Grass plants, like the animals that live on them, are living things. 

 Like all living things, grass is most easily damaged in its early growth 

 stages. This happens in the spring when the sun warms the soil enough to 

 start the leaves and stems. How early this growth starts depends on the 

 season and how much energy has been stored in the grassroots and crowns 

 the summer before. The grass draws on this energy reserve to start growth 

 in the spring. The leaves reach for the sun and manufacture food for the 

 plant to grow, produce seed, replace the energy it has used to start growth 

 and to store energy for the next spring. 



If a grazing animal keeps these new spring leaves continuously 

 clipped off year after year, the grass plant weakens and dies. Generally, 

 its place is taken by some interior plant that has a lower grazing value 

 or may even be poisonous. 



Grass plants need at least half of their yearly leaf and stem growth 

 to keep themselves alive. The rest belongs to the cows, deer or elk or 

 what ever there is there to eat it. 



This is the reason to delay spring grazing until June 1 or to rotate 

 the early use from pasture to pasture. A grass plant should have a chance 

 to complete its growth cycle at least one year out of every five. More 

 frequently is even better. 



(14) 



