Grazing 'Cover Crops' in the South

[Mark Reynolds]

This is a hot topic/practice being discussed with me by a few grazing interest groups and will be an offered practice by the NRCS in South Carolina for FY24. It's being referred to as 'cover crop' grazing, although grazing annual forages/pastures seems to be included in the mix which I view as different than a Cover Crop, but I think that is largely semantics. What are your thoughts on planting annual forages and utilizing them for grazing down here/there? Summer/warm season annuals, winter/cool season annuals, single species (of forage) plantings, 3-4 way plantings, 'super mixes consisting of 7-12 different species of annual vegetation in a mix. Advantages of annuals, disadvantages of annuals.......general thoughts and comments, and the usefulness of this as a practice.