The pasture condition score system (PCS) currently is used to assess and monitor pastures in the Conservation Security Program. Information is lacking, however, on how PCS results vary within and among grazing seasons and within and among farms. We applied the PCS on five farms across the northeast in 2004 and 2005. All pastures on each farm were evaluated according to the published PCS methodology in spring, summer, and fall of each year. Vegetation was assessed in each pasture by identifying and estimating canopy cover of all species in 10 to 30 0.25 m2 quadrats on line transects. Soil in all pastures was sampled at 0-5 and 0-15 cm depths at the start of pasture monitoring. Significant variation occurred among and within farms during spring, summer,and fall in 2004 and 2005. The indicators for plant diversity and proportion of legume in the pasture generally had the lowest scores. We also evaluated various weighting factors for the pasture condition scores proposed by NRCS and found no difference between weighted and unweighted scores.
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