grazing: cold snap

So far it has been a warm winter, speaking generally, and the ground is only just beginning to freeze. There are pros and cons to everything, frozen soil not excluded.

Soft, spongy earth means it is easy to set a step-in post; frozen earth can require a drill with a masonry bit to drill pilot holes for each post. In wet soil a cow leaves deep hoof prints; then when the ground freezes, the deep pock marks left in areas of frequent impact -- the lane to the barn, for example -- make footing unpleasant for livestock and people.

As far as grazing goes, freezing doesn't hurt the grass. With only seasonally palatable forages like (for our cows, anyway) fescue, frost even increases palatability. Warm temperatures and damp soil, on the other hand, hasten forage decomposition, so pasture loses both palatability and nutrition.

Later, when the ground thaws, there will be mud to navigate.