Selecting sites to clip

Select two comparable sites. Choose one site infested with weeds. Then, choose another site where weeds have been controlled. It is important that both sites have similar soil, slope and grasses.

Note: For the most accurate comparison, vegetation should be at maturity and no grazing should have occurred. Sample areas in your pasture that haven't been grazed, such as a fenced area where animals are excluded.

Man with paper bag

Step 1: Pre-weight empty bags.

Weigh an empty paper bag with the scale in grams. Write the weight on the bag; this is needed for worksheet calculations. Clearly label bags to distinguish which came from either weedy or weed-free areas.

Man tossing hoop

Step 2: Toss hoop and clip forage.

Randomly toss hoop and let it land flat on the ground. Clip plants within the hoop to ground level. Sort out all litter (last year's growth), roots or soil. Separate weedy material and place only forage in the pre-weight paper sacks.

Note: Clip at least four hoops in the weed-infested area, and four hoops in the weed-free area to provide reliable forage production estimates.

Man with scale

Step 3: Place clippings in bags and weigh with gram scale.

Mark weights one each bag.

Step 4: Complete calculations on worksheets.

To complete the worksheet calculations, you will need:

  1. The weight in grams from your clippings that you marked on each sack.
  2. A calculator.

The AUM Analyzer Worksheet (49KB PDF) is available as a downloadable PDF.