Reply To: Grazing before leaving for hay

  • Mark Tupman

    Member
    08/07/2024 at 9:17 am

    Hi Will,

    Yes, you can and should graze it now as this will set the scene for another round of vegetative regrowth.

    I would be inclined to get the animals in there with high mob density and take the whole lot down quickly, but more completely. This will make for a more even stand of regrowth. Only partially grazing the area will result in selective grazing with some species getting grazed more than others. If given the option, the animals will also tend to eat the young leaves and avoid the old leaves and stem. These things happen if you don’t have high enough mob density. This is not the best for the animals as they don’t get an adequate balance of fibre and can scour. You also end up leaving behind a large amount of older more fibrous material that only declines further with time and is not what you want in your hay.

    Check out the grazing management for pasture, soil and animal health article in the knowledge bank for further clarification.

    • This reply was modified 4 months ago by  Mark Tupman.
    • This reply was modified 4 months ago by  Mark Tupman.
    • This reply was modified 4 months ago by  Mark Tupman.
    • This reply was modified 4 months ago by  Mark Tupman.
    • This reply was modified 4 months ago by  Mark Tupman.