The Problem with Mud

My brothers and I didn’t wear shoes much when we were young. Because I rarely wore them, I often passed down shoes to my brothers that looked like new. Without shoes, my feet were free to feel the mud wherever I could find it-or create it. I never saw a group of boys that didn’t like mud. Boys like to jump in puddles of water and let the mud ooze through their toes. There is something that just feels right with one’s feet in the mud.

When I was growing up, we lived south of Houston on a farm with ten o’clock soil. The soil was too wet to plow before ten o’clock and too dry to plow after ten o’clock. Thus, ten o’clock soil. It made great mud. While some kids had “Play Dough,” I had mud. Wet, it squished between my toes and fingers; dry it turned into caked-on brick.

It was fun to create mud when we didn’t have any. We just turned on the hose by the horse trough, wetting any bare spot in the pasture. We would move our feet and toes around, and instantly, mud appeared.

The trouble with mud is that it does not grow plants very well. Grass roots can’t find air in the mud. Plant growth is reduced. Mud stresses plants and reduces the nutrient content of grass. When a pasture is muddy, animal carrying capacity decreases. Muddy, a pasture that could support ten animals might only support five.

Pasture mud is generally created by soil erosion and plugging. Plugging is the action of animal hooves pushing into wet soil, compacting the surrounding soil. It is the equivalent of squishing mud between one’s toes. Excessive compaction causes a cascade of animal, plant, soil, and economic problems. Plugging can become so bad that it reduces the amount of water in the soil and even in the aquifer. Plugging can cause the soil to become rock hard.

Soil biology suffers with plugging. Soil microbes need air the same as plants and animals do. With less air, more anerobic soil microbes grow. The anerobic microbes contribute to additional pests and disease organisms. When soil nutrients are less available, plant stress increases and plant nutrient availability decreases.

Because stressed plants have fewer nutrients, animal health suffers. Besides denying the animals key nutrients, mud can cause foot rot, mastitis, and parasites, further reducing animal health and weight gain. Prolonged stress can kill an animal.

Mud shows up around the cattle trough, the salt lick, in frequently used corrals, in low standing water areas, in poorly drained pastures, along foot paths and cattle trails. It can also form under trees where cattle rest. It can form on high ground if cattle spend enough time in the area.

The more it rains, the more likely mud forms. I don’t often complain about above average rainfall. But as a rancher and an adult, I don’t much care for mud in the pastures.

So, what can be done? Regenerative agriculture is the answer to most plugging problems. Growing grass with a deep, dense root system is a good start. The easiest way to do this is frequent pasture rotation to keep grass thick and tall. If a cow’s hoof cannot sink into the soil because it is stopped by the presence of a thick turf, it is less likely to create mud.

Frequent rotations keep the cattle from eating grass thin. If the grass has enough solar panel (leaf) left after grazing, leaves will grow back faster. More leaves help the plant to grow more roots and that improves the soil microbiome below. Thicker plants and roots reduce erosion and leave fewer open spots for mud to form.

A deep, dense root system helps the soil to drain and keeps more air space available for heavy rainfall cycles. A dense root system is created by allowing the nutrients from a healthy plant to feed the soil and soil microbes. A healthy root system has nutrient reserves for times of stress to aid the plant in recovery after grazing.

Other ways to reduce the plugging mess is by moving the salt lick and cattle trough to different spots before plugging occurs. If a cattle trough is portable, move it. If it is not, put a layer of sand around it to allow the water to drain further away. Don’t allow cattle to languish in a corral. Get them in and out as quickly as possible.

Dad reduced plugging and improved the soil at the farm by spreading rice hulls over the pasture. After a few months, the soil seemed to breathe, allowing more water in and more grass to grow. Rice hulls were readily available in our area, but most any organic matter can help. Composting a pasture improves the soil faster than any fertilizer.

I put a load of free tree mulch on the ground in two pastures. No plugging there and the bermuda grass is growing great. It gives the cattle a spot to stand to keep their feet dry in wet weather. Another resting spot is where an uneaten bale of hay was dropped. Dry feet must be important because the cattle use it often on wet days.

Science has proven that putting one’s feet in the mud actually helps put negative ions back in the body (a good thing for one’s health). But for me and the cattle, I will try my best to keep out of the mud.

David E. Will is a rancher, consultant, and resident of Fayette County. He can be reached at (830) 629-9876 or by email at dwill207@satx. rr.com.