I have quite high leaf to stem ratio, even with the longer recovery periods. The cow pats are telling me that I am still a little low on fibre at the moment! This will change as we get towards senescence, but that will be a while off here.

the question about cows vs sheep: I’m not sure on the answer to that, but I do like the way cattle…

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Thanks for your input Eric,

I think having well rested pastures up your sleeve ready to go at this time of year is key.

Re the utilisation, do you think the cattle do better than the sheep on high fibre forage?

That’s a great article Mark. I totally agree that it is a delicate time of the year with grazing management. The way I tackle this period is by focusing on the grass first, soil second and animal requirements third – the animals are doing well without too much of our influence! My aim is to prolong the growing potential of our pasture and…

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Thanks Eric, that’s what I thought .. & yes the ewes are a bit chubby I know!

I think she means a second bite of new growth, grazing the stemmy older stuff no problem but happy to be corrected!

Great photo’s Kate.

it doesn’t appear that your sheep are suffering from lack of nutrition

Our cool season grasses are typically high in ME and protein but can lack the fibre, hence the scouring – particularly early winter when there is a high leaf to stem ratio with our annual plants. Grazing lower will increase the fibre better than grazing…

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I thought they were only meant to have one bite of each plant then moved. Pretty sure Judi earl says don’t leave them too long or they go back for a second bite. Not that that helps you.