Excellent grazing infrastructure will allow more days at grass, provide easier management of grass at times of peak growth and make grazing less weather dependent. In order to achieve 10 grazings/paddock/year grazing infrastructure must be improved on most farms. This involves mapping out the farm, creating a rotational paddock system, ensuring all paddocks have access to water, and creating access to paddocks through roadways. It may also involve drainage works on some soil types to get the most from the land as well as using temporary electric fencing.
Infrastructure Month – July 2026
Throughout July, the Teagasc Grass 10 team are showcasing practical grazing infrastructure improvements that can increase grass utilisation and improve animal performance. Each week during Infrastructure Month focuses on a different aspect of grazing infrastructure, featuring farmer case studies, expert advice, videos and supporting articles.
Tommie Devine, dairy farmer, Co. Roscommon, outlines how adding a tunnel to his grazing infrastructure will increase his days at grass.
Michael McGuigan, suckler farmer, Co. Meath, discusses how creep gates for calves gives them access to high quality grass.
Week Two – Paddock Size
Paul Maher, Teagasc Moorepark will provide some advice on choosing the right paddock size and 12-hour vs 24-hour vs 36-hour grazing paddocks
Week Three – Drainage
John Maher, Grass10 Manager will be on the farm of Larry Dunphy in West Clare to showcase examples of farm drainage and improving land performance.
Week Four – Farm Roadways
Laurence Sexton discusses best practice for farm roadway design and maintenance, helping improve livestock movement and grazing efficiency.
The Paddock System
Grass utilised can be increased on farms by either increasing the amount of grass grown and/or improving the utilisation rate. By having the right grazing infrastructure in place will increase grass utilisation which will be influenced further through grazing management of the paddock system.
The start of the grazing season is an excellent time to review grazing infrastructure on your farm. Focus on the positives and negatives from last year on certain fields. Hence a plan can be developed based on farm size, stocking rate and long term goals of the farm.
What benefits are there in setting up a paddock system?
Improves sward quality hence increasing daily live weight gain
Gives more control on grazing management
Allows for taking out surplus grass resulting in top quality silage during the peak grazing season
Allows for creep grazing with calves/lambs later in season
All the information you need to improve the grazing infrastructure on your farm is in the guides below including; paddock layout, roadways, fencing, electric fencers, water systems and more. Know someone that might benefit from this? Share it, or let them know where to find it!
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