Ideally, residency periods should be long enough to harvest the forage that exists in a paddock when livestock are turned in, but should not be so long that damage to plant growth occurs from uncontrolled defoliation. Residency periods should also insure that livestock performance is not reduced beyond acceptable limits, or that forage is wasted through increased amounts of trampling and fouling with manure and urine.

Generally, when the forage supply has been calculated to be in balance with the forage demand, selecting a shorter residency period will serve to increase the amount of forage actually consumed by the grazing animals (improved harvest efficiency), as well as provide a higher and more consistent quality of forage on offer.

Grazing animals are very selective in their grazing behavior. They generally consume the highest quality forage first and leave the rest for last. Unfortunately, that which is left is subjected to increased amounts of trampling and fouling with manure and urine. As a result, the longer grazing animals are allowed to remain in an individual pasture or paddock, the greater will be the amount of forage wasted and the lower will be the quality of feed on offer. Extending residency periods for too long not only reduces the amount of forage actually harvested, it can also negatively influence animal performance.

When it comes to meeting the nutritional requirements of animals on pasture, it is important to recognize that not all grazing animals are created equal. Depending on such factors as the kind of animal, age, sex, or stage of lactation, nutritional requirements can range from very low to extremely high. For example, although most adult non-lactating animals generally require only enough feed for body maintenance, a high producing dairy cow at peak milk production has both an enormous appetite, and a need for an extremely high quality feed. Most all other kinds and classes of livestock are generally intermediate between these extremes.

In order to maintain high and consistent levels of milk production, lactating dairy cows should not remain on any single pasture sub-division for longer than 2 days. For planning purposes, 1 day residency periods are recommended, but can range from one-half to two days. Most all other classes and kinds of livestock can meet their minimum nutritional requirements with much longer residency periods (including season long occupancy) provided the total forage supply is adequate, and wasting forage is not a concern. However, where maximizing forage production and harvest efficiency are indicated as primary concerns, residency periods should not exceed 7 days, with 3 to 4 days preferred. Table 1 provides general guidelines for selecting residency periods to optimize livestock production and harvest efficiency with different kinds or classes of livestock.

TABLE 1: RECOMMENDED RESIDENCY PERIODS

Kind of Livestock	Number of Days
Lactating Dairy Cattle	one-half to 2
Milking Sheep or Goats	1 to 2
Growing Stock (Steers, Heifers, Lambs)	3 to 4*
Beef Cow/Calf, Ewe/Lamb, Deer/Fawn, etc.	3 to 4*
Most Adult Non-Lactating Stock	4 to 7*

* may also be grazed season long with proper planning