performance and forage utilization. 

Conducted near Mead, Nebraska, BMR sorghum-sudangrass hybrid was seeded in mid-June at either 35 or 70 lb/ac, with 40 lb/ac of nitrogen applied before planting. The forage was stockpiled during the growing season and then mowed in early November after a killing frost in October. Across seeding rates, pre-grazing biomass averaged approximately 6,800 lb/ac of dry matter. The higher seeding rate tended to produce more forage, with yields of 7,618 and 5,996 lb/ac for the 70- and 35 lb/ac seeding rates, respectively. 

Sixty weaned steer calves averaging 529 lb were randomly assigned to one of eight paddocks. Paddocks were then assigned to a strip grazing treatment, where forage was allocated by advancing the front fence either once (1X) or twice (2X) per week. Allocation amounts were adjusted throughout the 64-day grazing period based on visual estimates of post-grazing forage. Because forage crude protein averaged only 5%, both treatments also received supplemental protein tubs containing 24% crude protein. 

Results and Implications 

Increasing allocation frequency from once to twice weekly did not affect steer average daily gain, post-grazing biomass, or forage utilization. Across treatments, average daily gain was 0.45 lb/d, post-grazing biomass was approximately 2,722 lb/ac, and forage utilization averaged 59%. 

However, increasing allocation frequency from once to twice weekly increased carrying capacity by 17%, from 5.8 to 6.8 AUM/ac, attributed to decreased trampling losses with more frequent allocation. 

Although forage production on dryland acres in western Nebraska is likely to be considerably lower than the 6,800 lb/ac observed in this study, particularly under current drought conditions, the principle remains relevant: small improvements in carrying capacity can become meaningful when multiplied across a large acreage. 

For example, assume a producer increases carrying capacity on swathed sorghum-sudangrass from 1.0 to 1.17 AUM/ac by switching from one to two allocations each week. Across a 320-acre field, that 0.17 AUM/ac increase represents approximately 54 additional AUM. In a year when hay is expensive and forage supplies are limited, those additional grazing days can have meaningful economic value. 

Practically, twice weekly allocations are not a prescription for optimal swath grazing efficiency. Rather, this study compared a two-fold increase in allocation frequency, from once to twice a week, which improved carrying capacity by 17% due to decreased trampling losses. In this scenario, increasing frequency (i.e. twice weekly à daily à 12-h) eventually leads to diminishing returns to carrying capacity and labor. Thus, producers should allocate at a frequency that minimizes trampling losses without limiting animal intake or labor use disproportionate to the anticipated benefit. 

What About Corn Residue? 

Applying these findings directly to corn residue requires caution. Relatively little research has directly evaluated how allocation frequency affects carrying capacity when cattle graze corn residue. However, research on stocking rate and stocking density provides a useful framework for understanding why allocation may be beneficial. 

This creates an important distinction between carrying capacity and stocking rate. Carrying capacity describes the number of animals an area can support for a given time, whereas stocking density describes how many animals are concentrated on a given area at a particular time.  

Over a given time, cattle stocked at a lower density have greater opportunity to selectively graze the highest-quality components of corn residue, particularly grain, husk, and leaf. As stocking density increases, cattle have less opportunity to selectively graze these preferred components and consume a greater proportion of lower-quality material. 

Regardless of stocking rate, the amount of residue allocated to cattle can influence diet quality throughout the grazing period. Under continuous grazing, cattle progressively remove the preferred grain, husk, and leaf. As these components become limiting, diet quality can decline, potentially reducing animal performance. In contrast, allocating a fresh portion of residue to cattle at regular intervals can provide more consistent access to preferred plant components throughout the grazing period. 

Therefore, strip grazing corn residue may be less about forcing cattle to consume poor-quality residue and more about managing access to the higher-quality portion of the residue. 

Putting It Into Practice 

For producers facing limited forage supplies this fall, strategic strip grazing may be a worthwhile practice to delay drylot feeding and improve grazing efficiency. Strip grazing provides a relatively simple management tool for controlling cattle access to forage. More frequent allocations may reduce trampling and increase carrying capacity, but the additional labor must be weighed against the value of the forage saved. 

In a drought year, those calculations become particularly important. A small improvement in carrying capacity across acres dedicated to annual forages can translate into substantial additional grazing capacity—and potentially fewer days of purchased or harvested feed. 

Resources 

Corn Stalk Grazing Toolbox | UNL Beef | Nebraska 

Corn Residue Grazing Basics: Stocking Rate | UNL Beef | Nebraska 

Windrow Grazing 

Citations 

T. E. Aquino, M.E. Drewnoski, P.H. J. Fernandes, Effects of Allocation Frequency on Cattle Performance and Forage Utilization when Swath Grazing a Sorghum-Sudangrass Hybrid in Eastern Nebraska, University of Nebraska Extension, 2025 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report, pages 15-17 

L. A. Stalker, H. Blanco-Canqui, J. A. Gigax, A. L. McGee, T. M. Shaver, S. J. van Donk, Corn residue stocking rate affects cattle performance but not subsequent grain yield, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 93, Issue 10, October 2015, Pages 4977–4983, https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2015-9259