To extend our grazing season, we need to graze this forage before it goes to seed. Once grasses enter the reproductive stage and begin producing seed heads, they shift energy away from leaf and root development and toward seed production. This not only reduces regrowth potential but also decreases the plant’s nutritional quality. By letting our animals graze it now, they’ll remove the top several inches of the plant, which signals the grass to stay in its vegetative state and focus on growing new leaves rather than setting seed. If we time the rotational grazing right, we can stimulate regrowth and get multiple rounds of higher quality forage from our pastures. This extends our grazing window, reduces our reliance on hay, and keeps the forage cycle active before the grass heads out and quality declines.