Turning animals onto pastures while grass plants are still small, succulent, and their second leaf barely fully emerged, may be doing more harm than good.

Provincial forage specialist Karin Lindquist said if the grass is bitten before it has reached that three-leaf stage, it is forced to revert back to those energy stores to regrow again.

“Repeated cycles of forcing the plant to use stored energy sources for regrowth significantly reduces the plant’s ability to grow efficiently, and it may become unproductive or stunted for the rest of the grazing season,” she said.

Lindquist recommends pulling up a few random plants and counting the leaves.